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ENTERTAINMENT, A9-12
TWO ALBUMS EARN A’S
HALE, HEARTY, HUNGRY POLO-FORRESTON GIRLS TRACK, B1
TELEGRAPH Thursday, April 9, 2015
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON | NEW CITY COUNCIL
Firefighter in rare position State statutes conflict on Arjes serving as elected official BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @MattMencarini
DIXON – Conflicting state statues complicate the future of one of the City Council’s newly elected members.
Jesse Arjes, 35, a Dixon firefighter, received 1,310 votes Tuesday, the second-most of the four men elected to the council. He will be both an office-holder and an employee of the city when he is sworn in next month. This rare issue is partially addressed in state law, said Roger
Huebner, deputy executive director and general counsel at the Illinois Municipal League. He cautioned that Arjes would have to be extremely careful when voting on issues that might pose a direct or indirect conflict, because some statues carry criminal penal-
ties if violated. The city itself “is not really the party that would responsible for any infractions,” Huebner said. “The statute applies to the individual elected.” FIREFIGHTER CONTINUED ON A5
STERLING
Jesse Arjes
ILLINOIS | BUDGET
Bustos works double ‘shift’
State sweeps roads fund March MFT disbursements to be halved BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, speaks to students in Alexis Rivera’s math class Wednesday morning at Sterling High School. Bustos spent part of her morning touring the school and meeting with staff and students, part of her “Cheri on Shift” job-shadowing program. She also spent about an hour at Regency Care of Sterling.
U.S. rep job shadows at high school, skilled nursing facility BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
STERLING – As U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos walked through the hallway of Sterling High School Wednesday, she noticed a student
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wearing an edible necklace. “Is that a candy necklace?” she asked Isaac Anderson, an 18-year-old senior. “Yes, it is,” he said. “I remember eating those,” Bustos said. “They make your neck sticky when
you eat them.” Anderson was one of the many students, teachers and staff members Bustos met during her visit. “It was really cool to see her take an interest in what we have,” said Maddie Neal, an 18-year-old
senior. “I look up to liberal Democrats, because they are who I strive to emulate. It’s great for her to be here and interact with us, because it shows that she cares.” BUSTOS CONTINUED ON A5
It was really cool to see her take an interest in what we have. I look up to liberal Democrats, because they are who I strive to emulate. It’s great for her to be here and interact with us, because it shows that she cares. Maddie Neal, 18-year-old senior at Sterling High School on U.S. Rep Cheri Bustos
ROCK FALLS
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Mayor pushes formation of utilities board Panel would replace standing committees, but would still answer to council BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – As the city’s utilities enterprises continue to grow, so does the responsibility for overseeing their
$1.00
operations. Work done on the fiscal year 2015-2016 fiscal year budget passed by the council Tuesday shows that the utilities now make up 78 percent, or $15 million of the city’s annual budget.
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INDEX
Mayor Bill Wescott is starting conversations at City Hall about establishing a Public Utility Governance Board to maximize the potential of the electric, wastewater, and water utilities. The city also plans to spin off its burgeon-
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A13 COMICS ...............B4
CROSSWORD....B13 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
ing broadband business, now part of the electric department, into a separate unit. Wescott made an initial appeal for the board to council members at Tuesday’s meeting.
Cities are still trying to get a handle on the fallout from two bills signed into law March 26 to close a $1.6 billion budget gap in the fiscal year 2015 state budget. The budget fix consisted of two measures – an appropriations bill and another authorizing $1.3 billion in special fund sweeps to stabilize the state’s general fund. Without the fixes, many state programs ran the risk of running out of money to pay employees. While the stopgap measures for this fiscal year spared the Local Government Distributive Fund for now, municipalities are learning they will take a hit from the funds sweeps. Some cities learned Wednesday that $50 million will be taken from the Motor Fuel Tax Fund that is used for local roads projects and materials for maintenance, including salt and blacktop. The Illinois Department of Transportation sent out a letter about the MFT sweep, but officials in Sterling and Rock Falls did not yet receive it. The letter states that IDOT learned the money will be transferred from the March MFT revenues, resulting in a “substantial” reduction in what the cities receive for that month.
UTILITIES CONTINUED ON A2
NATION/WORLD .. A7 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
Today’s weather High 74. Low 37. More on A3.
ROADS CONTINUED ON A4
Voter turnout Lee doubles up Whiteside, B8.
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