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IT’S A RELIEF TO BE ON THE A who’s who MOUND FOR DIXON GRAD of graduates BASEBALL, B1
SECTION INSIDE
TELEGRAPH Thursday, May 12, 2016
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON | PARK BOARD
Bigger could be better for parks Annexation would be the first step in giving the district a bigger footprint – and tax base BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
DIXON – Dwindling state funds and stagnant tax revenue have the Dixon Park Board looking at its long-term
financial health, and while there’s no quick cure to the challenges it faces, expanding its boundaries could be just the shot in the arm it needs to eventually expand its tax base. During its meeting Wednesday night, board members discussed annexing
about 720 acres of current property into its corporate limits. The corporate lines currently include the city limits and Lowell Park but do not account for the land the district acquired after 1934, district executive director Debra Carey said Wednesday
during the board’s regular meeting. In the past 80 years, the district has grown by 567 acres from The Meadows, 90 acres from Stengel Trail and about 60 acres from Plum Creek. ANNEXATION CONTINUED ON A4
STERLING
IN OUR SCHOOLS
A new home for Hospice
Class acts
Students earn an A+ in giving, from warming a child’s heart to helping survivors who were robbed of their family by fire
Much-needed facility for inpatient care coming to Sterling BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
Nina Aldridge, 13, demonstrates how she and her fellow Challand Middle School seventh-graders sewed square pieces into a quilt that was donated to Home of Hope. It’s going to a 6-year-old boy who’s fighting cancer for the second time. Nina wants to be a WWE Diva so that she can work with the Make-a-Wish Foundation. “I like the comfort of giving [the Home of Hope client] something he can hold onto for a while, and something that might make him feel good,” she said.
STERLING: PIECE AND LOVE BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
STERLING – Seventh-grader Nina Aldridge wants to be a WWE Diva. Her chief motivation isn’t stardom, but what it would afford her: the chance to work with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and grant ailing kids’ wishes. The 13-year-old is already well on her way.
She’s wrestles at Challand Middle School – that should come in handy with her World Wrestling Entertainment Diva dream – and on Wednesday, she helped warm a child’s heart as he battles cancer. Nina got her taste of helping others this semester in Jeff Hippen’s homeroom. Each homeroom at the school was urged to do a community service project, and it became a competition.
Online extra
Read this story at saukvalley.com to watch the Challand seventhgraders donate a quilt they made to Home of Hope.
PIECE AND LOVE CONTINUED ON A2
ROCK FALLS: SHINING COLORS BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
STERLING – If tragedy does nothing else, perhaps it can erase property lines, subtract the things that divide us, and make us all a little blind to school colors. Wednesday afternoon at the Newman Central Catholic High School softball diamond, Monica
Kalina accepted $800 on behalf of the survivors of the fire that claimed five family members Jan. 13 in Rock Falls. Kalina lost her sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Patrick Hopkins, and her nieces and nephews, Maggie, 26, Donovan, 16, and Katie Jo, who was seventh-grader at St. Andrew Catholic School in Rock Falls. Donovan was a sophomore at Newman.
Online extra
Read this story at saukvalley.com to watch Monica Kalina accept the $800 raised by Dacotah Lowrance.
COLORS CONTINUED ON A4
STERLING – Hospice of the Rock River Valley will break ground later this month for its hospice home. The ceremony is set for 11 a.m. May 26 at the site on the northeast side of North Avenue E, across the street from Morningside of Sterling at 2705 Ave. E. The nonprofit agency has provided home hospice and outpatient care for more than 30 years, but the hospice home will plug an inpatient services hole that exists in the area’s endof-life care options. The agency serves WhiteCarolyn side, Lee, Ogle, Spencer Carroll, and Hospice home Bureau counproject manager ties. The closest hospice home is about 30 miles away, at Oregon’s Serenity House. The agency was granted a license after the board and administration prepared a needs assessment and feasibility study for the project more than 3 years ago. The new 14,000-square-foot building will house six patient suites, a nursing station, meditation room, and areas where families can sleep and eat. Hospice of the Rock River Valley will continue its home care and provide respite services for caregivers. Although construction soon will begin, the agency still needs donations. The capital campaign, with a theme of “Growing A Tradition of Care,” kicked off Feb. 2, 2015. The cost of the project initially was estimated at $3.5 million, but the agency now is looking at about a $3 million price tag. “Our original estimates came in high, and we are finding ways to reduce the costs without negatively impacting services,” said Carolyn Spencer, hospice home project manager. HOSPICE CONTINUED ON A4
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TODAY’S EDITION: 28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 166 ISSUE 9
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 COMICS ............. A12 CROSSWORD....B13
LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4
OPINION .............. A6 PLANIT ............A9-12 POLICE .................. 2
Today’s weather High 68. Low 45. More on A3.
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