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RESERVES PLAY ROLE IN DIXON-NEWMAN GAME
Students of the Month
SOFTBALL, B1
STERLING HIGH, A2-3
TELEGRAPH Monday, May 18, 2015
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
HARMON
FRANKLIN GROVE | LINCOLN HIGHWAY CAR SHOW
Christmas in June is possible
Slick rides roll in
Volunteers hope to finish vet’s house by end of month
Rain unable to dampen spirit of car collectors
BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
Photos by Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
TOP: A headlight of a 1963 Chevy Impala SS reflects the scene at the Lincoln Highway Car Show on Saturday morning in Franklin Grove. Rainy weather discouraged some people, but a variety of cars still showed up.
ABOVE: Bob Kloog of Oregon wipes down his 1964 Volkswagen dune buggy between rain showers in downtown Franklin Grove. Kloog made the soggy trip, despite his ride’s lack of a roof. Check the tail end (page A12) of this section for more photos from the event.
HARMON – Army veteran Michael Shoemaker said he is excited and anxious about being a homeowner. “Everyone dreams of owning their own home,” Shoemaker said. Shoemaker’s dreams will soon become a reality, as volunteers from Abiding Word Church in Sterling are getting closer to finishing his dream home. Shoemaker, 27, was injured in Afghanistan in 2012. He and his wife, Brittany, 27, have four children: Michael, 8, Michael Braden, 6, Hannah, 4, Shoemaker and Harper, 1. Volunteers working on the home, at 211 S. To help First St., Harmon, hope To volunteer to have it completed by to build the the end of this month. Construction started last home or to donate furnisummer. “We are shooting for ture or other the end of the month, supplies, but we have a ways to call Abiding go,” said Evan Moore, a Word Church volunteer and a mem- at 815-626ber of the church. “We 1827. still have to paint trim, get the floors in, and get cabinets in.” The family is staying in Eldena with Shoemaker’s parents until the house is complete. While serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2012, Shoemaker was injured when ammunition he and several other soldiers were moving exploded at a supply depot. The explosion killed 20-year-old David Taylor of Dixon, Kentucky, and injured six others, including Shoemaker. VET’S HOUSE CONTINUED ON A3
FRANKLIN GROVE
Bison ‘experiment’ blossoming Ecologist: Grazing patterns helping restore Nachusa Grasslands BY EARLEEN HINTON Shaw Media ehinton@shawmedia.com
FRANKLIN GROVE – Yes, yes, all the buzz might be about the baby bison boom at Nachusa Grasslands. But the real excitement is what the grown-ups are already doing to help restore the prairie. “It’s been super-exciting ever since the bison arrived, and we are already starting to see success from bison grazing,” restoration ecologist Cody Considine said. “It looks like the bison are eating the grasses around the spring flowers, and that’s pretty cool.”
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TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 164 ISSUE 12
The recent inclusion of the big prairie mammals might be what’s driving new people to the Nature Conservancy’s 3,500-acre grasslands, east of Dixon and south of Oregon. But it is the delight in the details that inspires Considine and other volunteers who spent years pulling invasive plants, collecting prairie plants seeds, burning, and replanting. “Already we can see where the prairie plants are doing better, based on where and what the bison are eating, but from a science research
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point of view, this study will take several years,” Considine said. “Right now, it is very evident they are avoiding the forbs [flowers] and eating the grass.” Bison were reintroduced to the grasslands in October 2014, when Considine, project director Bill Kleiman, and volunteers made three trips totaling nearly 3,500 miles to transport cows and bulls from established herds in Iowa and South Dakota to the grasslands.
ABBY ................... A8 COMICS ............... A9 CROSSWORD....B12
BISON CONTINUED ON A11
LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2 NATION/WORLD .. A7
Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
A bison rolls in the grass at the Nachusa Grasslands near Franklin Grove. While the birth of 11 calves might be grabbing a lot of attention, environmental officials are thrilled with the adults’ role in the prairie’s restoration.
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 72. Low 36. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.
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