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Net gain ... Nitz is on the rebound SHS TENNIS, B1
DON’T SPARE THE ASPARAGUS
LOCAL FLAVOR, A11
TELEGRAPH
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON CITY COUNCIL
Don’t count on Crundwell cash Mayor proposes repealing allocations of funds for city groups; organizations could reapply for money BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
DIXON – During Tuesday’s city council discussion of the Dixon budget, Mayor Li Arellano Jr. proposed that the council repeal all April approvals of the remaining Rita Crundwell recovery settlement funds. Since the meeting was a special
work session, no vote was taken, but the council is scheduled to formally vote on the matter when it reconvenes Monday. Arellano has stated in previous meetings his belief that recovery funds, of which the city has $5.2 million remaining, should be used on “one-time expenses only” as opposed to annual operational expenses. Tuesday, after hearing from several organizations that
would be affected by a repeal, the mayor said the newly elected council could revisit each entities’ recovery allocation on an individual basis following a repeal. “My recommendation is that we repeal all of them at the same time,” Arellano said. “We would have them come up on their own and judge them on their merits at that time.” Affected are Dixon Sister Cities, the proposed boat docks, a
Christmas decorations approval, Dixon Main Street, The Next Picture Show, and Dixon Tourism. Combined, their allocations total $138,000 of the remaining Crundwell dollars. Agencies that already have contracted out some of their allocations still would be allowed to use those funds.
Liandro Arellano Jr.
COUNCIL CONTINUED ON A5
DIXON
ROCK FALLS | FATAL FIRE
‘She was an amazing woman’
Crundwell loses court battle – and her trophies
Blaze robs family of a mom, grandmother, sister, and wife
Judge orders former comptroller to forfeit goods to pay down debt
Rita Buhlman
BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5535 @KathleenSchul10
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigators work at the scene of a fire Tuesday morning at 1601 E. Rock Falls Road in Rock Falls. BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren
ROCK FALLS – Caution tape lined the entrance to the first-floor apartment at 1601 E. Rock Falls Road. Rita Buhlman, who lived in Apt. 1 with her wife, Tammy Buhlman, died Tuesday morning in a kitchen fire. Rita had just celebrated her 58th birthday on Friday. Tammy, who had just come home after her third-shift job, called 911 when she found Rita in her wheelchair in the kitchen. By the time paramedics arrived, around 6:30 a.m., Tammy had pushed Rita outside the apartment in her wheelchair. She’d had a leg amputated just a few months ago and was still recovering, said her daughter, Courtney Brickle. Bill Milby, deputy chief for Twin City Joint Fire Command, said that by the time emergency responders had arrived, the fire, which had started in the kitchen area, had burned out because of a lack of oxygen. Rita was pronounced dead at the scene by Whiteside County Coroner Joe McDonald,
whose office put out a press release Tuesday evening saying the fire started either Monday night or Tuesday morning in the kitchen. The release said preliminary autopsy results indicate that Rita died of probable smoke inhalation and heat, and that an investigation is ongoing. The fire’s cause was not released, pending the state fire marshal’s investigation. Rita was a mother, a grandmother, and a sister. Courtney, 28, is one of Rita’s four daughters. She lives in Florida now, but grew up in the Sauk Valley. “She was an amazing woman,” Courtney said by phone Tuesday. “She’s been through a lot, and she’s overcome everything, and she always stayed strong for her kids. She was an amazing grandmother. She had a lot of grandkids. She was an awesome wife.” Two of Courtney’s sisters, 30-year-old Desiree and 39-year-old Charity, still live in this area. Samantha, 34, lives in Arkansas. Their stepsister, Tara Buhlman, is 27, and lives elsewhere in Illinois. They all have a “bunch of kids,” Courtney said. Tammy and Rita had been together for 15 years, since Courtney was just 13, she said. FIRE CONTINUED ON A5
ROCKFORD – Former Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell has lost her bid to keep the last vestiges of her once-impressive – and ill-gotten – equine empire. U.S. District Court Judge Philip Reinhard ordered Tuesday that she forfeit her collection of trophies and awards, her show clothes, and the remaining miscellaneous household goods and other personal items being held in storage in Wisconsin and Dixon, to help satisfy the $53 million-dollar debt she owes her hometown. The U.S. government filed a motion in December seeking to force the turnover of what it described as assets discovered as the result of further investigation by the U.S. Marshal Service after her sentencing. In her motion to keep the items, filed in January, Crundwell’s attorney, Ruth Robinson, argued that the items weren’t newly discovered – that the Marshal’s Service had known of their existence all along – and that they lacked “objective value” and wouldn’t benefit the city if applied toward Rita Crundwell’s restitution order. Crundwell The remaining assets include framed photographs of Crundwell, various pieces of artwork, about 700 trophies she won in horse competitions, a computer, her show clothing, bicycles, patio chairs, two motorized scooters, and an all-terrain vehicle. Information on how exactly the Marshal Service will dispose of them was unavailable Tuesday evening. Crundwell was arrested in April 2012 and later pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the theft of nearly $54 million from the city of Dixon over 2 decades. She was sentenced to 19 years, 7 months, which she is serving in a federal prison in Waseca, Minnesota. As a result of her crimes, which funded her rise to fame in tony quarter horse showing and breeding circles, Crundwell was ordered to pay about $54 million in restitution, of which the government has collected about $9.3 million. There also was a money judgment for about $53 million issued, meaning the government can go after about $106 million in Crundwell assets. The city also received about $30 million in a settlement with its former auditors and bank. The U.S. government has seized, liquidated and transferred many of Crundwell’s assets to the city already, about $9.3 million in all, mainly from the sale of her property, homes and horses. And so far, it has won every motion seeking payback. In January, Reinhard ruled that Crundwell’s retirement fund reimbursements – about $90,000 – should be turned over to the government for restitution. Robinson also contested the inclusion of those assets, arguing the city had already received a significant amount toward the restitution, and the $30 million settlement. CRUNDWELL CONTINUED ON A5
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TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 164 ISSUE 18
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ............. A10
CROSSWORD....B11 FOOD ...........A9, A11 LIFESTYLE ........... A8
LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
Today’s weather High 81. Low 56. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.
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