W eekend SV
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Serving Lee, Whiteside, Carroll, Ogle and Bureau counties Saturday&Sunday, August 22-23, 2015 $2.00
EPC set to begin its title defense FOOTBALL PREVIEW, B1
KSB HOSPITAL PLANS TO LAY OFF 22 LOCAL, A5
WEEKEND ENTERPRISE | PAY FOR MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
Raises for Sterling workers? Pay increases for many nonunion employees among study recommendations BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier Scott Shumard City manager said “it was time to see how we stack up” after concerns about stagnant wages were expressed.
STERLING – Nearly half of the city’s nonunion employees should be paid more, a study done for the city recommends. The study also suggests the city go to an open-range pay plan based on merit instead of steps based on longevity. The Sterling City Council
received some of the study results Monday. Sterling and Dixon are partnering on particular parts of the study done by Northbrook-based Voorhees Associates. Dixon has not yet received any results. The partnership enabled Sterling to save money – it paid $18,500 for the study, which began in March and assesses salaries and benefits for the city’s 60 nonunion employees.
The study compared Sterling to 16 comparable cities – with similar populations, location, expenditures and property values – including Dixon and Rock Falls. The most significant change in pay structure recommended was that the city adopt an openrange pay plan, with minimum and maximum salaries but no step increases. “It is based on merit,” Joellen
Earl of Voorhees told the council, “so employees have to perform to move through the range. “It can, however, make it difficult with budgeting because there are cost unknowns with undefined steps.” Another drawback, Earl said, is that an open-range pay scale could raise questions of fairness among staff.
WEEKEND FEATURE | HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS & HEALTH
Mayor Skip Lee Has voiced concern about the unknown cost of instituting the compensation measures.
RAISES CONTINUED ON A8
HEALTH
Top cause of death locally now cancer BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
The Newman Comets warm up during their first practice this season Aug. 10. Safety restrictions handed down by the Illinois High School Association in recent years have changed the way practices are run. Practices now include fewer full-contact drills and fewer days of wearing full pads.
New era of football practice State limits hitting, full pads preparation
T
his week I took a trip down memory lane. On Tuesday, I watched the football team practice at Newman Central Catholic High School in Sterling. The sound of the pads, the musty smell of the locker room, and the screaming from players and coaches took me back to the days when I was a teenager in football pads. And while Newman’s football practice was similar to
the practices we ran more than 14 years ago, when I was a student at Normal Community High School, there are some subtle differences. When I played, preseason practices featured grueling, full-contact, twice-a-day sessions combined with latesummer heat. Those practices prepared us for the coming season. Restrictions handed down by the state in recent years have changed the way football practices are run.
Sunny
VOLUME 7 ISSUE 51 40 Pages
Today: 82/64 For the forecast, see Page A10
MAIN SCOOP CONTINUED ON A9
STERLING – In both Whiteside and Lee counties, heart disease is no longer the leading cause of death. It has taken a backseat to cancer. That’s different from national – and even state – statistics, which show heart diseases still trump cancer by a large margin. Local health department administrators – Beth Fiorini in Whiteside County, Cathy Ferguson in Lee – said cancer occurrence is not getting worse, but cardiac care and prevention efforts are getting so much better. Neither woman could pin the decline in heart disease deaths on a single factor, though both suggested what is helping: Better overall health, and greater access to health care. “We have a cardiac lab now, and people can get emergency help there,” Fiorini said. CAUSE CONTINUED ON A9
ONLINE EXTRA
Grub Hub pays visit to Eggs in Paradise
In Today’s Sports: Previewing the Comets, Page B1
Business
Some farmers choose to root out herbicide-resistant soybean seeds. See Page C1
Community It was the best of times during a weekend that saw two local music festivals in the Sauk Valley. For “A Tale of Two Fests,” look inside. See Page C12
In his latest “Grub Hub” feature at saukvalley.com, SVM reporter Jermaine Pigee goes to a place where you can have breakfast all day. But Eggs in Paradise in Sterling offers a lot more than just breakfast.
Index Births................ C5
Lottery .............. A2
Business........... C1
Markets .......... A10
Classified .......... D1
Obituaries ......... A4
Comics ............. B6
Opinion............. A6
Community ..... C12
Scoreboard ...... B9
Crossword Saturday ........... D6
Scrapbook ....... C3
Crossword Sunday ............. C8
Support groups .. C5
Dave Ramsey ... C8
Weather.......... A10
Dear Abby ........ C2
Wheels ............. D8
Sports .............. B1 Travel .............. C10