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Wednesday, September 2, 2015
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON | REAGAN LIFEGUARD STATUE
An alliance – with reservations Committee hopes Park Board throws it a life preserver with partnership, but a lawyer warns against it BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
DIXON – The Park Board wants to take the independent Ronald Reagan Lifeguard Statue committee under its wing. Board and committee mem-
bers plan to hammer out an ordinance this week that will allow the committee to cycle donations to build the statue through the park district’s budget. Park district attorney Thomas Sanders, however, cautioned board members to consider
whether that’s really something they want to do. The mission of the eightmember committee is to erect a 10-foot bronze statue of Reagan at Lowell Park, at an estimated cost of $300,000, to be raised through donations. The committee, created in
2013 by then-Dixon Mayor Jim Burke, once was a branch of the Dixon Tourism Board, and for nearly 2 years, was authorized to move dollars in and out of the city’s budget. Citing potential legal issues, though – such as questions about whether such donations
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ILLINOIS POLITICS
STERLING
Demmer gets an early start for House seat
Books get a new shelf life BELOW AND RIGHT: Jennifer Slaney (left), director of the Sterling Public Library, and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, look through a box of books Tuesday that were donated to the library by the Library of Congress. When the library has too many books for archiving, the extras are given to Congressional representatives to be distributed to libraries and other non-profit organizations. Bustos heard the need for large-print books and young adult literature and delivered a couple of boxes to Sterling. This is the third such donation in the last 2 weeks, with the other two going to the Astoria and the Henderson county libraries.
BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Did you know? According to the Library of Congress website, the library was founded in 1800, making it the oldest federal cultural institution in the nation. On Aug. 24, 1814, British troops burned the Capitol building (where the Library was housed) and destroyed the library’s core collection of 3,000 volumes. On
could or should go throughout the city budget and whether the committee was legally created by the council to begin with – City Attorney Robert LeSage recommended the council discontinue its affiliation.
Jan. 30, 1815, Congress approved the purchase of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library of 6,487 books for $23,950. The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with more than 160 million items on approximately 838 miles of bookshelves. The collections include
more than 37 million books and other print materials, 3.5 million recordings, 14 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 7.1 million pieces of sheet music and 69 million manuscripts. For more facts about the library, go toloc.gov/about/fascinating-facts/
SPRINGFIELD – On Tuesday, the first day state legislative hopefuls could petition for the 2016 election, Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, announced he would seek a third term. If he wins, Demmer would become a threeterm legislator before the age of 30. Demmer said he’s given it a lot of thought and knew “some time ago” he would seek re-election. “This is very early [to announce], I know,” Demmer said. “It’s something I gave some thought to, and I’m looking ahead and thinking there are going to Tom be some big things happenDemmer ing in the state of Illinois these next couple of years.” Demmer will petition to meet a December filing deadline, then focus on campaigning for the March primary election. He won a three-way race for the Republican nomination in 2012, but was uncontested in the 2014 primary. A Dixon native, he represents District 90, covering Lee, Ogle, DeKalb and LaSalle counties. This year, he was named a Gov. Jim Edgar Fellow. He is director of marketing and strategic planning for KSB Hospital. Through his first two terms, Demmer said, his focus has been on government transparency and fiscal responsibility. He said that in the wake of the Rita Crundwell scandal, he introduced legislation to require municipalities to publish audit results on their websites and make them more accessible to the public. This year, he serves on a committee focused on local government consolidation. For those reasons, Demmer said, he takes local concerns seriously and tries to bring them into law-making in Springfield. He added that his best days are ahead of him. “I’m just focused on doing the best job I can,” Demmer said. “I certainly consider it an honor and a privilege to serve the people of this district.”
ROCK FALLS
City Council finds common ground with resident Landowner finally parts with prime piece of land, opening the door for future development BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – The city wants to grow, and Wayne Schmitt
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wants to see the city grow. Together, they’ve found a way to make that happen – and it’s just the beginning. The city will buy 30 acres of land near the intersection of I-88
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and state Route 40, a prime piece of real estate that could drive traffic, and revenue, into the city. The total deal is worth $1.35 million, but Mayor Bill Wescott said the city should have no problem
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ...............B6
CROSSWORD....B11 FOOD ..............A9-10 LIFESTYLE ........... A8
turning the farmland into a cash crop for the city. “With 28,000 cars a day on Route 40, I really don’t think we’ll have trouble developing it,” Wescott said.
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As part of the agreement, Schmitt, a local farmer, will receive 45 acres of farmland on McNeil Road that is owned by the city. ROCK FALLS CONTINUED ON A5
Today’s weather High 90. Low 67. More on A3.
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