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COMETS STATEBOUND IN 2A
14-0 home win over Mercer County puts Newman in Friday’s state title game PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS, B1
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Monday, November 25, 2013
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
ENTERPRISE SERIES | ILLINOIS TOWNSHIPS
Turkeys not just for the needy Giveaway of Thanksgiving baskets includes no income limit BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
STERLING – Sterling and Coloma townships advertise their annual effort to distribute turkeys as helping the needy. The poor benefit from the program, but those with greater means can, as well. It has no income requirement. In 2011, Matt Howze and Debra Burke, the supervisors of Sterling and Coloma townships, respectively, pleaded for contributions to the Thanksgiving baskets program. “All of your donations will be used to give needy families
in the Rock Falls and Sterling areas a Thanksgiving dinner,” they wrote in a Sauk Valley Media guest column. This year, the townships each are contributing $5,000 to the program. People had until earlier this month to apply for a Thanksgiving basket. In a recent interview, Howze said he didn’t know of any people with higher incomes who have received turkeys. But he said it is possible, because the program has no income limits. He said the townships try to gear their efforts toward general assistance recipients. Those
are people who have already received aid from the townships, one of their required functions. On Tuesday, the townships plan to distribute 1,200 turkeys. Some will be delivered, while many others will be given away at the Sterling Township garage, where a line forms. Mary Bowman, Coloma’s cemetery manager and a volunteer for the Thanksgiving basket program, calls it the “Great Turkey Giveaway.” She said she believed in giving turkeys to the needy, but that she didn’t want those with higher incomes to get them.
“They don’t have to be needy to get them,” Bowman said. “There are Escalades that drive up and get them. Could we put the money to better use, like setting up a soup kitchen? Are we spending wisely with the Great Turkey Giveaway? Once people find out there are no requirements, will the townships have to get more turkeys?” Howze said Sterling Township’s money for the Thanksgiving baskets doesn’t come from the general assistance fund, which must go to the poor. Rather, he said, the township taps its community fund, which has no such requirement.
Under the Radar: Many townships, little scrutiny
About this series Today’s story is part of a yearlong occasional series about townships in Illinois.
DEATH ON I-88
HOMETOWN HOLIDAYS IN ROCK FALLS
Man shot by officer identified Investigation continues in death of Ohio man STAFF REPORT news@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 591
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
While Kyla Smith, 5, puts on a big smile for Santa, little brother, Evan, 2, hides behind his mother, Rana, Saturday afternoon at Merrill Elementary School in Rock Falls. As usual, the Hometown Holidays parade in Rock Falls wrapped up at the school with a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
ABOVE: Santa sings in the shower Saturday as the Jaycees’ float makes its way through the Hometown Holidays parade in Rock Falls. RIGHT: Children scramble for candy Saturday afternoon along the Hometown Holidays parade route through Rock Falls. Those brave enough to stand the cold weather were treated to lots of the sweet stuff.
ROCK FALLS – The man killed by a state conservation officer Friday morning along Interstate 88 was identified Saturday as Shane David Cataline, 30, of Toledo, Ohio. An autopsy was done Saturday, Illinois State Police said in a news release. Cataline was shot and killed by a conservation officer after having pinned a State Police trooper between his minivan and the trooper’s car. Both officers were injured and taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released. Cataline was pronounced dead at the scene. State Police said the investigation continues, and urged anyone with information to call them at 815-632-4010, ext. 220. At 10:44 a.m. Friday, a state conservation officer assisted a man driving a minivan with Ohio plates at Burns and Albany roads in Whiteside County, said Robert Frazier, Region 1 commander for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources conservation police. Afterward, that same driver, later identified as Cataline, called 911, making statements that prompted officers to check on him again. The van later was spotted heading east on Interstate 88, just west of U.S. Route 30, Commander Frazier said. It is unclear whether the trooper and the conservation officer pulled the driver over together, or whether the conservation officer responded to a call for officer assistance. IDENTIFIED CONTINUED ON A2
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TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 146
INDEX
COMICS ............... A9 CROSSWORD....B10 DEAR ABBY ......... A7
LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2 NATION/WORLD .. A8
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 SPORTS ...............B1
Today’s weather High 35. Low 21. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.
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