Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
HOOPS ACTION HEATS UP IN AREA
Celebrate new year with furry friends
PREP BASKETBALL, B1
DAY TRIP, A7
TELEGRAPH
Friday, December 27, 2013
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
STERLING
Police: Man points gun at woman Suspect served time for shooting BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
STERLING – A Sterling man who was convicted in a shooting a couple of years ago is now accused of threat-
ening a woman with a gun. Austin J. Ramirez, 20, was charged Wednesday with aggravated assault, aggravated use of weapons and marijuana possession. According to Sterling police, Ramirez pointed a gun at a woman about 11 a.m. Christmas Eve at an apartment complex in the 200 block of East 25th Street. No shots were fired, police said.
Police then alerted the public about Ramirez, who had fled. They said he was armed and dangerous and shouldn’t be approached. About 6 p.m. Christmas Day, police were told that Ramirez was in the 600 block of 14th Avenue. He was found in a house there and taken into custody. In March 2011, Ramirez, then 17, was accused of firing a gun and grazing another 17-year-
old. The shooting happened in the 700 block of West Fifth Street in Sterling. He served 180 days in jail for that crime. In July, Ramirez was charged with attempted armed robbery, according to online court records. No other details were available. Shortly before he was arrested Christmas Day, Ramirez wrote
on his Facebook page that police were “lurking” because of a shooting in town. He also referred to a woman who he said was “snitching,’” saying he would never “trust a girl in my whole life ever again.” “I’m out here with the cops on da block,” he wrote. Ramirez was in the Whiteside County Jail on Thursday. He hadn’t been to court yet.
DIXON
STERLING
Spreading Goodwill
Sewer rates frozen for 5 years Vote at special meeting avoids 3 percent increase BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 529
Photos by Kimberly Watley/Special to SVM
Haley Paone, 19, was recently offered a regular position as a cashier at Goodwill through its “Let’s Go to Work” program. Offered to those with disabilities, the program trains workers and gives them job skills that oftentimes help employ those deemed unemployable.
‘Let’s Go to Work’ program builds skills in workplace with disabled BY KIMBERLY WATLEY For Sauk Valley Media
STERLING – Giving back to the communities it serves has been the secret for success for Goodwill since 1895, when the Rev. Edgar Helms founded Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries. Much has changed over the years, though one thing remains the same: Changes always reflect the needs of local people, said Sterling store manager Jaclyn Wooden. The store is packed with merchandise, from clothing to housewares, which are the top two sellers. Donations are sold at affordable prices. The money received from purchases goes toward programs that assist people in need.
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 168
DIXON – The Dixon City Council voted to freeze the city’s sewer rates for 5 years. The decision came as the result of a 3-2 vote during a special City Council meeting Thursday morning. The votes against the rate freeze came from commissioners Dave Blackburn and Dennis Considine, who said it wasn’t a fiscally responsible move. Voting for the rate freeze were Mayor Jim Burke and commissioners Colleen Brechon and Jeff Kuhn, saying the citizens deserved a break. “Rita [Crundwell] was helping herself to that wastewater treatment budget money,” Burke said. “And we have received millions in reimbursement, and now we’re going to load it up on the citizens, and let them also pay back for her sticky fingers [if we don’t freeze the rate].” The city has received $39.2 million from a settlement with its former auditors and the sale of Crundwell’s assets, to offset the nearly $54 million the former comptroller stole during 2 decades. The rate freeze, established by an ordinance, can be undone at any point, City Attorney Rob LeSage said. The freeze will save the average Dixon homeowner about $15 a year, according to the city. Earlier this month, the City Council voted down a 1-year freeze, so that it could be brought back as a 5-year measure. Considine voted against the 5-year freeze, but, he said, understood why the rate increases had been happening. SEWER CONTINUED ON A4
All donations are welcome and very few are thrown away. Clothing is one of the most popular items sold by Goodwill. The only items not accepted are televisions and car seats. Wooden said nothing goes to waste. Though Goodwill prefers the “best of the best,” donations sometimes come with rips or stains. Even those items
INDEX
are put to use. “We don’t throw away any clothes,” she said. “They go back to the warehouse, and sometimes different countries will purchase them, or people purchase them for rags and what have you.”
BUSINESS ......... A12 CHURCH.............. A9 COMICS ............... A8
CROSSWORD....B11 DEAR ABBY ....... A10 LIFESTYLE ........... A7
All stock is on a 5-week rotation. Things that don’t sell after they are marked as low as 50 percent off are sold to other Goodwill stores. GOODWILL CONTINUED ON A4
LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
To attend The Dixon City Council next meets at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 6 at City Hall, 121 W. Second St., on the second floor in the Council Chambers. Go to www.DiscoverDixon. org or call City Hall at 815288-1485 for an agenda or more information.
Today’s weather High 33. Low 18. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-284-2224 OR 800-798-4085