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HAWKS PUSH THROUGH TO VICTORY VOLLEYBALL, B1
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Thursday, September 8, 2016 n SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON | POLICE SHOOTING
We had to shoot Chief: Officers had to act, or ‘an innocent person would be dead’ BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
DIXON – The Dixon police chief says the shooting of an armed suspect who took a woman hostage and stabbed another man was justified. “The officers were left with no choice but to fire their weap-
ons,” Chief Danny Langloss said Wednesday afternoon. “If they wouldn’t have, we would have an innocent person dead.” Langloss came to his conclusion after hearing statements from witnesses and reviewing squad-car video of the shooting. The 33-year-old suspect, being treated at a Rockford hospital for
non-life-threatening wounds to his wrist, abdomen and leg, and others involved will be identified Thursday, after family has been notified, Langloss said. The man whom he stabbed was being treated at KSB Hospital. His wound also was not life-threatening, Langloss said. SHOOTING continued on A34
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Officers work at the scene of a police shooting Wednesday afternoon on the 800 block of West Third Street in Dixon.
ROCK FALLS
BUSINESS
In it for the
long haul
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
The city’s new Casey’s General Store, at 1604 First Ave., will open at 5 a.m. today. A grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 16 and 17.
A Dixon man handcrafts campers that his customers find teardrop-dead gorgeous
New Casey’s opens today BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Opal and Glenn Wallin are the couple behind the hand-crafted campers that roll out of their Dixon home. The Teardrop trailers started out as a challenge – Glenn saw one online and said to himself, “I can build that” – and turned into a part-time business for the couple.
It’s all in the details
BY TERRY THOMAS Special to Sauk Valley Media
DIXON – Dixon native Glenn Wallin Sr. always has had a knack for building things. As the 68-year-old ComEd retiree sits in his study, he points out the examples of his craftsmanship. “I built that roll-top desk and that file cabinet over there,” he said, smiling. “I’ve been a woodworker for 50 years. I’ve built just about anything you can name, from pool tables to baby cribs.” So it wasn’t too surprising when Glenn spied a homemade Teardrop camper trailer on the Internet about 8 years ago and immediately began figuring out Glenn gets a kick out of how he could make having Route 66 on his one himself. camper. The number “I said to myself, ‘I has special meaning to can build that,’” and him; not only is it a leg- he went to work. Sevendary highway, but it’s eral months later, his the year Glenn graduat- creation was ready to ed, and it’s the number hit the road. He and of the Navy SEALs unit his wife, Opal, took with which he served it all the way to Caliduring Vietnam. fornia on a camping trip. “That first trailer was 5 feet by 8 feet,” he said. “It had a queen-sized bed, flat screen TV and overhead cabinets,” not to mention a galley-style kitchen in the back, all the product of his handiwork. CAMPERS continued on A54
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Making hand-crafted campers gives Glenn and Opal the chance to add those little touches that make the campers pop, like this antique bottle opener in the galley kitchen, or a quilt made by his wife with 48 bags from Crown Royal, Glenn’s favorite liquor.
ROCK FALLS – The city’s new Casey’s General Store, at 1604 First Ave., opened at 5 a.m. today. The 4,600-square-foot store, the largest the company builds, will be open 24 hours a day. Rock Falls also has Casey’s stores at 900 Dixon Ave., and 1201 E. Rock Falls Road. The company has no plans to close any of the older stores. CASEY’S continued on A34
CIVIC PLAZA
City backs up its words Legal petition filed to address sewer issues near housing complex BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Find Wallin online
Glenn Wallin Sr. blogs about his Teardrop creations at Good ’Ol RVs, http://shawurl.com/2tb6. He also has a Facebook page where you can see some of his photos, and where he will post the next camper up for sale.
ABBY.................... A8 BUSINESS............ A7 COMICS................B6
CROSSWORD.....B10 LIFESTYLE............ A8 LOTTERY.............. A2
ROCK FALLS – Attorneys for the city filed a petition Wednesday morning to initiate legal proceedings against the Civic Plaza II management company. The petition, filed at the Whiteside County Courthouse in Sterling, asks for an injunction that would remedy the sewer situation between the city and Pratt Plaza LLC of Chicago. A few months ago, the city asked management at Civic Plaza I and Civic Plaza II to install grinder systems, after neighbors of the housing complexes were having problems with sewer backup. The city’s sewer department said the backup was the result of a variety of large items, such as paper towels, being put into the sanitary sewer system by Civic Plaza residents. SEWAGE continued on A54
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE............A9-12
Today’s weather High 85. Low 61. More on A3.
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