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Nashville artists will fiddle around in Dixon
DIXON JUNIOR IS READY FOR A RECORD BOYS SWIMMING, B1
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Thursday, December 8, 2016 n SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
LEE & OGLE COUNTIES | PUBLIC TRANSIT
SAUK VALLEY
Riders get a reprieve LOTS got some financial fuel in its tank, but how far the agency can go on it remains to be seen BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Larry Klett, 50, of Rock Falls, rings a bell for the Salvation Army while manning a kettle outside the Sterling Walmart on Wednesday afternoon. The agency has seen a decline in bell-ringers this year and hopes folks will step up to help it reach its $150,000 goal. This is Klettâs second year as a bellringer. If you see him, wish him a happy birthday in advance. He turns 51 on Dec. 18.
Give us a ring The Salvation Army could use some more bell ringers â and more cash in the kettle â to help make its goal, or it could face some hard choices about its services BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
STERLING â The world â Whiteside Countyâs share of it, particularly â needs more Bill Byars. More Larry Kletts. More people to add to the The Salvation Armyâs list of huge-hearted folks who ring bells for the nonprofit during its holiday campaign. For whatever reason, though, the list is markedly shorter this year. Far too many kettles have gone unmanned for too many shifts since the campaign kicked off Nov. 11, Envoy DeShawn Johnson said. âIâm not exactly the most comfortable with where we are and the timeframe we have left,â he said. The agency hit its $130,000 fundraising mark last year and, after doing studies to gauge the communityâs needs, it upped its goal to $150,000 this year. Four weeks in, and with 2 weeks and change to go, itâs less than a quarter of the way to that mark. The funds raised during the campaign make up more than 60 percent of the agencyâs annual operating budget. âThis is about so much more than making my goal,â Johnson said. âIf we donât make that goal, we have to change the way we serve people in need.â
Why they do it Byar, 89, started ringing bells in 1972, when he joined Kiwanis Club, and more than 25 of the clubsâ 35 or so members still ring bells. âBut in most clubs, membership is getting older,â Byar said. âKiwanisâ membership is older, in general, than it used to be. Itâs tough to get people to do this at the outside ones.â RING continued on A54
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a saukvall d this story at video of ey.com to watc L bell and arry Klett ringing h thanking the th givers fo r the Salv e gracious ation Arm y.
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STERLING
Lee County closing in on its goal BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
DIXON â The business of giving is good in Lee County, where there isnât a brick-and-mortar Salvation Army agency, and volunteers are back in typical numbers. For nearly 30 years, Hal Weaver had helmed the effort in Dixon, where bell-ringers volunteer four Saturdays at County Market, Shopko, Ace Hardware, Dixon Food Mart and Walmart, the last shift of Chuck which is this Stoddard Saturday. This year, Chuck Stoddard stepped up to spearhead the effort. âI found out this year just how much work it really is,â Stoddard said. âHe needs to be commended.â So do the volunteers. The group set a goal of $6,000 to $8,000, and have just about already hit that first number, thanks to folks from churches, Kiwanis Club and other groups, and a whole lot of gracious folks from Crest Foods. LEE COUNTY continued on A54
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DIXON â The Lee-Ogle Transportation System will keep its doors open into next year, thanks to a longawaited payment from the state. The agency received about $247,000 Wednesday from backlogged bills owed by the state for fiscal year 2016âs fourth quarter â April, May and June. LOTS Executive Director Jaime Blatti said they were able to keep operations running into December after reducing service hours Nov. 1, but if the payment hadnât come, the organization would have had to close its doors at yearâs end. The funds will keep services going for the next 2 or 3 months, but thereâs still the uncertainty of when the state will make its next payment or when it will pass a budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, Blatti said. âWeâre definitely not out of the woods yet,â she said, adding that the state will still owe LOTS about $500,000 by the end of the year.
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Jim Dunn/jdunn@saukvalley.com
The Sterling City Council unanimously approved the waiving of the bid process so some much-needed roof work can be done quickly on the former Lawrence Brothers building.
City takes care of a top priority City approves $51,000 temporary fix for Lawrence buildingâs roof BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING â The city is in limbo with the Lawrence Brothers building, but until the situation becomes clearer, a minimal amount of work will be done to preserve the structure. At Mondayâs meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the waiving of the bid process so some roof work can be done quickly. There isnât much of a roof left to fix. A series of severe windstorms have torn off the top of the five-story section of the building. A proposal from Sterling Commercial Roofing was accepted to put a temporary roof on that section of the building at a cost of $51,450. The company noted that the makeshift roof could also serve as a base for a permanent version if one is needed in the future. ROOF continued on A54
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Todayâs weather High 24. Low 16. More on A3.
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