Local

DIXON – Up to 15,000 pounds of organic waste could be rotating in a vessel at any given time at Secure Recycling Services, a business division of Kreider Services.

Once you cross either of the Mississippi River bridges from Fulton, you end up in Iowa, the Hawkeye State, the site of the first presidential caucuses every 4 years. And another thing – a land of lower unemployment.

A roundup of Sauk Valley business comings and goings.

ROCK FALLS – Rock Falls High School Superintendent Jane Eichman is retiring at the end of this school year, after 40 years in education.

ERIE – The Erie Elementary School counselor who unsuccessfully pushed for a diversity curriculum that included the gay and lesbian community will receive a national honor for his work next week.

DIXON – Valbona Bajrami reminded her fellow graduates that commencement is more than just a ceremony, but rather, an acknowledgement of commitment.

STERLING – A federal judge on Friday sentenced an Oregon man to 10 years and 1 month in prison for distributing child pornography.

DIXON – A longtime family medicine doctor for KSB in Polo soon will be moving her practice to Dixon.

DIXON – Fran Newbauer misses driving by her best friend Faith Collins' house and shouting out her car window to say hi to her.

DIXON – A third of Lee County Board members have taken a stand on the controversial proposal for a wind farm in the county's southwestern corner. The rest are either undecided or haven't returned Sauk Valley Media's calls for comment. The 24-member board will vote on the wind farm Tuesday.

Looking for something to do this weekend? Try these suggestions.

DIXON – She's looking mighty fine for 94. With her horsepower restored and a new spring in her chassis, Bessy is coming home. The Reagan Boyhood Home is planning a homecoming party June 1 for its 1919 Model T, which had been relegated to the garage until visiting members of the Fox Valley Model T Club decided to get the old gal going again.

DIXON – Sauk Valley Community College hopes its fire science program catches, well, fire among firefighters in the region.

DIXON – A Lee County Judge ruled Thursday to admit accusations of prior sexual abuse in the trial of a Dixon man accused of having sex with a 12-year-old girl last year.

U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, whose district includes Whiteside County, voted for a farm bill this week that she said provides farmers with "strong and stable" crop insurance. On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee, which includes Bustos, voted 36-10 for a farm bill that would, among other things, trim food stamps.

MOUNT CARROLL – The principal of an endowment fund typically is considered untouchable. Only the interest can be spent. This week, however, the Mount Carroll City Council decided it could spend the principal of its decades-old Oak Hill Cemetery endowment fund. It transferred the money to the cemetery's operations and maintenance fund.

DIXON — Former Marine Colin Bond plans to spend his weekend climbing over walls, plunging into ice baths, scaling electric fences and running up inclined ramps. In fact, he's been looking forward to it all winter.

DIXON – A pretrial conference for a Dixon man accused of strangling his wife was reset for May 24.

ROCK FALLS – Rock Falls Middle School could see some improvements this summer.

DIXON – The City Council may turn to an interim city administrator when it hires for the post in 3 to 6 months, said Police Chief Danny Langloss, special assistant to the City Council.