Local

STERLING – A local doctor accused of illegally dispensing drugs that led to the deaths of at least 3 people hired a physician to issue prescriptions when he was absent, federal prosecutors say.

STERLING – A long-awaited period of warm, dry weather has allowed area farmers to complete 77 percent of their corn planting, according to data released Monday by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

DIXON – A business or organization that wants to install a bicycle rack on its property will be able to do so for about $300 through a new city program, Mayor Jim Burke said.

DIXON – The Lee County Board on Tuesday voted 12-9 to allow a controversial wind farm, overruling a decision last month by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

POLO – The thunderstorm Sunday night was a pretty bad one. High winds blew down the stop sign at Rock City and Montague roads, on the Ogle-Stephenson County border.

The college Board of Trustees on Monday voted to discontinue wind energy program amid declining interest from students, which officials attribute to negative perceptions of wind energy in the area, among other factors.

DIXON – Oregon Police Chief Darin DeHaan is an outstanding alumnus of Sauk Valley Community College.

DIXON – "The people of Dixon are opinionated about city government." That was eighth-grader Mackenzie Kavanaugh's opening sentence after interviewing four people in downtown Dixon on Monday. Not a bad lesson to learn about democracy, if you ask me.

DIXON – Fines for city code violations, including such items as littering, parking in a residential lawn or allowing grass to grow too tall could soon be more costly.

Lower electricity rates are coming to the unincorporated areas of Lee and Whiteside counties.

ROCK FALLS – For the last couple of months, Rock Falls police officers have made a point of visiting schools.

MORRISON – The Whiteside County Board on Tuesday approved, 21-3, a request to rezone the former Sterling Christian School building in Galt from residential to industrial.

Amboy Junior High School sixth-graders smile and pose for a photo while on a community service outing Tuesday. The class planted flowers, picked up trash and pulled weeds to help beautify the downtown.

DIXON – Police found nine guns, ammunition and marijuana plants in the home of a Dixon man when they raided it Monday with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Whiteside County Sheriff's Department, according to a news release by Dixon Police Department.

DIXON -- The Lee County Board this morning voted 12-9 to allow a controversial wind farm, overruling a decision last month by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The board approved the project, along with a number of conditions dealing with issues such as noise.

STERLING – Marty Wolf joked that he always ends up in Jean Dempsey's barber chair because it's empty. But then the truth came out. Marty, who gets his hair cut every 2 weeks, rearranges his schedule to visit the Sterling Barbershop early in the week, when Jean is on duty.

STERLING – A Sterling man was sentenced to 4 years of probation for burglary.

STERLING – A Sterling man was sentenced to 3 years in prison for selling cocaine.

STERLING – Saryn Seeley, 11, is not keeping her prize. She instead (at the suggestion of her father) is raffling it off and donating the proceeds to the Gainey family, whose son has stage 4 colon cancer.

Almost 40 educators with a combined almost 850 years of service in area school districts are retiring at the end of this school year.