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Your turn: Celebrate Disability Pride Month with diversity, inclusion
As July unfolds, we enter a time of celebration and reflection: Disability Pride Month. This annual observance is more than just a recognition of the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. It is a vibrant celebration of their achievements, resilience, and the invaluable contributions they make to our communities. At...
Educators Encouraged to Register for Workplace Wednesday Tours
It's not too late to sign up for Workplace Wednesday offered by the Regional Office of Education #47. Sessions will be held July 10, 17 and 24 from 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Workplace Wednesday gives teachers the opportunity to visit businesses in different Career Pathways throughout the three counties area. By visiting places of employment, it helps educators develop real world lessons for their classrooms and prepare students for their future in the workforce. Businesses also help educators identify students who would fit into their jobs.
Students build mini food centers to feed hungry neighbors
OREGON, Ill. — Oregon High School students didn’t just learn framing and roofing in their ag construction class — they also learned about giving back and how hunger might be living right next door. Seth McMillan’s class built four shelters that are serving as mini food centers,...
Man sentenced to probation for slapping, pushing woman off toilet during 2023 altercation
OREGON — A Mt. Morris man was sentenced to 18 months probation and four days in jail June 28 for slapping a woman and pushing her off a toilet during a Nov. 23, 2023, altercation in a home they shared. Cory Love, 47, was found guilty of two counts...
Rockford-area housing market sets another price record as inventory rises for first time in 3 years
ROCKFORD — Home sale prices in the region set another record high as the inventory of houses on the market increased for the first time in more than three years. The three-month rolling average price of a home sold in Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties was $210,089 in May, according to the latest data from the NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors. That price is up nearly 60% in five years, and it’s up 12% from May 2023.
Judge to allow some internet searches at upcoming trial for mom accused of killing 7-year-old son
OREGON — Some internet searches that prosecutors say an Oregon mother made before suffocating her 7-year-old son in 2021 will be allowed at her trial next month, an Ogle County judge ruled Monday. Sarah Safranek, 37, the mother of Nathaniel Burton, is accused of killing him in the family’s...
Hearings Wrap Up in Safrenek Case Ahead of August Trial
OREGON - In a hearing on Friday in Ogle County Court, 37-year-old Sarah Safrenek appeared in one of her last hearings ahead of an expected trial on August 12th. The Oregon woman is accused of suffocating her son to death in 2021. Prosecutors were able to get statements the victim, 7-year-old Nataniel Burton, reportedly made to his foster parents admissible, but the Judge ruled other statements that were made to his Paternal Grandmother and another female relative were not going to be heard during the trial. Safrenek is due back in court on Monday afternoon, when the Judge will give a final ruling on remaining evidentiary issues.
Oregon woman accused of killing son will go to trial
OGLE COUNTY, Ill. (WIFR) - The case against a 37-year-old Oregon woman accused of murdering her 7-year-old son will go to trial. Sarah Safranek appeared in court June 28 for a final pretrial hearing. Ogle County prosecutors say Safranek suffocated Nathaniel Burton on Feb. 17, 2021, at their Oregon home in the 400 block of S. 10th Street. Burton died later that day at a Dixon hospital.
Ogle County Sheriff’s Report: June 25, 2024
OREGON — On June 25 at approximately 1:30 a.m. deputies arrived in the 200 block of Mulberry Lane in rural Dixon regarding a reported domestic battery. After an initial investigation, deputies placed Christopher K. Valdivieso, 32, of Dixon, under arrest for domestic battery. Valdivieso was transported to the Ogle County Jail and was held pending an appearance before a judge.
Ogle County man sentenced for killing pregnant girlfriend, setting house on fire
OREGON, Ill. (WTVO) — Matthew Plote, 36, has been sentenced for the killing of his pregnant girlfriend, Melissa Lamesch, and setting her Mount Morris home on fire. On March 25th, an Ogle County jury found Plote guilty of first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child and residential arson. Lamesch was just days away from […]
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