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EASTLAND, PROPHETSTOWN WIN STATE TOURNAMENT BERTHS
SPECIAL SECTION, INSIDE
GIRLS BASKETBALL, B1
dailyGAZETTE Tuesday, February 25, 2014
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
MILLEDGEVILLE | FORMER WORKERS PLEAD GUILTY
HOSPICE CARE
2 admit to embezzling FBI: Manager used township funds to cover crimes at credit union BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
MILLEDGEVILLE – Two former employees of Milledgeville Community Credit Union have pleaded guilty to embezzling money in separate cases. As part of a plea agreement, Kim Kent, 53, the credit union’s former manager, pleaded guilty Monday to embezzling $219,600 from October 2005 to
February 2012. And former credit union teller Kelsey Selman, 37, admitted that she embezzled $100,975 from the credit union, according to the news release. Each woman faces up to 30 years in prison, although it’s doubtful that either will get anywhere near that amount. Kent’s sentencing is set for June 2; Selman’s will be May 7. To conceal her embezzle-
ment, Kent created fictitious loans using names of family members and fictitious certificates of deposit, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Rockford. In 2009, she was elected supervisor of the Milledgeville-based Wysox Township. She used money from the township’s credit union account to cover her embezzlement, the release said.
Selman, 37, used the credit union’s computer system to apply credits to her personal account that did not have a corresponding deposit, the release said. As a result, the credit union’s records falsely reflected that Selman’s cash drawer increased by an amount to offset the deposit into her account. EMBEZZLING CONTINUED ON A3
SCHOOLS| WHITESIDE COUNTY REGIONAL SPELLING BEE
It was meant to bee Last-day alternate winds up winning Whiteside contest BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 535
MORRISON – Thirteen is her favorite number. Monday, it also turned out to be her lucky number. Audrey Melton, who, until very recently was 13, drew the number 13 position in the Whiteside County Regional Spelling Bee, held in the Morrison Junior High School gym. It was a spot she wasn’t supposed to have. Audrey, an eighth-grader at St. Andrew School in Rock Falls, found out at lunchtime Monday that she was replacing fifth-grader Isabella Trancoso, who fell ill and couldn’t compete. Now it was Round 6, and of the 22 middle-school students competing, only she and Elizabeth Striley, an eighth-grader at Unity Christian School in Fulton, remained. Elizabeth stumbled on cedilla, which is a mark written under the letter c, especially in French, to show that it is pronounced like an s rather than a k, such as in façade.
Passages closes suddenly Sauk Valley patients find new caregivers BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 535
Passages Hospice Illinois has closed its doors, but Sauk Valley-area patients have not been left in a lurch. Most, if not all, have found new hospice agencies, thanks in large part to local Passages employees who worked “tirelessly” all last week, “with relative certainty we weren’t going to get paid Friday.” That’s according to the Rev. Roger Carlson, a Passages employee since 2011. The Lisle-based for-profit hospice care provider, which serves most of Illinois and small parts of three other states, closed abruptly Friday, weeks after its founder was charged with federal health care fraud. The closing came despite assurances in a statement last month that “as a company, we are continuing to move forward and our services will not be interrupted.” PASSAGES CONTINUED ON A4
INSIDE
Erase the hate A traveling ensemble brought a message of love to Rock Falls and Newman students Monday. PAGE A5
MORRISON SCHOOLS
Vance, 39, ascends to top spot in district
BEE CONTINUED ON A4
BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 521
Unity Christian School eighth-grader Elizabeth Striley, 13, steps up to the microphone for her final word of the evening. Elizabeth threw an “s” in cedilla, which cost her the win and brought her in at second place.
Photos by Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
St. Andrew School eighth-grader Audrey Melton, 14, of Rock Falls, smiles broadly after correctly spelling contiguous to win the annual Whiteside County Regional Spelling Bee on Monday at Morrison Junior High School. Audrey, who got to compete when a fellow St. Andrew student had to drop out because of illness, advances to the National Spelling Bee in May.
MORRISON – Scott Vance has been moving up the ranks in the Morrison school district. On Monday, he moved to the top. The Morrison school board announced during its meeting that Vance will be the district’s new superintendent when Suellen Girard retires at the end of the school year. Vance, 39, has been principal at Morrison High School for 4 years, but has worked for the district for 14, he said. Before becoming principal, he taught, coached, and served as athletic director. VANCE CONTINUED ON A2
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TODAY’S EDITION: 28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 160 ISSUE 56
INDEX
BUSINESS ......... A14 COMICS ............. A12 CROSSWORD....B12
DEAR ABBY ......... A8 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 SPORTS ...............B1
Today’s weather High 13. Low -5. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.
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