10U All-Stars shine at state Rochelle Little League’s 10U Baseball All-Stars earned a top-8 finish at state. See Sports
WEEKEND EDITION | WWW.ROCHELLENEWS-LEADER.COM SUNDAY, AUG. 3, 2025
LOCAL NEWS... LOC AL VIEWS
Vol. 106 • No. 29
$1.25
RCH planning facility updates starting with expansion of Health and Wellness Building CEO Tracy: ‘Our focus is reinvesting in services we provide to the community.’
BY JEFF HELFRICH MANAGING EDITOR
Today’s RNL issue sponsored by Community Unity members:
408 Lincoln Highway 815-562-8101
ROCHELLE — Rochelle Community Hospital is currently in the process of planning a multi-year facilities improvement process, RCH CEO Karen Tracy told the Rochelle News-Leader and Ogle County Life on July 23. In 2023, RCH received the results of a master facilities plan that analyzed the entire RCH campus. At one time, RCH previously owned farmland off Illinois Route 251 in Hillcrest and there was an idea that a new hospital would be built there one
(PHOTO BY JEFF HELFRICH)
Tom McDermott recently published his second book containing 52 stories of Rochelle-area history.
McDermott publishes 2nd book with stories of Rochelle history as fundraiser for museum BY JEFF HELFRICH (PHOTO BY JEFF HELFRICH)
Rochelle Community Hospital is currently in the process of planning a multi-year facilities improvement process, RCH CEO Karen Tracy told the Rochelle News-Leader and Ogle County Life on July 23.
day. Tracy said that idea is no more, and the master facilities plan will launch a process of updates and
changes to RCH’s campus at 900 N. 2nd St. See RCH page 2
MANAGING EDITOR
ROCHELLE — Flagg Township Museum Historian Tom McDermott often quotes the phrase, “People die twice. Once when they stop breathing, and again when someone says their name for the last time.”
McDermott recently published his second book containing 52 stories of Rochelle-area history. “STORIES 2: Glimpses into the history of the Rochelle area and its residents” is now available for purchase at the museum and online. See STORIES page 3
Ogle County K9 Fund Bark and Whine Ball is Nov. 1 in Oregon Proceeds from event will fund dog food, vet bills, training and equipment BY JEFF HELFRICH MANAGING EDITOR 900 N. 2nd St. 815-562-2181
OBITUARIES • JOE EDWARD THIELE See page 4
INSERTS • MENARDS
INSIDE Local News.............2, 3, 5, 8 Obituaries............................4 Opinion................................6 Community.........................7
OREGON — The Ogle County K9 Fund Bark and Whine Ball will take place Saturday, Nov. 1 from 5-10 p.m. at the River’s Edge Experience at 103 S. 1st St. in Oregon. The event will include live music by The Vodka Boys, food catered by Ralfie’s BBQ, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle. Only 250 tickets will be sold and they can be purchased at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Merlin’s Greenhouse & Flowers and Cork & Tap. All proceeds will go to supporting the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit, which in-
cludes Deputy Kyle White and K9 Gator and Deputy Ali VanVickle and K9 Saint. Expenses for the K9 program include food, veterinary bills, training, equipment and future K9 acquisitions. The K9 unit is supported solely by donations and self-funding and was recently established as a 501c3 nonprofit. After gun raffle fundraisers in recent years, White and VanVickle decided to attempt to fundraise in a different way with more community engagement. They’ve been organizing the event since April. “We wanted to fundraise on a bigger scale,”
VanVickle said. “We expect it to sell out. We’ve sold about half the tickets already. We’re out in the community a lot and what we’ve learned most from that is that people don’t realize that the K9 expenses aren’t paid for by the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office. It’s all donated and self-funded to keep these dogs healthy, fed, trained and in equipment. People want to help when they realize that and we’ve seen people wanting to donate.” The initial cost for a K9 and its training is about $14,000-16,000. Most of the dogs come from Europe. See K9 BALL page 8
(COURTESY PHOTO)
The Ogle County K9 Fund Bark and Whine Ball will take place Saturday, Nov. 1 from 5-10 p.m. at the River’s Edge Experience at 103 S. 1st St. in Oregon.
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