Title showdown with Princeville looming By Gary Steward and Victor Lampe ONEIDA – After stumbling in its regular season finale, the Stark County girls basketball team came out strong in its postseason opener. Stark County (22-9) downed Galva, 57-28, on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Class 1A ROWVA Regional. The Lady Rebels ran to an 11-5 lead after one quarter and steadily built their advantage throughout the game. Olivia Hopp led a balanced Lady Rebels attack with 15 points. Also in double figures were Kelsey Berchtold with 13 points, McKenzie Stahl with 11 and Riley Menssen with 10. Lexi…

By Carol Townsend GALVA – School Board members Andrew Larson and John VanDeVelde were named to a sub committee to search for a new School Superintendent. The district hopes to name a superintendent in November to replace Doug O’Riley, who is retiring July 1, 2021. O’Riley came to Galva in 2006 as principal before becoming superintendent in 2010. The board also looked at architectural plans for new science rooms. Bidders for the construction project can walk through the rooms in February and the board will look over bids at its March meeting. Some features of the rooms include a dishwasher…

By John A. Ballentine TOULON – The City Council deliberated on four ordinances Monday, passing three and tabling one for later consideration. In addition, the council made a decision concerning the city’s subdivision in southern Toulon. The council unanimously passed an ordinance leaving the city’s franchise fee with Mediacom at 1 percent. That allows the city to collect approximately $2,100 in fees and reflect no change in customers’ billing. A livestock ordinance for Toulon passed by a 4-1 vote and prohibits residents from keeping livestock year-round within city limits. This affects new livestock, not livestock currently existing in Toulon. Art…

By Jeff Lampe KEWANEE – Monmouth United proved the seedings wrong with a 53-46 win over top-seed Kewanee Wethersfield Tuesday in the Lincoln Trail Conference boys basketball tournament. Seeded No. 5 in the tournament, United (18-5) is 3-0 in LTC play heading into tonight’s matchup with Galva at 7:30 p.m. in Wethersfield’s Moss Gym. United also owns tourney wins over Ridgewood (66-57 on Jan. 31) and Stark County (65-63 on Feb. 1) and is poised to play in Saturday’s 6 p.m. championship game with a victory tonight. The other finalist will be decided by tonight’s 7:30 p.m. game between No….

Traffic citations & Ordinance violations1-27-20 – Imad R. Abdallah – Driving 15-20 mph above the speed limit.1-27-20 – Dustin T. Browning – Driving 15-20 mph above the speed limit.1-27-20 – Howard E. Harmon – Operate uninsured motor vehicle.1-28-20 – Robbie L. Schaumleffel – Operate uninsured motor vehicle.1-28-20 – Timothy D. Early – Driving 15-20 mph above the speed limit.1-28-20 – Alecia D. Dozard – Driving 21-25 mph above the speed limit.1-28-20 – Trenton J. Overmyer – Driving 15-20 mph above the speed limit.1-27-20 – Gabriel Rosas, Jr. – Driving 15-20 mph above the speed limit.1-29-20 – Lawrence R. Falls –…

By John A. Ballentine TOULON – A 28-year-old Toulon man, currently incarcerated in the Bureau County jail on burglary charges in Bureau County, has pleaded not guilty in Stark County Circuit Court to two felony charges he faces here. Andrew W. Szparkowski was transported to Stark County Court from Bureau County for a preliminary hearing last Friday. Szparkowski is charged with a Class 2 felony burglary for allegedly robbing the Toulon United Methodist Church. Class 2 felonies are punishable by up to three to seven years in prison. Szparkowski could be eligible for extended sentencing, which would double the prison…

By Ben OrnerCapitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Soybean farmers in Illinois cannot catch a break. After a promising trade deal with China last month gave farmers hope amid an intense trade war, the deadly Wuhan coronavirus currently overwhelming China is also damaging its economy. The country’s economic slump is now sowing fears that China might not be able to buy all of the $32 billion of U.S. agricultural goods it promised for 2020, including soybeans from Illinois, America’s top soybean-producing state. “This kind of big shock to their economy diminishes their demand for a lot of primary products” like soybeans,…

Lady Rebels poised to place second in LTC By Gary Steward WYOMING – Monday night the Stark County girls basketball team took on a good, young ROWVA-Williamsfield team and came away with a 61-27 victory. Olivia Hopp threw in 19 points for the Lady Rebels, Riley Menssen had 14 and McKenzie Stahl contributed 10 to lead SC in scoring while Kelsey Berchtold and Lexi Davis controlled the boards with good defensive efforts. The Lady Tigers struggled to score and Abby Stowe and Jenna Woodside each had six points to lead the attack. The Lady Rebels own a 21-8 season record…

By Carol Townsend GALVA – Fund-raising for a permanent stage at Wiley Park is no longer necessary following Monday. Thanks for that goes largely to Jane Doss, owner of Galva-based Preferred Home Health Care. Doss presented a check for $100,000 to Mayor Rich Volkert at Monday night’s Galva City Council meeting for the stage the city will be putting in Galva’s Wiley Park. Galva will host the music series this summer for the third year. Doss’s donation and $10,000 from another anonymous donor will be enough to fund construction of the permanent stage. Doss gave the money as a memorial…

By John A. Ballentine TOULON – Doug Murray is the last of his kind in Stark County. A life-long dairyman and milk producer, Murray recently sat down with The Prairie News to discuss the history of Toulon area cheese making and Kraft’s influence on the county. Murray retired from milk producing last fall and was the last farmer to have a dairy herd of cows in Stark County. According to E.H. Shallenberger’s 1876 book, “Stark County and its Pioneers”, the Toulon cheese manufacturing company was organized in December of 1874 with cheese production beginning in the spring of 1875. It…