we are family
DESCRIPTION
A local sheriff's deputy traveled to Nebraska to take part in a slain officer's memorial service and procession.TRANSCRIPT
Saturday&Sunday, May 30-31, 2015 ■ $2.00SVServing Lee, Whiteside, Carroll, Ogle and Bureau counties
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VOLUME 7ISSUE 3956 Pages
Business Community IndexWith respect and honor, Dixon area residents paid tribute to deceased military men and women on Memorial Day. A photo essay appears inside.See Page
C12
Apron Strings Antiques’ inventory will be sold at auction today.See Page C1
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WEEKEND FEATURE | WHITESIDE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
BY ANGEL [email protected]
800-798-4085, ext. 5695@_angelsierra
Billy Murray spends his day off helping others, and today, he’s mowing and tidying a cemetery on state Route 172. Although some people might miss it – it’s a man-ageable plot with no address – it’s a job that he feels must get done.
A sense of duty slowly is revealed as Murray, 56, describes who he is and where he’s from.
The Whiteside County patrol sergeant wears a blue T-shirt, already stained with the effects of a midday sun, as cars, pickup trucks, and farm traffic blur by on the road next to him.
His smile is bright as he shares some of his experience: he’s worked more than 20 years at the sheriff’s department, and before that, served in the Air Force for 13 years. In a month, he transitions to a detective role.
Like many in law enforcement,
he has seen death approach.A couple of years ago on patrol,
for example, he received a call for a man with a gun who had been threatening suicide.
The man shot and killed himself about 5 feet from officers as they attempted to negotiate, Murray said.
You never know what’s going to happen, he warned, and although most situations are uneventful, there’s always a palpable risk.
‘We are family’Deputy travels to Nebraska to take part in
slain officer’s memorial service, procession Angel Sierra/[email protected]
Whiteside County Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant Billy Mur-ray displays a T-shirt that many people were wearing at memorial services for slain Omaha, Nebraska, police officer Kerrie Orozco. Murray traveled to Omaha on Monday to attend services Tuesday for Orozco, who was shot and killed May 20 while serving a fugitive warrant.
Watch online Click on this story at saukvalley.com to see
video recorded by Billy Murray that shows clips from the procession route on its way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, from Omaha, Nebraska. DEPUTY CONTINUED ON A11
ETHANOL
BY PAM [email protected]
800-798-4085, ext. 5570@pam_eggemeier
The latest biofuels targets pro-posed for the nation’s fuel sup-ply are higher than what was proposed in 2013, but still fall short of what was set up in 2007 legislation.
The Environmental Protec-tion Agency released its long-delayed proposals for 2014, 2015 and 2016 Friday, saying the original targets in the Renew-able Fuel Standards program can’t be met. The EPA cited limi-tations on the amount of non-ethanol renewable fuels that can be produced, and a national trend of declining gasoline use.
The 2007 renewable fuels law tried to address global warm-ing, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and bolster the rural economy. It required a steady increase in the amount of renewable fuels, like corn-based ethanol, blended into gasoline over time.
Latest EPA plan falls short of ’07 law
PLAN CONTINUED ON A6
LOCAL SCHOOLS | FINANCIAL EDUCATION
Alex T. Paschal/[email protected] Students in Diane Conklen’s class at Reagan Middle School in Dixon work Friday on a program that teaches financial litera-cy. Students use the Banzai program to receive fictional paychecks, budget and track their expenses, and pay bills virtually. Blackhawk Area Credit Union gives 71 schools in Northwestern Illinois the chance to use Banzai for free.
BY JERMAINE [email protected]
800-798-4085, ext. 5525@JPigee84
DIXON – At just 14 years old, Reagan Middle School eighth-grader Owen Rick is already making adult decisions.
He has to keep a checkbook balanced, pay utilities, and save money for college.
“I don’t spend a lot of money on things like a car,” Rick said. “I didn’t get the most expen-
sive car, and for an apart-ment, I went for a middle-priced one and not the most expensive one.”
Rick has been making these types of decisions through a financial literacy program at the Dixon school.
With the help of Blackhawk Area Credit Union based in Savanna, students in the class have been using Banzai, a financial literacy program.
Students use Banzai to learn
personal financial manage-ment skills. They receive fic-tional paychecks, they budget and track their expenses, and they pay bills virtually.
“There are different scenarios, and it teaches students what it will be like when they get out of school and they have to bud-get their finances,” said Diane Conklen, a Reagan teacher who uses Banzai in her class.
Money management 101Banzai program teaches lessons in financial literacy INSIDE LOOK
Students at Washington Elementary School in Dixon were able to celebrate the end of school Friday.
Photos on Page A2
Inside StoryHas there finally been a
break in a decades-old double homicide cold case in Ore-gon? One of the victims’ bod-ies was exhumed this week in Rockford. Story on Page A3MONEY CONTINUED ON A4
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SV Weekend • A11www.saukvalley.comSaturday, May 30, 2015
At the beginning of the week, the Sterling native drove to Omaha, Nebras-ka, to take part in a hun-dreds-strong proces-sional and ceremony to honor Officer Kerrie Oro-zco, who had been killed while serving a fugitive warrant. She was 29.
Murray felt an immedi-ate connection to her as details surrounding the death emerged, fixated not only by how her life ended, but the manner in which she led her life, he said.
She was a shining exam-ple of how to help people, and got many in her com-munity to look past the uniform. She coached youth athletics, and vol-unteered at every chance.
“It’s one of those things where you feel like you got cheated by not knowing her,” Murray said. “I didn’t know Kerrie, [but] I wish I would have known her.”
He made his way out west around 11 a.m. on Memorial Day, and after more than 5 hours in his cruiser, arrived at the intersection where the shooting took place.
The city seemed so quiet, he said.
A vigil and visitation were later that evening, and went well into the night. It was primar-ily reserved for family and friends, so he hadn’t planned to attend.
Murray spent the night visiting his daughter, and readied for the long day ahead by shining his boots and ironing his uniform.
Tuesday was intense, he said, as police per-sonnel gathered near St. John’s Catholic Church on the Creighton Univer-sity campus and formed a “gauntlet.”
A large formation of offi-cers assembled on a cob-blestone street, and as fam-ily walked through, a slow, 4-second salute was dis-
played, Murray said, raising his hand to his brow.
“That was pretty heart-wrenching,” he said, describing the family walk-ing through three times; they saluted each time.
A mounted patrol passed through the formation with four horses, which included a riderless horse with boots in the stirrups, he said, and that was just the beginning.
Thousands are said to have lined the streets to pay tribute, and a variety of impromptu memorials popped up across the city.
A squad car parked on grass was decorated by officers in black and blue felt; a large wreath stood at attention, and ribbons and flowers lay on the ground.
Murray also was part of the vast convoy of police
vehicles that stretched as far as the eye could see. It eventually made its way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where Orozco lived.
“This is hands down the most impressive thing I have ever experienced. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said in a video recorded during the funeral procession.
“We are family,” said Murray, who in the same breath was quick to remind that there always are two sides.
“When you say a prayer for Kerrie, say a prayer for [the gunman],” he added. “If you have a problem with that, say a prayer for his family. Somebody loved him, and some-body’s hurting.”
As Murray gets his
equipment ready to begin mowing, he returns from his pickup truck parked on the side of the road with a cellphone filled with photos and video from the trip, and a spe-cial token – a T-shirt that helps the Orozco family.
“Kerrie Orozco … OPD #1969 … Delta 17 [her radio call sign],” reads white block lettering on the back. Stores were sell-ing out within the first couple of hours, he said.
Below that is a solid blue horizontal line, fol-lowed by “E.O.W. [end of watch] 5/20/15, heroes live forever.”
Officer Kerrie Orozco is survived by her husband Hector; two stepchildren; and newborn daughter, Olivia Ruth.
‘The most impressive thing I have ever experienced’DEPUTY
CONTINUED FROM A1t
Submitted/Billy MurrayThis memorial was handmade in just 72 hours, according to the Omaha World-Herald newspaper.
How to helpThe Police Federal Credit Union of Omaha, and the
Omaha Police Foundation are designated as official donation centers.
Visit http://shawurl.com/1xkn and http://shawurl.com/1xkm for details.