Dan Stevens

It kind of goes without saying, but a comparison of the Stephenson County Board and the Freeport City Council is an example of just how extremely different our local government can be. Both held a meeting last Monday night, but the differences between the two are in a word ... staggering. The County Board needed to elect a new County Board Chairman, Vice Chairman, and assign members to their respective committees – all of them a standard process that takes place after each election. Drama was...

The Stephenson County Fair, scheduled for July 22–26, 2025, is introducing exciting changes to bring big entertainment for everyone while delivering significant value. Gate Admission Now Includes General Admission Grandstand Access For 2025, fair admission will be $10 per person. While this is a small increase from previous years, it includes a major new benefit: general admission to the grandstand is now included in the gate price! This change marks the return of a tradition not seen in over...

Dan Stevens

The Dakota Indians are a very strong basketball team – long, big, athletic, and strong shooting from the perimeter – they made the competition look foolish at the Scales Mound Turkey Tournament during Thanksgiving week, and stood at 4-0 on the season. But they had never gone up against Spiderman, Venom and the rest of the Eastland Cougars. "You can't simulate that kind of speed in practice," said head coach Mike Bartell. "I mean, there are some teams that might have two quick guards, but...

Dan Stevens

Every coach knows that you don't stand a chance against them unless you stop Laney Cahoon and Nadalee Doyle. Lena-Winslow, for all practical purposes, did that – holding the pair down to a combined point total of only 21 in the game. They still got blown out. Alyse Cahoon and Kaylynn O'Haver went off – each of them hitting three long range three point bombs – as the senior roll players tied with eleven points each. "They kept sitting in that zone defense," Bronco head coach Jay Doyle...

Dan Stevens

While Nadalee Doyle is a force in her own right, area coaches all agree that the biggest threat on the Orangeville Broncos is senior guard, Laney Cahoon. Similarly, the RR/SM Wildcats have a lot of talented young players who are destined for the All-Conference teams, but right now – the conversation begins and ends with senior Laiken Haas. So, when you get a chance to see those two stars play against each other ... it makes for must see girl's basketball. And Tuesday night in Orangeville ...

Dan Stevens

The curse of having so much football success is that you tend to be late to the game in basketball. The Lena-Winslow Panthers finally opened their season Friday night at River Ridge, and it also marked the debut of new Varsity head coach, Mark Blakely. "People asked me, but I really wasn't nervous before the game," Blakely said. "To me, it was just another basketball game, and I trust my kids." That confidence was reinforced as the Panthers scored off of the opening tip of the game, and never...

Dan Stevens

The Pearl City Lady Wolves had a slow start to their season. There were some early injuries that limited the roster, and according to coach Brock Musser – they just finally got to full strength last Saturday. But Wednesday night in Pearl City, the Wolves showed what they are capable of doing as they completely dismantled the AFC Raiders 46-29. The game really wasn't that close. In the first quarter, AFC only took five shots in the entire period, while they committed 14 turnovers. The Wolves...

Dan Stevens

The Lena-Winslow Panthers and Dakota Indians got their basketball rivalry off to a strong start Friday night in Dakota as the only NUIC game on the schedule due to the opening of tournament play the next day. And it is a safe bet that there will be more than one meeting between these two area powers this season – another conference battle in Lena, and then the chance of meeting in the Forreston Tournament or even post-season play. But Friday night belonged to the Indians. Dakota caught the...

Dan Stevens

Practice is great, every coach will tell you that, but sometimes the lessons that sink in the quickest are the ones that take place during a game. The Warren Lady Warriors passed their test with flying colors Tuesday night with an impressive 44-37 non-conference win over Milledgeville in which they led from start to finish. At the opening tip, both teams were full court pressing each other, but Warren used their press to jump out to the early lead thanks in large part to a transition basket...

Dan Stevens

The Stockton Blackhawks and Polo Marcos were locked into a very competitive one point affair at halftime of their non-conference match up. But ... in spite of three time outs and every attempt to inspire his players, Stockton fell flat in the second half as Polo ran away with the 57-34 victory. In the first quarter, Stockton was playing a 3-2 zone defense, but Polo effectively shot them out of it as Mercer and Gus Mumford both drained three point bombs in jumping the Marcos to a 17-10 lead....

Dixon 57.0 Lena-Winslow/Stockton 23.0 150: Jayden Weidman (D) over Brody Crossno (LWS) (Fall 0:36) 157: Adam Staples (D) over Chance VenHuizen (LWS) (TF 19-4 5:05) 165: John Mensendike (LWS) over Konner Koehler (D) (Fall 1:30) 175: Eli Larson (LWS) over Seth Shaffer (DN) (TF 17-1 2:05) 190: Oliver McPeek (LWS) over Daniel Fordham (D) (Fall 3:56) 215: Jeremiah Luke (LWS) over Will Howell (D) (Fall 5:21) 285: Dylan Bopes (D) over Asher Acevedo (LWS) (Fall 0:47) 106: Leroy Higley (D) win by...

Victoria Hansen

“Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree” Tis the season for Christmas Trees. It’s that time of year when families are in search for that perfect evergreen tree to display in their homes for the Christmas season. I love driving through our county and seeing the lighted trees through the windows. But how much do you or I even know about Christmas trees? Keeping that in mind I’d like to share a few of my favorite facts about these wonderful trees. - There are approximately 350 million...

Dan Stevens

Maybe it was the holidays and the packed schedule I have been dealing with. Or maybe the grind of doing hard news was getting to me – I mean, I truly hate sitting in and listening to the idiocy at the Freeport City Council meetings. Or maybe, well, who knows – whatever the reason, I had lost a bit of pep in my step as of late. Now, one of the major benefits of doing my job is getting to know the really impressive young adults in our region. Yeah, I know they are technically still students,...

Kevin Cernak

What do hip-hop artists do on Christmas? (They unwrap). Decorating outside for Christmas is something I enjoy. Some people like to decorate early when it’s still warm. But to me, part of Christmas is decorating in the chilling cold and stringing lights until my fingers are numb and my toes are about to fall off. My wife takes a different approach. But when we put our heads together, we get it done! And, if I don’t say so myself, it’s beautiful all around our house - both inside and out....

Six members of the River Ridge FFA Chapter competed at the Section One Quiz Bowl Career Development Event on December 3rd at Stockton High School. At this round robin type tournament the team played four rounds and stayed undefeated for the night. Team members were challenged to answer questions on FFA history, trivia, acronyms, current leaders and etiquette. Greenhands are first year FFA members, only Greenhands are allowed to compete in this competition. River Ridge was proud to have Carson...