Rock Falls

The Fulton City Council during a special session Thursday night selected Chad Hermes to replace Chief Nick Neblung when he leaves the position in January. Hermes started his career in Rock Falls and has also served in Albany and Morrison.

Lucas Hacker will attend Illinois State University, where he will study business administration. He hopes to then get a job as a financial adviser.

Sterling and Rock Falls' fire departments are teaming up to host a fire safety awareness event at Sterling’s Northland Mall on Saturday, Jan. 11.

Lee Center UCC Church and Amboy Lions Club will host chili luncheon Jan. 12.

This month they will host an After Christmas Party for loyal friends of Twin City Conservatives.

The business incubator houses 24, 1,500-square-foot units for small business owners to grow their operations in a low-rate lease space with access to workplace amenities, equipment and two loading docks.

Looking for something to do in the Sauk Valley? Here is a list of five suggestions for events happening over the next few weeks.

The Sterling Public Library will host a job search workshop from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Two community theater troupes will present holiday-themed performances this weekend – one in Polo and the other in Morrison.

The Rock River Valley International Fellowship, a partner of the program, welcomed 15 students who have been staying with eight different host families in Dixon, Sterling and Morrison over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Nine incumbents and three newcomers are in the running in Rock Falls' 2025 election.

Sterling Industrial Development Commission approves motion to recommend sale of vacant properties in the 200 block of West Seventh Street to T&P for $1.

Rock River International Fellowship has been hosting 15 University of Chicago students as an introduction to the area and the Thanksgiving holiday.

The restaurant at 1332 W. Rock Falls Road specializes in serving Detroit-style pizza, burgers, wings and Nashville hot chicken sandwiches.

If you have a Rock Falls address, you can spread holiday cheer by decorating your home/yard for Christmas and joining the Rock Falls Tour of Lights 2024 house decorating contest.

A lighted holiday display will open Friday, Nov. 29, at Centennial Park in Rock Falls.

Nick P. McFadden, 34, of Rock Falls, had been missing since about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24.

The Rock Falls Chamber held its annual Grinch dodgeball event at Rock Falls Middle School for a chance to let kids know and show what they think of the anti-Christmas hooligan.

The Grinch takes on all comers in a no-holds-barred dodgeball throwdown Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Rock Falls.

Held at the Rock Falls American Legion, the Thursday night event sold out at 450 tickets and gave away loads of prize baskets and gifts cards donated from local businesses.

The ninth annual End Polio Now Walk was sponsored this year by Rotary clubs of the Sauk Valley area, including the Dixon, Morrison, Rock Falls, Sterling Noon and Twin Cities Sunrise clubs.

To kick off Rock Falls' Hometown Holidays weekend, the Rock Falls Chamber of Commerce held its popular bingo event Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, at the American Legion.

The Rock Falls City Council heard a report Tuesday night about the consequences of a failed referendum that would have instated a 0.5% sales tax throughout Whiteside County to help fund emergency dispatch services.

Several road closures in and around the downtown Rock Falls area are planned for Friday, Nov. 22, because of events surrounding the Rock Falls Chamber Hometown Holidays.

Events in Sterling, Rock Falls, Dixon and Morrison listed.

Twin City Conservatives is free to the public to attend.

McKenzie Woodard plans to attend a four-year college and major in middle-level teacher education.

Steven W. Coleman, 45, was sentenced Oct. 17 to three consecutive life sentences and another 105 years in prison for setting a fatal fire at the Western Apartments in Sterling. He was in court Thursday asking for that sentence to be reconsidered.

The center will bring 55 full-time jobs and amenities that include gas stations, electric vehicle charging stations, a restaurant, convenience store and over 80 short-term overnight parking spaces for long-haul truckers.

Harrison Webb, charged with attempted murder, is accused of walking from his Rock Falls home to Sterling, going into the restaurant’s kitchen, and with less than two feet separating them, shooting a 17-year-old worker in the back of the neck.

Third-grade students from Montmorency school in Rock Falls presented thank-you letters Thursday to local veterans during their monthly breakfast at the Whiteside County Senior Center in Sterling.

Local communities gearing up for Christmas walks later this month and into December.

Frank Harts was recently awarded “Best Narrative Short” for his film, “Be True to Your School,” at the Raindance Film Festival in New York. Harts graduated from Rock Falls High School in 1998, where he was later inducted into the school’s Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2022.

Due to the smoke plume, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will be monitoring air quality and will follow up with a report through the EPA.

The Rock Falls City Council could have an almost entirely new group of leaders after the April 1, 2025, election.

“The Nutcracker” will be performed at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, at Centennial Auditorium, Sterling High School.

The Valor Support Project takes requests for assistance from veterans in the Sauk Valley. Headed up by retired Army Sgt. Floyd Dunn of Sterling, it is a non-profit organization aimed at assisting veterans facing financial, physical and mental health challenges.

The 17-year-old boy, whose name was not released by authorities because he is a juvenile, also is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, felony burglary and unlawful possession of a stolen firearm.

The event raised funds for the local Youth Outlook program, which supports LGBTQ+ youths ages 12-20; college scholarships for high school seniors; and PFLAG programs throughout the year.

A Rock Falls teen was treated at a local hospital and released after he was shot in the neck Wednesday night at Sterling’s Pizza Ranch, police say.

Sheriff: Measure will be on the April 2025 ballot.

Love Lights the Way to Hometown Holidays is Nov. 21-23 in Rock Falls; Organ concert is Nov. 24 at St. Paul Lutheran in Dixon.

On Monday, Nov. 11, customers can help support the Whiteside County Honor Flight program when they make a purchase from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Culver’s, 1901 Harley Davidson Drive in Rock Falls.

Johnathon P. Parker, 40, was taken into custody Saturday night, Nov. 2, 2024, in the 1600 block of Riverdale Road, Rock Falls, after a 10-hour standoff over two days with police, according to Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker.

Johnathon P. Parker is being held in the Whiteside County Jail.

Rock Falls is inviting Sauk Valley residents to experience the magic of its 37th annual Hometown Holidays from Nov. 21-23.

Sutherland self-published his first book, “Rusty and Rita: Bus Friends Forever,” in November 2019.

Pam Erby was the first woman invited into Rock Falls Rotary in 1989 when Rotary was opened to female membership.

As students across Illinois are starting to bounce back from pandemic disruptions in 2020, Rock Falls’ elementary and secondary school districts are standing out, with students showing the highest increase in English language arts proficiency.

Harmon church's soup supper is next week, Rock Falls' Love Lights the Way to Hometown Holidays set for Nov. 21-23