On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the Rochelle Municipal Utilities Customer Service and Finance Departments hosted an open house highlighting recent renovations at the RMU building at 333 Lincoln Highway.

The City of Rochelle Wastewater Treatment Plant produces a waste material called secondary sludge. Since 1993, the sludge, which consists of 80 percent water and therefore is very heavy, has been transported to and disposed of in the city landfill. Over the past couple of years, Rochelle Municipal Utilities Water & Water Reclamation Superintendent Adam Lanning has been researching an alternative to dispose of the sludge: Using it as farm fertilizer. And so, the experiment began.

Rochelle Community Hospital is hosting a holiday drive-thru dinner for anyone in need on Wednesday, Dec. 20. The dinner is free for the first 200 dinners reserved.

On Thursday afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church, the Hub City Cruisers car club made a donation of toys to the Community Action Network for its Shopping Trip program.

The Rochelle VFW Post 3878’s Queen of Hearts contest has reached a record $114,285 jackpot, Post Commander Joe Drought said following the most recent drawing on Dec. 5.

The Rochelle Elementary School District and the Rochelle Township High School District will have an item on their December meeting agendas on whether or not they will support placing a county facility sales tax on the ballot of an upcoming election, Shared Rochelle Schools District Superintendent Jason Harper said in an email Dec. 4.

At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Creston Village Board of Trustees discussed recent progress that's been seen on properties in disrepair in the village.