Head coach Tim Thompson wasn’t surprised that the Rochelle Hub varsity basketball team’s Wednesday game against Rockford Christian was a high-scoring affair.

William J. Crawford, 84 of Rochelle, passed away at his home on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.

Senior Eli Luxton led the charge on both ends of the court Saturday afternoon, when the Rochelle Hub varsity basketball team tipped off the 73rd Annual E.C. Nichols Holiday Classic at Marengo High School with a first-round pool matchup against Richmond-Burton.

St. Paul Lutheran School hosted the 2023 Meridian Conference Boys Basketball tournament this past week. St. Paul took home this year’s title with a 54-20 win over Kings in the championship game on Thursday evening.

Over the years, I’ve made it a priority to study the topic of love in the Word of God. Because when we know how much God loves us, it melts away our insecurities, gives us confidence, and helps us to love ourselves. We can then give God’s love away to other people.

Over the next five years, millions of dollars could be funneled into efforts to help farmers rotate their crops, preserve their soil, improve how their animals are fed and, along the way, significantly reduce the 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that come from agriculture.

The City of Rochelle’s work in 2023 included the construction and completion of a new joint fire training facility with the Ogle-Lee fire Protection District, reinvesting in infrastructure, staffing changes, and updates to the Rochelle Municipal Utilities billing department.

We can sarcastically “thank” Benjamin Franklin for reminding us of the inevitability of death and taxes. But genuine gratitude is due another Founding Father whose objection to the latter established a new precedent in human history—the tax revolt.

Any description of a “local boy” should include a picture of Herbert Kuemmel. Herbert was born in Rochelle in 1893, the son of Henry and Mary (Zimmerman) Kuemmel. Herb grew up and attended school in the town of his birth. The only time Herb wasn’t in Rochelle was a short period during World War I when his Uncle Sam sent him to France. Once he finished his business with the Army Quartermaster Corp, he boarded the first available ship and returned to his town, Rochelle. Herb married Bessie Peterson in 1917 and began his family. He was employed at Zimmerman Brothers Grocery.

Robert Hal “Bob” Felker, 71, was welcomed into the presence of his Lord and Savior on December 18th, 2023, after a courageous six-year battle with CMML/AML.

Wreaths Across America ceremonies were held at five local cemeteries on Dec. 16 & 17.

In the spirit of giving back this holiday season, Stillman Bank held a food drive to benefit area families this Christmas. 1,006 pounds of non-perishable food items were collected during the two-week event. Now in its 14th year, this annual food drive has collected over 14,000 pounds of food since its inception in 2008.

On Dec. 19 at approximately 3:04 p.m. deputies conducted a traffic stop in the 17,000 block of East Illinois Route 64. After an investigation, deputies cited Nicole Mason, 41, of Oregon for driving while license suspended and speeding. Mason was released on a notice to appear with a future court date.

On Dec. 20 at 1:05 a.m. Caleb A. Foster, 40, of Santa Monica, California was cited for suspended registration. He signed a promise to comply and was given a Jan. 19 Rochelle court date.

In January the museum will celebrate the 140th birthday of the City and Town Hall building, now home to the Flagg Township Museum, with an exhibit in its Cabinet of Curiosities about the building’s history and a party on Jan. 7 with all the birthday fixings...cake & ice cream, party hats and games!

On Dec. 7, Kiwanis Golden K hosted its annual cash raffle where it drew the name of 20 winners. The club generated over $17,000 by selling tickets.

On Thursdays during the holiday season, employees of Cain Millwork worked in shifts to raise money for the Salvation Army all day long outside of Walmart and Walgreens in Rochelle.

Blending an international skydiving destination with amateur boxing, the inaugural Fight or Flight Classic is set to debut Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Chicagoland Skydiving Center airplane hangar in Rochelle. Sanctioned by USA Boxing, the Fight or Flight Classic includes a full slate of bouts with competitors from around the Midwest, music, food and beverages for sale, ringside tables, prizes and more.

At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Ogle County Board voted to rescind its previous commercial solar and wind energy facilities siting and operating ordinances and to replace them with new ordinances to meet a recent state senate bill (SB 1699) that included trailer bill language for the renewable energy project siting bill.

Communication technology is among the four main branches of technology that I discuss in this column. It has been some time since we explored it, so let’s remind ourselves that communication technology is when humans use tools, machines, knowledge and resources to control the environment by sending and receiving messages. It can satisfy a basic human need to communicate with other humans, but it also satisfies the need for people and machines to communicate, and for machines to communicate with each other as well. Communication technology is essential to our way of life, providing the interconnectedness that we all enjoy and rely on to some degree or another.

As I write it is Christmas Day. Mine and my family’s best to you and yours for a glorious Christmas and may the Good Lord bring you bountiful blessings as we celebrate the birth of his son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

At its Dec. 11 meeting, the Rochelle City Council took its first preliminary step toward the future reconstruction and widening of Illinois Route 251 North through Rochelle by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

A look back at some of the top Rochelle News-Leader stories of the past year

Ahead of the start of this season, Rochelle Community Hospital XCEL Orthopedics Physician’s Assistant Harrison “Hank” Swalla joined the Rochelle Township High School wrestling program as an assistant coach.

The City of Rochelle and the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District recently approved a new agreement for operation of Fairways Golf Course through the 2024 golf season.