I was at the dedication of the old newspaper collection at the library last Sunday.
A story in the midweek edition explained how the newspaper, museum and library staff worked to find a convenient and practical way to store the bound volumes for people to use.
There are many sources for news and information these days — some credible and many not so much. Today, politicians and their supporters often label well-researched factual and fair national newspaper articles as “fake news” just because they don’t like the content. But even as times change on the local level our community newspapers still do a good job of providing valuable, accurate and timely articles and features about what is happening right in our city and neighborhoods.
The group in attendance Sunday did a little reminiscing about the old days of newspapers in Rochelle. Do you remember when towns such as Kings, Steward and Creston had their own correspondents, who reported on who went where, who visited who and who poured the tea? That type of reporting was a staple of small town newspapers.
One problem with the collection is a couple of volumes are missing. These are pretty big books, picture a book newspaper size and about 3 inches think. It’ hard to not recognize.
So, if you happen to have a volume or two, please drop it off at the library. I’m sure volumes were borrowed to research family or news events and they just never got returned.
Why not return them? No questions asked, no overdue fees involved, just thanks from the people keeping the collection.

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Daylight Savings Time begins Nov. 3. It gets pretty dark around 6 p.m. now, so it will only get worse.
It can be a problem for people who like to walk or bike after work because now they are doing so in the dark. If that is you, please put on reflective clothing, carry a flashlight, put lights on your bike and be aware of the traffic around you.
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I saw two different people walking across the overpass Thursday night. Either the signs are too small or they are not being followed, but walking there is against the law and it’s not safe.  
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Sometimes I hit a red light on 20th Street at Flagg Road and wait forever before it turns green. Other times, it turns green right away. One night I sat so long, I turned right and then pulled into the high school parking lot to turn around and head west.
I got a red light on Flagg Road.  
Sometimes I can’t win.

Terry Dickow is a retired elementary school teacher with lots of opinions, some you will like, some you won’t. He can be contacted at terrydickow@gmail.com.