Judicial Center

October 1, 2009

The large building to the left is the new $15 million Judicial Center, across 5th Street from the Ogle County Courthouse built in 1891.[Not able as yet to post the photo -- aerial view of Judicial Center and old Courthouse] The new building was dedicated and opened for business in August of 2005 and is expected to take care of court business in this county for at least 100 more years. Bill Fearer III told me it was considered state of the art in the State of Illinois. The 1891 Courthouse took care of business for 114 years and will continue to house several county offices.

When I first started to practice law here in 1983, the Courthouse was being renovated and we had court in the old Nash School a block away. I didn’t go inside the new Judicial Center, because when it’s over it’s over. Being away 13 years means it’s over. The fat lady has already sung her last note.

There are now four judges on the bench in this new center -- Steve Pemberton, Mike Mallon, Bob Hanson and Kathleen Kaufman. We knew Steve Pemberton when he was at Fearer & Nye. Mike Mallon was in Rochelle with Jack Roe, now retired, and Jack’s son, Ben, is now State’s Attorney. Bob Hansen and I used to play raquetball every week during the 15 years I practiced law here and Bob also was an assistant public defender. Kathleen Kaufman was an Assistant State’s Attorney and we worked many cases together. Both Bob and Kathleen were a pleasure to work with.

I went over to the Ogle County Newspapers on 4th Street to see if they had an old copy of the Judicial Center dedication and they were so nice. They remembered me and copied old articles, including the special supplement that was prepared back then. I was happy to see Vinde Wells and Earline Hinton and it was fun to visit with them both. They both sought statements back then when I was representing this or that client. Thank God they didn’t ask for an interview now as the answer would have been a polite NO THANKS.

Oregon Update

September 29, 2009

Lois and I drove around Oregon IL today and learned a bunch of things. We saw Pinehill where we lived for 14 years and the house on 4th St. where we lived for eight years. We walked through Conover Square -- the old piano factory turned into a community shopping mall. The old court house is being worked on, but the new court facility across 5th St. is amazing.

Lois had a quick visit with Maureen Keuthe, her high school best friend along with Lea Bartow. That’s Maureen and Lois pictured above. George stopped in to see Ed and Lil McCanse at their home and also had a quick visit with Lori Peters who was mowing he front lawn. Lori and Tom Peters were our neighbors across the street from our 4th St. house in Oregon. A long and friendly phone call with Bill Fearer III was very rewarding.

So here’s what we learned today from all these people:

· My old friend in the law, Doug Floski, who was once my assistant public defender and later State’s Attorney, ran for circuit judge against Mike Mallon and lost. He is now practising law with Rick Hahn and Dave Smith.
· My former law rival and former State’s Attorney, Dennis Schumacher, is about to become a former attorney because he will probably lose his license to practice law. The allegations at trial were Dennis hit upon women clients he was representing in divorce cases; about six of them came forward to testify against him.
· My old friend and former judge, Alan Cargerman, went back on the bench in Kane County about five years ago. He was the best judge I ever appeared before in Ogle County.
· Georgia Svoboda, our neighbor across the street from Pinehill, passed away about two years ago. She and her husband, Frank, were two of the nicest people we ever met.
· Tom Peters is president of the school board and has two years to go. Tom and Lori’s children are attending Princeton and Dartmouth. Tom and Lori are looking forward to retiring up to Minoqua WI.
· Bill Fearer II, my old friend and contemporary, passed away a year ago and his house is up for sale as his widow, Terry, moved to Arizona.
· Bill Fearer III has children attending SMU and Baylor; he and Mary Ann hope to get a place in the Dallas area where they can spend their winters and still live in Oregon. Bill still likes to bike, play tennis and golf.
· Ed and Lillian McCanse spend their time at home, sold their motor home and do not drive. They have in-home care as they both are suffering from alzheimer’s dementia. They did not recognize me at first, but after a while they became much more cogent.
· Maureen Keuthe has skin cancer on her scalp (the spreading type) and will need surgery soon. She was a wonderful athlete and spent years in the sun. Remember, the sun is not your friend. In the photo above she is the picture of health and is always smiling. Maureen’s husband, Homer (92) hasn’t been out of the house in two years but passes his annual physical exam with flying colors. That’s what we hope to do -- pass everything with flying colors.
· Chris E. Martin, former Ogle County Treasurer with whom I worked on a case years ago, now has an office for Byron Bank on the corner of 4th and Washington, next door to where my law office used to be.