Wednesday, June 16, 2010 • The Dispatch & The Rock Island Argus • A5

BRIEFLY

R.I. police seek details on shootingRock Island police are looking for the person or

people who fired several shots in an alley early Tuesday morning.

Lt. Tim Steines said police were called to the 1500 block of 8th Street at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday for a report of shots fired. He said police did not find anyone who had been hit by the shots.

Lt. Steines said he had few details about the shooting except that police had found shell casings at the scene.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Rock Island Police Department at (309) 732-2677 or Crime Stoppers at (309) 763-9500.

— Staff writer Bill Mayeroff

Teens charged after YouTube video shows details of attack

Five teenagers have been charged in connection with the beating of another teenager in a Rock Island park on May 28.

Gavin Hewlett, 18, of Rock Island, was charged with mis-demeanor battery Tuesday, said Rock Island police Lt. Tim Steines. Four other male juveniles, ages 15 and 16, were charged with misdemeanor battery in juvenile court.

The five teens, according to police, allegedly attacked a 17-year-old boy in Hodge Park, at 35th Street and 22nd Avenue in Rock Island on May 28. Video of the attack was posted on YouTube.com, though the video has been deleted. The video showed the teens running toward the victim, who was sitting on a picnic table, and attacking him with foam bats.

Rock Island County court records did not indicate any future court dates for the teens.

— Staff writer Bill Mayeroff

Former DeWitt cop found not guiltyA former DeWitt police officer has been found not

guilty of misdemeanor aggravated assault that alleg-edly stemmed from a road rage incident.

Tammi Jo Gordy, 36, of rural Long Grove, was cited with the charge in February by the Davenport Police Department. Ms. Gordy allegedly displayed a handgun and a can of pepper spray during a Feb. 14 quarrel with the occupants of another vehicle on Utica Ridge Road.

On Tuesday, a jury took about two hours to decide Ms. Gordy was not guilty of the charge, said her attor-ney, David Morrison. Her trial began Monday.

Ms. Gordy, a three-year veteran of the DeWitt police force, resigned shortly after being charged in the incident.

— Staff writer Anthony Watt

Joe Payne(309) 757-4948 • jpayne@qconline.com

EDITOR

Gary Krambeck / staffRock Island police check the alley area between 7th and 8th streets in the 1400 block after a reported shooting early Tuesday morning.

Silvis man denies burglary charges involving area storage facilities

A Silvis man accused in a string of burglaries denied the charges Tuesday.

Gary L. Spicer, 32, pleaded innocent to 13 counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary dur-ing a brief hearing in Rock Island County Circuit Court Tuesday.

The Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department initially named Mr. Spicer as a person of interest in a series of burglaries at United Storage Association Inc., 3919 17th St., East Moline, and Hillsdale Storage, 623 W. Main St., Hillsdale. He was arrested May 5 after a traffic stop in Port Byron.

Rock Island County Chief Judge Jeffrey O’Connor scheduled Mr. Spicer for trial on Sept. 13.

— Staff writer Bill Mayeroff

Teen sentenced in friend’s deathAn 18-year-old Kewanee man on Tuesday apologized

to the family of the friend he killed.Henry County Judge Ted Hamer listened to the apol-

ogy by Drew Richardson, the boy’s voice wavering, as he turned to face the family of the late Scott Mlekush, 23, also of Kewanee.

The judge then sentenced Mr. Richardson to 360 days in the Henry County Jail, 30 months probation, a $5,000 fine and more than $4,000 in restitution to Mr. Mlekush’s family. The jail sentences will run consecutive.

“I’m so sorry, you guys,” Mr. Richardson said. “I take responsibility, I honestly do. Anything I can do, anything at all, please call me.”

On July 30, 2009, Mr. Richardson was driving a pickup truck in Kewanee with Mr. Mlekush and Randall Betz as passengers. Henry County State’s Attorney Terry Patton said investigators estimate Mr. Richardson was driving 81 miles per hour in a 40-mph zone on West South Street, near the intersection of Burlington Avenue in Kewanee, where the road narrows to a chip-and-oil county road.

Mr. Patton said Mr. Richardson hit the side of a car going in the same direction, lost control of his vehicle and hit a telephone pole with the passenger side of his truck, killing Mr. Mlekush and injuring Mr. Betz. No drugs or alcohol were involved in Mr. Richardson’s case, according to Mr. Patton.

Because of Mr. Richardson’s prior juvenile record, Mr. Patton had recommended he receive four years in prison.

Mr. Mlekush’s family was in court in Tuesday, many crying as Judge Hamer spoke about the case. Earlier this year, Judge Hamer found Mr. Richardson guilty of the felony count of reckless homicide during a bench trial, as well as a probation violation.

“He was 17, and sometimes, 17 year olds make stupid decisions,” Judge Hamer said. “These cases are cases where nobody wins. Nobody feels good about what happens at these types of sentencings.

“His family (Mr. Mlekush) will always have that pain from his absence,” Judge Hamer said. “Over time, that pain may lessen, but it will always be there.”

— Staff writer Stephen Elliott

Deere mansion on eBay

By Dawn Neusesdneuses@qconline.com

MOLINE — The auction clock is ticking.

The bank owning the for-mer John Deere house has it for sale on eBay, the online auction service. The historic 9,100-square-foot property on the bluff at 1217 11th Ave. has a starting bid of $75,000, and the auction ends Thursday.

Sauk Valley Bank in Ster-ling has owned the property since Jan. 5, after buying it for $167,000 at a county auc-tion. The bank had foreclosed on the property in 2009.

Jarred Cavanaugh, com-mercial banking officer, said the bank will entertain rea-sonable offers. As of 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, there were no bids. However, there has been in-

terest, he said. Mr. Cavanaugh has re-

ceived approximately 20 in-quiries about the house since it was listed on May 19. Many are people who have restored homes before, or are carpen-ters or craftsmen of some sort, he said.

He said the bank has re-ceived offers to purchase, but they are not even in the ball-park.

Mr. Cavanaugh placed the house on eBay because the bank felt there were not a lot of interested parties in the area, including the Deere family. “We felt there was an untapped market for John Deere enthusiasts, and we’ve received a lot of feedback. We’ve received interest from people as far away as Florida

and California. There are a couple of tire kickers here and there, but others are very serious,” Mr. Cavanaugh said.

According to the eBay list-ing, the original Italianate home was built in 1847 and purchased by Mr. Deere in 1875. Between the time he bought it and 1880, Mr. Deere redesigned the property into a Second Empire home, dou-bling its space.

The home stayed in the Deere family until 1934. It was converted into 11 effi-ciency apartments during the Great Depression, the listing states.

In 1993, Moline bought the property for $40,000 — at that point it was 16 apartments — and then sold it to Roger

Colmark for $100. He began renovations but never com-pleted them.

Last year, Sauk Valley Bank foreclosed on the home.

According to the listing, the restoration of the seven-bedroom, five-plus bathroom home is approximately 75 percent complete. The home is being sold as-is.

The mansion is a desig-nated Moline landmark and also is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In April, it was named one of the Ten Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois for 2010 by Landmarks Illinois.

For more information, search “Historic John Deere mansion” on www.eBay.com or call Mr. Cavanaugh at (815) 284-2027.

File photoThe old Deere mansion at 12th Street and 11th Avenue, Moline, now is listed for sale on eBay. Sauk Valley Bank in Sterling foreclosed on the 9,100-square-foot home in 2009 after Roger Colmark failed to complete renovations on the mansion that he had bought for $100 from the city of Moline in 1993. The mansion has a starting bid of $75,000; the eBay auction ends Thursday.

Sauk Valley Bank utilizes eBay to sell historic mansion

By Dawn Neusesdneuses@qconline.com

MOLINE — A new summer day camp program in Moline is offering parents and chil-dren an option other than sit-ting home all summer.

The camp, offered by the Moline Park and Recreation Department, re-creates a program last offered in 2001, said Justin Brandt, a recre-ation programmer oversee-ing this year’s camp.

“We thought there might be a need out there,” Mr. Brandt said. “We wanted to give parents an affordable al-ternative. There is the YMCA daycare and the Rock Island parks department day camp program, but other than occa-sional summer sports camps or vacation Bible school — which is usually only a week long — there are not a lot of alternatives.”

The summer camp pro-gram began June 7 at River-side Park.

The children spend the first three hours of the morning participating in sports and fitness activities and doing crafts and other activities.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, the children swim at Riverside Pool, weather permitting.

On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, the University of Illinois Extension Service comes to the park and offers

Moline camps program offers alternative to ‘vegging out’

Paul Colletti / staffThe University of Illinois Extension Office visited the Moline Park and Recreation Department’s summer camp Tuesday afternoon, where Thatcher Stern decorated the pot holding his citronella ge-ranium. The summer camp has returned after a nine-year absence and includes educational and physical activities.

uDay camp factsuRemaining sessions are June 21-July 2, July 6-July 16, July 19-July 30 and Aug. 2-13. Camp will not be held July 5; cost of that session will be pro-rated for the ex-clusion of that day.uEach session runs two weeks, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with before care and after care available, begin-ning at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m.uCost for one session of the two-week camp is $180. Reservations require a $40 deposit with the balance due three weeks before camp begins.uThe camps will include daily morning sports, health and fitness classes and arts and crafts programs. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, children will swim. On Tuesday and Thursday campers will have a special project, a guest speaker or an event. Field trips also are planned.uAll projects, activities and field trips are inclusive with the cost of the camp. uRegister at the parks of-fice, 3635 4th Ave., or online at www.moline.il.us. For more information, call (309) 524-2424.

See uCamp, A8

By Nicole Lauernlauer@qconline.com

With little fanfare, the Rock Island County Board Tuesday unanimously ac-cepted the resignation of County Clerk Dick Leibo-vitz and longtime board member Ted Davies.

Mr. Leibovitz, a Demo-crat who will leave his post at the end of June, provided no comment af-ter the meeting. A June 14 letter he wrote to the Rock Island County Board said his decision to resign was “due to the discontinuance of the stipends for elected officials by the State of Il-linois.”

The county pays Mr. Lei-bovitz $86,500. Rock Island County Board Chairman Jim Bohnsack said that, as of last month, Mr. Leibovitz and other county elected officials — with the excep-tion of the county board — also received a $6,000 stipend from the state for doing state-required work. There were discussions of lowering the stipend to $4,000.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokes-man Steve Brown could not confirm Tuesday if the stipends had been elimi-nated.

Mr. Bohnsack and board member Don Johnston of District 11 also could not confirm Tuesday any changes that had been made to the stipends.

Mr. Johnston said he be-lieved Mr. Leibovitz was attempting to protect his pension by not continuing

to work into July, the start of a new fiscal year.

Mr. Johnston praised Mr. Leibovitz, who did not seek re-election this year, for his dedication over his 22 years of service.

“I’d just like to thank him for the many many years of service.”

Toward the end of that service, Mr. Leibovitz be-came the subject of a fed-eral grand jury investiga-tion into his use of federal grant money to develop an election computer software he later allegedly sold for personal profit.

State law states Mr. Lei-bovitz’s appointed replace-ment must be a Democrat.

However, Karen Kinney, the Democrat candidate for Rock Island County Clerk in the Nov. 2 election, said Monday that she would not accept an interim appoint-ment to the position if it was offered to her.

Mr. Bohnsack said he was confident in the clerk’s office staff and he was pleased that the person who will be named to the position will have months to prepare for the Nov. 2 election.

“I think it will be busi-ness as usual,” he said.

Mr. Davies, who turns 91 on July 4, will resign about the first week of July. After representing District 15 for more than 35 years, Mr. Da-vies said it was difficult to leave the board — but it’s the right time.

“It hurts, but I know I told them last time I ran that would be the last time,” he said.

Resignations from Leibovitz, Davies accepted by board

‘It hurts, but I know I told them last time I

ran that would be the last time.’

Rock Island County Board member Ted Davies

TedDavies

DickLeibovitz