Car Slams Through Front Of Reime Jewelers

Waterloo firefighter Billy Fries, left, sets up a ladder next to Reime Jewelers to secure broken glass while firefighters Perry Schlemmer, center, and Jim Dietz look on following a car accident today in downtown Waterloo.

Esther Harbaugh of New Athens lost control of her Dodge Stratus today at 12:30 p.m., and ran through the front entrance of Reime Jewelers on Main Street in downtown Waterloo. Harbaugh, 77, had been to the dentist earlier today and told police officers she felt dizzy just before the accident. Esther and her husband, Edward, who was a passenger in the car, were shaken up but not injured.

“I was on the phone with Julie Holtgrewe (owner of Reime’s) when I heard a loud crash,” said Reime’s employee Sandy Wittenauer. “Then I saw smoke, glass flying and a car busting through the front door.”

There were no customers in the store at the time of the accident. Reime’s will be closed today as the front entrance is repaired.

Anna Shields is recovering at St. Anthony’s from minor injuries she sustained as a passenger in a car that ran off the road yesterday on D Road in rural Monroe County.

Shields was a passenger in a Pontiac Sunfire driven by Shelby Piatchek of Waterloo that ran off the road, down an embankment and came to rest perched on the edge of a ledge. According to the police report, Piatchek was driving northbound on D Road with Shields and three other passengers when she became distracted by something in the car. She lost control of the vehicle, it left the roadway and came to rest when the front of the car hit a tree a couple feet from a ledge with a drop of 40 feet.

Waterloo firefighters, along with Monroe County Ambulance personnel and Wheat’s Towing employees, pulled the car back to the roadway then extricated the occupants, and Shields was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Piatchek was ticketed for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Monroe County Fair Update

John Klein drives his Ford 4x4 in the main arena during Tuesday night’s Monroe County Fair street truck pull. – photo by Gage Wienhoff

Alicia Biffar and Matt Mueller are congratulated with their grand champion ram by Fair Queen Emily Hopkins and Little Miss Madalyn Valerius, right, during last night’s Monroe County Fair.

Brenda York and her horse Annie won the open class high points buckle at the open class horse show.      – photo by Carol Floarke

Little Miss Madalyn Valerius tries to get a rooster to crow during the Monroe County Fair’s rooster crowing contest. The winning rooster, Leroy, owned by Danielle Pretto, crowed 59 times in 30 minutes, repeating as champ. Leroy set a record last year with 111 crows.

Wednesday night’s main event at the Monroe County Fair is the Figure 8 Demolition Race. Admission is $9 after 3 p.m. A complete listing of the fair’s schedule is available at www.monroecounty-fair.org.

Recent Obituaries
Helen Kuehner, 92, of Waterloo, died July 21. Survivors include niece Mary Kuehner; and nephews Ervin Kuehner, Francis Kuehner and James Kuehner. She was preceded in death by her brothers, Herman and Edward Kuehner. Visitation is Wednesday, July 25, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at DeFabio Funeral Home. Funeral service is Thursday, July 26, 10 a.m., at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Waterloo.

Opal Scheibe, 69, of Waterloo, died July 24. Survivors include husband, Willard Scheibe; sister Arlou Marquardt; and brothers Paul (Leola) Eichelmann and Wesley (Dixie) Eichelmann. She was preceded in death by brother, Otto Eichelmann. Visitation is Thursday, July 26, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Quernheim Funeral Home. Funeral is Friday, July 27, 10 a.m., at Quernheims.