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Trying to Save a Civil War Monument

Fund-raising is underway to restore a civil war monument at the Rock Island County Courthouse. Members of a committee working on the project will give a progress report Wednesday afternoon at the Rock Island Library. 

Lieutenant Ron Ericson, from the sheriff's department, is chairman of the committee. He says the life-size marble soldier was brought indoors last year when people realized how much it had deteriorated.
And not just the statue, the marble column with the names of local Union soldiers is also in bad shape, with many of the names no longer legible.

Ericson says the restoration project will include a nearby metal plaque with the Gettysburg Address - it's completely rusted and the concrete base is cracked.
Last week the village of Carbon Cliff gave 5,000 dollars to the project, and he says the total estimated cost is about 100,000 dollars.
The presentation will begin at 3 pm Wednesday. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.