Soldiers scheduled for Saturday return to Marseilles

After a year long mobilization, the Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers serving with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team are coming home from Afghanistan.
160 soldiers in all, including 61 returning to Marseilles, are being welcomed back Saturday afternoon. Other towns with homecoming ceremonies include Machesney Park and Marion.
The total number of soldiers in the battalion is 700. Nine members were killed including Spc. Chester W. Hosford of Ottawa. He was killed on July 6 after his vehicle was hit with an improvised explosive device. 
Several other units still overseas are expected home over the next three weeks.

Negotiations Continue At OTHS

Wednesday night’s special meeting of the Ottawa High School Board could be one of the most important meetings in awhile.

The board is meeting in closed session at 5pm Wednesday inside the high school to talk about ongoing faculty contract negotiations. The board isn’t expected to take action on any proposals.

The Ottawa Township High School Education Association has already filed an intent to strike and there are some reports teachers approved going on strike earlier this week. Glenn Weatherford of the education association said he had no comment at this time when asked about teachers approving a strike.

The board and teachers have met twice with a federal mediator but still no new contract. Their previous contract expired the day before fall semester began.

Suspected bank robbers indicted

Two out-of-towners suspected of robbing the Peru Federal Savings Bank on Shooting Park Road remain in La Salle County Jail.
Police had stopped Richard Rigg of Rock Island and Chad Diederich of Davenport, Iowa less than 30 minutes after getting reports of the robbery on August 4.
A grand jury indicted them for aggravated robbery yesterday. Bond has been set at $25,000 each.

Trio arrested after BP robbery remain in jail

Three people arrested after the robbery of a gas station in Ottawa remain in jail.
David Boyd of Odell was indicted Tuesday for armed robbery and aggravated armed robbery. Jason Schenherr of Marseilles and Jennifer Colman of Odell were indicted for obstructing justice.
They were arrested after the robbery last Wednesday night at a BP Amoco.
They remain in the La Salle County Jail.

Public Safety Sales tax revenue remains down

Revenues from a countywide Public Safety Sales Tax are still lagging in La Salle County.
The total taxes received thru June have been calculated. The county had their highest sales tax month so far this year in June at $215,000. That’s still a 12% drop from a year before.
The sales tax revenue has gone down in La Salle County every month since last September.

Bid date set for IVCC satellite campus project

A satellite campus for Illinois Valley Community College in Ottawa is a couple steps closer to happening.
The Ottawa City Council Tuesday night set the morning of October 5th as the bid opening for proposals to turn a Centrue Bank office building into classrooms for IVCC. The city has bought the building from Centrue for $700,000. The plan is to lease it out to IVCC for a four-year term initially. Classes would start in the new building next fall.

Ottawa creates permit-only parking lot

The Ottawa City Council Tuesday night approved an ordinance amendment that makes a parking lot south of the old Jordan Block a permit-only place. Mayor Bob Eschbach says downtown workers approached him about high school kids taking up the parking lot when they have their own at the high school that never fills up. Eschbach says this then causes workers to park along city streets which takes away parking from would be shoppers. Officials think students park in the lot to avoid congestion by the school and so they don’t have to pay $40 to park in the school lot.
The new permit-only parking will be Monday thru Friday from eight until four. Getting the permit is free but if you’re parking in the lot without one it’ll be a $10 ticket. Eschbach says for the first few days of the permit parking, crews won’t hand out tickets and instead put brochures on cars telling them its parking only for downtown workers.