Apartment Fire Kills Puppies In Ottawa

Two puppies died Saturday after being caught in an apartment fire.

Ottawa Fire Chief Jim Duback says the tenant, Nikita Stanford left the puppies locked in her bedroom and they apparently died of smoke inhalation after a fire started in the room.  Duback thinks a lamp may have been knocked over setting off the fire.  The bedroom was gutted while the rest of the basement level apartment had smoke damage.

La Salle council reviews policy to share equipment with Peru

Occasionally you’ll borrow a tool or some sort of household item from a neighbor.  The same kind of gesture goes on between local towns and soon La Salle and Peru will have an agreement outlining the responsibilities of sharing equipment.

The La Salle City Council received a draft of the agreement Monday night.  Mayor Jeff Grove says it’s similar to an agreement they have regarding the shopper bus.

Grove says it would allow La Salle to use Peru’s leaf vac while Peru could use La Salle’s sewer vac- both relatively costly pieces of equipment.

Grove says La Salle City employees would always operate La Salle’s equipment and vice versa.

The agreement would address liability, maintenance and labor costs.  It still needs to be review by officials in both towns before being approved.

No public comment for Oglesby City Council meetings

One of the most active city council audiences in the area was silenced.

          Oglesby Mayor Tony Torres didn’t allow any public comments during Monday night’s city council meeting after he and councilman Tom Porter got into a shouting match last month with a member of the audience.  Torres said he wouldn’t recognize anyone from the public to speak until he comes up with a protocol for public comment. 

          When he comes up with the plan, Torres says he’ll post it.

Oglesby road construction nearly completed

Work on the Oglesby Spur should be completely done at the end of this week.

          Streets Commissioner Dennis Yborra says the last thing left to do is put permanent striping on the road.  There could be some traffic delays when this is being done.

          Besides resurfacing the spur, crews also put in new censors at three stop lights.

OHS teachers and school board remain at odds

The school board and the teacher’s union at Ottawa High School could have met Tuesday afternoon, but that’s looking unlikely.  Both sides are blaming the other.

The  teacher’s union says they asked to met with the board at 2pm Tuesday , but that the board refused.

Before meeting, school board president George Hupp apparently asked that the union give a written proposal to the board’s attorney or to him to see if it was worth meeting face-to-face.

The teachers say they found out through a mediator this morning that they would not be meeting.  Glenn Weatherford, president of the teacher’s union, says they still plan on being at the school at two to negotiate. 

Meanwhile, a posting by Hupp on the high school’s website has said the teachers refused to submit a proposal before hand and instead threatened to file unfair labor practice charge against the board.

The two sides last met for negotiating last Thursday.  Tuesday is the fifth day of school that’s been missed due to the strike.