Ottawa Regional Hospital takes steps to join OSF Healthcare System

An area hospital is looking to merge with a larger hospital system.  Ottawa Regional Hospital has signed a letter of intent to join the OSF Healthcare System.

The announcement was shared with employees Thursday afternoon and made public Thursday night.  Officials from OSF and Ottawa Regional say it’s important for reducing the fragmentation of healthcare.  They also believe it will keep the Ottawa hospital strong as healthcare reform changes are put into place.

The merger, if completed isn’t expected to increase the cost of care.  Officials think it would bring a larger pool of physicians to patients in Ottawa.

Employees are expected to keep their time earned and salaries.

It will be months before the deal is completed.  They’ll spend the next several months researching financial records and contracts before they finalize an agreement.

After that they’ll need to receive state approval.  They believe it could be completed in late spring or early summer.

County Board Seat In La Salle Remains Vacant

Anyone in La Salle interested in serving on the La Salle County Board?

La Salle County Board Chairman Jerry Hicks says he is still searching for a replacement for Democrat Kelly Reffett.  She resigned September 13^th after her job as executive director of the Kankakee County Red Cross kept her from attending board meetings.

Last month, Hicks thought he had Dan Mercer of La Salle as the replacement in the 12^th district.  Mercer, a former teacher at L-P, bowed out though because of personal reasons.

By state statute, the board needs need to appoint someone to fill the vacancy within 60 days.  The seat isn’t up for re-election until 2012.

If you’re interested, call the county board office.

LP Band alumni to perform Friday night

Anytime LP plays Ottawa in high school football, it’s an exciting game.  But it’s the halftime performance scheduled for Friday night that will be the excitement for some LP fans.

Over 60 LP Marching Band alumni will take the field with the band for the varsity game’s halftime show.

The band alums were students of former band director Chris Izzo who was at LP from 1960 until 1972.

Band Director Kyle Adelmann says the alums have been able to practice the music on their own and will be able to rehearse with the students during the sophomore game.

He says the students are excited to meet former band members.  He says they’ll be performing pieces that would have been heard at football games over 40 years ago.

Fire At A City Park In Ottawa

Ottawa Police are looking for clues into who set a shelter on fire this morning.

A call came in just before 2:30 about fire and smoke coming from the east end of Thornton Park off Boyce Memorial Drive.  Fire crews saved the shelter but an estimated one thousand dollars in property damage was done.  A hole was burnt through the roof.

Firefighters were on scene for about 45 minutes.

Two Streator Men Charged In Alleged Brick Attack

Two men from Streator face serious charges after being charged with hitting a man with a brick.

Lewis Duncan and James Feddericke were indicted Tuesday in La Salle County Court for armed robbery and aggravated battery.   They’re accused of hitting a man in the head with a brick and stealing his wallet and 600 dollars.  The alleged attack happened September 18^th in Streator.

Both are in the La Salle County jail on 75 thousand dollars bond.