New Ottawa Hall of Fame Members Announced

The latest class being inducted into the Ottawa High School Hall of Fame includes a soap opera actor and major newspaper correspondent.

All My Children’s Walt Willey, 1973 Ottawa High graduate and New York Times Chief Congressional Correspondent Carl Hulse class of 1972 headline the nine person class.  Also going into the hall are:  Class of ’65 Dan Battles who was an all-state quarterback; Class of ’44 Norlyn Allison who retired as the Boy Scouts of America Director of Training and International Programs; Class of 1907’s John Hoff who wrote the lyrics to the school fight song “Pep”; Class of ’62 Doug McKendrick who played college basketball at Rice University and now owns a steak house chain; and class of ‘52’s Ralph Nelson who was an all-American football player and former coach and principal at Ottawa High.

Dorothy Love and Jim Sutherland aren’t Ottawa grads but round out this year’s class.  Love is honored for establishing a scholarship at the school in honor of her husband while also leading a fundraiser for the Kingman Gym scoreboard.  Sutherland meanwhile taught and coached at the school for over 30 years and is credited with starting Ottawa’s T-Ball program.  The school’s mascot “Sudsy” is named in Sutherland’s honor.

The Hall of Fame banquet is February 19^th.

Marijuana Bust In Mendota

A traffic stop yesterday in Mendota leads to a drug bust.

TRIDENT officials stopped William Ohst and searched his car.  A drug dog allegedly led investigators to 32 grams of cannabis inside Ohst’s car.

He was arrested for unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver and taken to the county jail.  Ohst was released after paying two thousand dollars bond.

Mendota Gas Station Robber Is Sentenced

Its eight years in prison for a Compton man who robbed a Mendota gas station.

33 year old Alex Stuggis pled guilty Monday to one count of robbery after chocking an attendant at Mendota’s Citgo Quik Mart and stealing over 500 dollars from the station.   The crime happened August 23^rd and Stuggis was arrested a few weeks after.

Stuggis is eligible for good behavior credit in prison so he could be released as early as 2014.  He also gets 113 days knocked off his prison sentence for time spent in the county jail.

Accused Walgreens Robber In Custody

A homeless man accused of robbing Walgreens in Ottawa has turned himself in.

23 year old Louis Babcock surrendered on a robbery warrant Monday night.  He’s in the La Salle County Jail on 100 thousand dollars bond.

Babcock’s accused of walking up to a register last Tuesday night acting like he was buying something and instead stealing an undisclosed amount of money from the cash register.  Investigators say surveillance video and witness interviews led them to accuse Babcock in the robbery.

Babcock didn’t show or imply a weapon during the alleged robbery.

Westclox development topic of business breakfast seminar

Ever wonder who’s behind development inside the old Westclox building?

Mike Krug is a partner and associate with the current ownership group of the Westclox building now called Peru Trade Center.  He’s the guest speaker at next Wednesday’s IVAC Business Breakfast Seminar at Mario’s Maples Supper Club in Peru.  He’ll talk about development of the old Westclox site.

The breakfast starts at 7:15an.  You should reserve a spot by Tuesday with IVAC.

Lovejoy party a kickoff for a year of celebration

Thursday would have been the 200^th birthday of a famous abolitionist who laid down roots in Princeton.

He was Reverend Owen Lovejoy.  Kim Frey of the Princeton Chamber of Commerce says a birthday party Thursday evening is a kickoff for a year of celebration.  Cake and ice cream will be served at the Elks Lodge on Route 6, which used to be part of the Lovejoy property.   Local actor Dexter Brigham will also be talking about Lovejoy’s life.  The program starts at 6:30pm and is open to everyone.

You can hear more by listening to an interview available at AM 1220 WLPO news page.

Hurricane Ike could bring money for Ottawa

City officials in Ottawa hope to tap into hurricane relief money to build a flood wall.

The Ottawa City Council last night agreed to commit $918,000 out of the wastewater treatment fund to serve as a local match for a grant.  The federal grant money is for places affected by Hurricane Ike in September of 2008.  Ottawa had major flooding because of Ike.

The council hopes to get the grant to build a flood wall around the Wastewater Treatment Plant near Allen Park.  The Illinois River almost breached the plant during the 2008 flood.

The city is in the middle of an $8 million renovation to the wastewater treatment plant.