Gusty Winds Knock Tree On Top Of House

While there wasn’t an outbreak of severe weather locally, Mother Nature still did some damage.

A little before 11 Sunday night, Ottawa Police and Fire Departments went to a house where a tree fell on it at Sycamore and Madison Streets just west of downtown.  The tree brought down some power lines but there was no fire to deal with.  Five people were inside the house but they were fine.

Just minutes after getting this call, Ottawa firefighters went to the south side baseball diamond across from Krogers for a transformer that was sparking.

State Music Title For Ottawa High School

The dynasty continues with Ottawa High School winning their 16^th straight state music title.

After the chorus and band competition Saturday at L-P, Ottawa finished with a total combined score of 1,083, tops in Class A.  In fact they beat 2^nd place Sycamore by nearly 400 points.  Ottawa placed first in Solo/Ensemble, tied for 2nd in Orchestra and tied for first in Vocal.

Streator finished 22^nd in Class A, while L-P tied for 46^th.  In the next class down enrollment wise, Class B, Princeton’s music department finished 11^th, Mendota 15^th, and Bureau Valley 31^st.  St. Bede placed 29^th in Class C.

Late Night Crash Involving Semi And Car

One person was taken to Ottawa Regional Hospital after a semi and car crashed near Ottawa.

Marseilles Fire and Ambulance were called out to eastbound Interstate 80 last night for the crash just east of the Route 71 exit in Ottawa.  It happened around 9:45 and emergency responders were there until about 10:30.

No names are available yet for who was in the crash.

Willey Bringing “Wild Bill” To Life

Wild Bill Hickok’s 175^th birthday party in Troy Grove will include a daytime soap star.

Ottawa’s Walt Willey is bringing his touring show called “Wild Bill! An Evening with James Butler Hickok” to Mendota High School.  The performance is Saturday, May 26^th at 7pm inside the high school auditorium.  Tickets are 15 dollars in advance and 20 at the door.  Advance tickets are available at Sports-N-Stuff in Mendota.

The Wild Bill show is one of Willey’s projects since “All My Children” ended last year.

Mushroom education in Ottawa

You love mushrooms but don’t know a thing about hunting them. For thirty dollars, the Morel University seminar will teach you this Friday all you need to know. It’s a part of a two day Midwest Morel Festival in Washington Park in Ottawa. A Morel mushroom museum will be open both days. A Morel breakfast occurs Saturday along with a Championship hunt limited to four hundred forty hunters. For more info, rules and signup, visit experience ottawa dot com.

Final wait for the dead

Police investigators have discovered 11 unburied bodies at a south suburban Chicago cemetery. The bodies were inside caskets found stacked in a storage room behind a chapel at Homewood Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Thornton. Cook County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Frank Bilecki says investigators were tipped off by a person who had tried visiting a loved one they were told had been buried only to discover the body remained in storage. Bilecki says the longest a body had been in the storage room was about a week. The manager tells investigators the bodies were not buried because a backhoe driver was recently fired. No charges have been filed. The families have been notified and the bodies were being buried Saturday. All were public aid burials.

 

Salmonella outbreak in Illinois

Health officials say 10 of the nationwide salmonella illnesses linked to raw yellow fin tuna products were in Illinois. They included three people who had to be hospitalized. The state Department of Public Health said yesterday that the Illinois cases ranged from February 11th to March 19th. Most were in the Chicago area.

telethon falls short of goal

A five hour telethon to benefit Easter Seals of LaSalle and Bureau counties fell short of its fundraising goal Saturday. Kelly Rick, Director of Development said the show raised 89-thousand three hundred dollars – short of its goal of one hundred thirty-three thousand dollars. The total is preliminary and more is expected in the next few days. Easter Seals can close the gap with two fundraisers in the Princeton on the 28th – one of them called a “Wrestling Rumble” event. Last nights event featured local entertainers and radio personalities and a live audience of fifty people. The broadcast was seen on local cable access channels and originated from the new Central Intermediate School in Ottawa.