Meet The Candidates In Ottawa

Think you need to learn more about your local candidates?  Here’s a chance in Ottawa.

The Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and Industry is hosting a “Candidates Night” Thursday, September 27^th at the new Center Intermediate School in Ottawa.  Among those expected to be there are: congressional candidates Republican Adam Kinzinger and Democrat Wanda Rohl; state senate candidates Republican Sue Rezin and Democrat Christine Benson; and state representative candidates Democrat Frank Mautino and Republican Donald Jensen.

The candidates will get time to speak on their own followed by questions from the audience.

Oglesby Ambulance Changes Officially Passed

After weeks of raised voices and tears, a new Oglesby ambulance ordinance was officially passed without a peep.

The council voted 3 to 2 in favor of changing the ambulance director’s pay and hours along with hours of part-time ambulance workers.  Ambulance Director Cathie Edens will now be salaried at 46 thousand dollars a year which will likely cut back her overall pay.  Also only two-part time paramedics will be allowed to work over a thousand hours a year to receive a pension.  Before the new ordinance, eight workers were getting a pension.

Mayor Don Finley expects the changes to save the city upwards of 25 thousand dollars.  The changes go into effect January 1^st.

Commissioners Tom Porter and Dennis Yborra voted against the changes.  Both think the hour limits will affect staffing too much.

Ill. Corrections denies record prison population

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois Department of Corrections is disputing an Associated Press analysis that the state’s prison population has hit an all-time high.

The AP sorted state records which show the population hit 49,154 over the weekend. That’s 19 inmates more than the agency’s previous record, set on Oct. 6, 2011.

Agency spokeswoman Stacey Solano says the number is incorrect and the record has not been broken. She says there are 49,044 behind bars.

The prisons were designed for 33,700 people and Gov. Pat Quinn wants to close five correctional centers to save money in a budget crisis. A lawsuit has stalled that.  The women’s prison in Dwight is included in the five.

Last spring officials declared a downward trend in inmates and predicted an overall average for the year of less than 46,000.

 

IVCC offers a Religious Diversity program

People of the Mormon faith have been in Illinois for years but the religion has been receiving more attention thanks to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Learn more about the religion during a program Wednesday at Illinois Valley Community College.  English instructor and Mormon, Mark Brown will present, “Understanding the Mormon Faith” at 10 in Room C 316.

It’s the first of three programs focusing on religious diversity.  “Paganism and Catholicism” will be presented on October 24 and “Karma” will be presented on November 14.

You don’t have to be a student and it’s free.

Learn more by listening to an interview on the AM 1220 WLPO News Page.

Report of a boat fire turned out to be untrue

Not every fire call ends up being a fire.

The Ottawa Fire Department was called Sunday evening to the Shoreline Boat Club on the Illinois River for a house boat on fire.  The boat was said to be on an island only accessible by boat.  So crews got on a boat and when they reached Shoreline Island, they didn’t see a fire and were told the boat was actually on Bull’s Island.  When crews went there, the boat wasn’t actually on fire.  They did break out a window to make sure.

The whole ordeal last about an hour.

Crash on I-39 kills Compton man

It only takes a moment for a serious crash to happen.  An accident Saturday on Interstate 39 killed a man from Compton.

Police say the crash happened Saturday night on Interstate 39 north of PawPaw when a man heading south in a semi lost control.  Police say the semi rolled onto its side, blocking both southbound lanes.

32 year old Michael Welch was also riding south and hit the truck’s trailer.  Welch was pronounced dead at the scene.  The man driving the truck, Mark Wiedmeyer of Allentown, Wisconsin was ticketed for improper lane usage.

Chicago Teacher’s Strike Rolls On

CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago teachers are picketing at schools citywide for the sixth school day as they read over the latest contract offer from the district.

Many wearing red shirts were flipping through summaries of the deal this morning outside various
schools. Negotiators spent the week working out the details, but union delegates decided to take more time to read through the offer.

It’s been frustrating for parent Erica Weiss who was dropping off her 6-year-old daughter at one elementary school. Weiss says her daughter is missing out and it’s inconvenient to bring her to another school and arrange for her care when she’d normally be at after-school activities.

Several Car Burglaries In Oglesby

Oglesby Police need your help in finding out who burglarized over a dozen cars in one night.

Sgt. Robert Stone says they took 16 reports of cars being burglarized Friday night into Saturday morning.  The thefts were spread out across Oglesby on Kenosha, Swift and Hazen Avenues and Florence and Richards Streets.  Stone says many of the cars were left unlocked.  He wouldn’t say what all was stolen.

If your car was also broken into, call Oglesby Police or Crime Stoppers.