IVCC Better Than Average When It Comes To Students Defaulting On Loans

How are those student loan payments going?

According to numbers by the U.S. Department of Education, 13.2 percent of Illinois Valley Community College student borrowers have defaulted on their loans dating back to October 2008.  A total of 34 students  defaulted at IVCC when student loans became due last year.

While that percentage is well above state universities, it’s better than all other community colleges in the area.  The student loan default rate at Kishwaukee College is 21 percent.  Sauk Valley Community College’s loan default rate is 19 percent.  Heartland Community College and Joliet Junior College loan default rates are each 16 percent.

The statewide average student loan default rate counting all two-year and four-year schools, public or private is 14.4 percent.

Pay Raise For Ottawa Police Officers

Ottawa police officers are getting raises but with a catch.

After months of negotiations, the Ottawa City Council put on file a two-year contract with the police union that includes a 3 percent base salary increase this year and a 2.25 percent increase in year two.  But Mayor Bob Eschbach says their pay will be about the same because officers are giving up several training hours which will cut down overtime pay.

The city gave no pay raises to AFSCME and fire department union employees this year.  Because police officers will get a raise next year, Eschbach seemed resigned that raises would also go to other unions.

Rt 178 ribbon cutting scheduled for Thursday

Not long after a tornado rolled through Utica in 2004, officials started talking about realigning Route 178.  A ribbon cutting to officially open the new Route 178 in Utica is Thursday.

State and local officials are expected to attend the ceremony at 5:30pm near the La Salle County Historical Society Museum.  Besides realigning Route 178 to take truck traffic out of downtown Utica, crews also rebuilt the 178 and Interstate 80 interchange.

The total project cost was around $12 million.

St. Bede and Hall students collecting items for Hall Township Food Pantry

A friendly competition between St. Bede Academy and Hall High School will help fill the shelves of the Hall Township Food Pantry.

Students at both schools have begun collecting items for the food pantry in Spring Valley.  Tuesday nigh St. Bede students used their volleyball game against Princeton to collect food.

You can help out your school of choice by leaving a donation at the Hall Food Pantry.  The weight of the donation will be added to your school’s total.  The competition ends on Halloween night.

Food they need the most includes rice, pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, soups, peanut butter and cereal.

Stage 212 prepares for “A Thousand Clowns”

Find out what happens when a children’s television show writer says enough is enough when Stage 212 presents the comedy, “A Thousand Clowns”.

The play tells the story of Murray Burns and his young nephew, Nick and the brother and social workers that decide to step in.

It’s directed by Dave Roden and features Stage 212 veteran actor Bob Kinsella.

Performances are this weekend and the next at Stage 212 in downtown La Salle.  Evening performs begin at 7:30pm with Sunday matinees at 2pm.  Tickets are $14 a piece.  You can by them in advance at the box office.

Plenty Of Referenda Questions In La Salle County

Three weeks from today, polls will be open for the election.  In La Salle County, there are more than just politicians on the ballot.

Everyone in the county will vote on a proposal to raise the sales tax by one percent for school improvements and debt payments.  All rural La Salle County voters will have a referenda question about electric aggregation.  Voters in Earlville and Somonauk are also voting on electric aggregation.

If you live in the Mendota School District, you’ll have a yes or no question about whether school board members should be elected at-large.  Somonauk school voters will decide whether or not to raise taxes while in Sandwich there’s a referendum to issue 3.4 million dollars in bonds to build a new library.

 

 

Young Teen Again Looking To Stock Food Pantry Shelves

For those of you wanting to hear positive stories about todays kids how about what Waltham School 8^th grader Adam Claggett is doing.

For the fifth year in a row, Claggett is organizing a Thanksgiving food drive to benefit the Illinois Valley Food Pantry.  Adam is accepting canned goods at several spots including: IVCH; St. Margaret’s; Horizon House; L-P High School; Waltham Grade Schools and Grace United Methodist Church.  There are donation drop-off boxes at all these places.

Last Thanksgiving, Claggett’s food drive collected over six thousand pounds of food and over 13 hundred dollars.

Marquette Reopens After Sewer Issues

After nearly a week, Marquette Academy High School is back open for classes.

The high school building has been closed since last Wednesday due to a plumbing problem.  It’s thought that phone company crews cut thru a sewer line while laying fiber optic cable.

It still won’t be a full day today at the high school since classes dismiss at 2:15.