Semi And Car Collide Near Bureau County-Henry County Line

A crash involving a semi and car near Sheffield could’ve been a lot worse.

Just after 8:30 this morning, calls went out to police and fire crews about a crash involving a possible car fire.  Once emergency crews arrived, it was found no one was hurt and firefighters weren’t needed.

The crash happened on eastbound Interstate 80 near the Bureau-Henry County line.

Dozen Perry Memorial Hospital Employees Have Rest Of Year To Find New Job

One could argue there’s never enough time to recover from a job cut but Perry Memorial Hospital officials hope a half-year’s notice is enough time for a dozen employees to find a new profession.

Perry Memorial CEO Rex Conger announced yesterday that the Women’s Healthcare Unit will close January 1^st because of a variety of reasons including medical reimbursement losses and shrinking pool of women in Bureau County young enough to have babies.  The dozen employees on the chopping block will get top consideration of any other openings at the hospital according to Conger.  They will be given the chance to use the rest of the year to do training for another medical profession.

The Women’s Healthcare employees who don’t find another job at Perry before 2014 will be eligible for unemployment.  Conger says no severance packages will be available.

Conger says the women’s healthcare department lost 500 thousand dollars last year.

Wild Bill Celebration In Troy Grove

One of the area’s most famous and infamous native sons is being celebrated later this week.

Officials in Troy Grove are planning a “Wild Bill Hickock Day” Sunday at the city park across from Wild Bill’s monument.  Besides food and kids games, organizers plan on offering horse and wagon rides, live shootout re-enactments, historic cemetery tour and gun and photo exhibits.  The event runs from 11 until 3.

Wild Bill was born in Troy Grove on May 27^th, 1837.

Popular High School Music Teacher Calls It A Career

The annual pop concert at Ottawa High School traditionally draws a crowd but nothing like the size of what turned out Friday night.  It was the last pop concert for choir teacher Roger Amm.  After 32 years, Amm is retiring.

Amm lead the school to 18 Illinois State High School Association music championships.  He says he became involved with singing when he was young but it wasn’t always his chosen career.

Amm has inspired many Ottawa students, including Kane Farabaugh who has produced a 30 minute documentary about Amm.  The documentary debuted before the sold-out pop concert.   People waited in line overnight for tickets.

Amm says it’s been a great career but he wants to step back for a little while before another singing project.

An interview with Amm is available at the AM 1220 WLPO dot com news page.