IVCC to hold auditions for “Gypsy”

The story of Gypsy Rose Lee is coming to the stage at Illinois Valley Community College.  The musical “Gypsy” is the spring theater performance. 

It’s being directed and choreographed by Don Grant Zellmer, who says a large cast is needed.  Auditions are at 7pm Wednesday in the IVCC Cultural Center.  You don’t have to be a student but you should bring a song to sing.

People are also needed for the technical crew.  The musical will run in mid-April. 

Waiters get mysterious large tips

 Restaurant workers around the country are being photographed with huge smiles on their faces – holding up receipts with tips of up to $10,000.
 
     Each tab is stamped with the handle (at)tipsforjesus and bears an illegible signature.
 
     The anonymous tipster has left his trail of generosity coast to coast and even in Mexico. A waiter in Phoenix beams looking at his $2,500 tip. And a $111.05 New York restaurant check includes a $1,000 tip and the words “god bless!” scrawled across it.
 
     Photos of the outlandish tips are posted on the Instagram account “Tips for Jesus” that has more than 50,000 followers. The feed comes with the tagline, “Doing the Lord’s work, one tip at a time.”
 
     The tipster has yet to come forward. Meanwhile, he’s keeping everyone guessing.

Coast Guard floats scary proposal

The U.S. Coast Guard wants to allow barges filled with fracking wastewater to ply the nation’s rivers on their way toward disposal. Many environmentalists are horrified, but industry groups say barge transport has its advantages.   Critics of the plan say that if there was an accident, it could threaten the drinking water supply of millions of people. They also cite the uncertainty around what’s in that toxic mix.   The Coast Guard is proposing to address that by requiring chemical testing of each barge load before shipment.   The wastewater now is usually disposed of by truck or rail. A government report notes that poses more risk for accidents than shipping by barge.
 The industry says far greater amounts of toxic chemicals are already being moved by barge, including oil drilling waste.

Prisoners and guards hurt in crash

 Authorities say a southern Illinois freeway crash involving a busload of federal prisoners has sent roughly a dozen of the occupants to hospitals.
 
     Illinois State Police Trooper Calvin Dye tells the Belleville News-Democrat  the westbound bus headed from Kentucky to Jefferson City, Mo., hit a concrete pillar of an Interstate 64 overpass shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday and overturned.
 
     The nine federal inmates and four prison guards who were injured were taken to area hospitals, though their medical statuses weren’t immediately available. Authorities say none of the injuries were considered life-threatening.
 
     The hospitalized inmates were under police guard.
 
     Other inmates were transferred to the St. Clair County jail in Belleville.
 
     Dye says the bus was operated by a private company and was contracted to move the prisoners.

Actor Peter O’ Toole dies

Peter O’Toole, the charismatic actor who achieved instant stardom as Lawrence of Arabia and was nominated eight times for an Academy Award, has died. He was 81.  O’Toole’s agent Steve Kenis says the actor died Saturday at a London hospital following a long illness.  O’Toole began his acting career as one of the most exciting young talents on the British stage. His 1955 “Hamlet,” at the Bristol Old Vic, was critically acclaimed.   He got his first Oscar nomination for 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia,” his last for “Venus” in 2006. With that he set the record for most nominations without ever winning, though he had accepted an honorary Oscar in 2003.   A reformed – but unrepentant – hell-raiser, O’Toole long suffered from ill health. Kenis announced the death in an email Sunday.

Chicago police arrest convicted murderer

Officers raiding a southwest Chicago apartment have arrested a convicted murderer and seized an assault rifle, a bullet proof vest and rounds of ammunition hidden inside a candy box.    Fifty-seven-year-old Jose Negrete was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. His bond was set at $200,000.   The Cook County Sheriff’s Office announced the charges Saturday.    Sheriff’s police officers carried out the raid Thursday on the 15th-floor apartment in the Ford City neighborhood. The sheriff’s office believes the suspect threw the rifle, a fully loaded magazine and the bullet proof vest from a window as officers moved in. They were found on the ground directly below.   Officers also found ammunition in a candy box inside the apartment.   It was not immediately clear if Negrete had an attorney.

Three Aurora teens shot Friday night

Three teenagers have been shot and injured in Aurora. Police in the northern Illinois city say they are investigating Friday night’s shooting but have no firm information on a motive. The three teens are 13, 14 and 15 years old.

Help is wanted in two cities

It happens in business, and it’s just happened in two local cities. They elect or hire someone only to have that person quit a short time later.  Perus’ newly hired city engineer and public works superintendent Sean Mikos  turned in his resignation late last week. He’ll be leaving at the end of December after taking over in August. And,  Monday, Henry will be without a mayor. Mayor Randy Constantine said he was failing to get anything done with the council and the stress was too much. Constantine was elected in March and reportedly will move now to Ottawa.

Competing displays to occur in Ottawa

There’s competition in business and now, in Ottawa, competing messages over theological beliefs. The Times of Ottawa reports “The Freedom from Religion Foundation” out of Madison, Wisconsin, may post a banner today in Washington Park after receiving approval from the city. The banner wishing all a “Happy Winter Solstice”. Ottawa Commissioner Dan Aussem says “Freedom from Religion” wanted its banner on LaSalle street near the annual display painting depicting the life of Jesus Christ. The Times says the Wisconsin atheists had to settle for the corner of Columbus and Jackson across from the creche of the First Congregational Church. The Foundation’s banner says ” there can be no freedom of religion without having freedom from religion in government. The Freedom from Religion” group displayed a banner in the city park in April of 2012 declaring “Jesus is a myth”. The banner was stolen.