Man takes life during warrant arrest

Whether it is a traffic stop or serving a warrant, nothing is routine for law enforcement.

La Salle County Sheriff Tom Templeton says 27-year-old Joseph Sipple shot and killed himself Thursday afternoon after deputies were trying to arrest him on a felony warrant for possession of stolen property.

Templeton says deputies ran into Sipple at a home south of Sheridan just before 3pm.  He allegedly ran near a garage on the property where deputies asked him to surrender. Sipple allegedly refused to surrender, took out a pistol and took his own life.

An autopsy on Sipple is planned for Friday. The death remains under investigation.

Local wine wins Best in Show at state competition

The next time you buy a local bottle of wine, it might be award winning. The judges at the 2014 Illinois State Fair Wine competition this month were good to two local brands.

Illinois Sparkling Company won Best of Show for their Franken’s French Hybrid Brut. Their Dollface Rose also won the Governor’s Cup Rose category.

Mark Wenzel owns Illinois Sparking Company and August Hill Winery in Utica. His August Hill brand earned the Governor’s Cup White with their Vignoles.  They also won recognition in the Label and Packaging competition.

Garage sale to raise money for Dalzell Fire Department

Do you have a student that will be moving out at the end of the summer? You might find them something nice at the First Annual Spring Cleaning Garage Sale for the Dalzell Fire Department.

They will have clothing, furniture, electronics, books and household items on sale at the fire department.

The sale is from 4-8pm Thursday, from 8am until 3pm Friday and from 9am-3pm Saturday.

Ottawa hospital responds to possible Medicare penalties

If St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa has problems with patients coming down with infections or injuries while at the hospital, it comes as a surprise to hospital officials.

The Chicago Tribune put out a story last week that six Illinois hospitals including St. Elizabeth in Ottawa are at risk of having Medicare payments cut this fall because of patient infections and injuries while under their care. They used information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. If true, St. Elizabeth could face thousands of dollars in penalties.

Brianne Riley is a spokeswoman with St. Elizabeth in Ottawa. She says they haven’t seen the official reports yet.
Riley says they’ve had only three patients with catheter-related urinary tract infections in the past 2.5 years and no patients with “central line” infections during that same period. Based on that, Riley says “we are puzzled at being placed on the penalty list”.

The potential penalties are part of new federal health law, or Obamacare.

Catholic churches merging in Henry

More catholic churches are merging in the Illinois Valley.

As of Tuesday, St. Mary and St. Joseph Churches in Henry will merge into one parish named after St. John XXIII. The St. Mary’s building will become the parish home.

Bishop Daniel Jenky announced the name change the same day St. John XXIII was made a saint by the current pope. St. John XXIII led the catholic church between 1958 and 1963.

Father Tom Mizeur will still be the catholic pastor in Henry after the merger.

Applications are due to compete in Bureau County Fair Queen Pageant

Time is running out at your chance to become royalty.

Saturday is the deadline to apply for a spot in this year’s Bureau County Fair Queen Pageant. Besides some obvious rules like having to be a girl between 16 and 21 years old, some of the other rules include never having been married, abstaining from public displays of affection with boyfriends during fair week and only having one piercing on each ear lobe.

If there aren’t ten contestants from Bureau County, the pageant will also take applications from La Salle, Putnam, Henry, Whiteside, Marshall, Stark and Lee Counties. Last year’s queen was from Geneseo.

Pageant applications are available on the Bureau County Fair website.