A 20-year-old Blue Island man has been arrested by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Devin B. Sprowls was wanted out of LaSalle County for Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child stemming from an investigation in Ottawa and rural Streator involving the Ottawa Police Department and the LaSalle County Sheriff’s Office. Sprowls is in the LaSalle County Jail under a $150,000 bond.
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14th District U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood is hosting a Summer Town Hall series in every county during the August recess. The schedule began with Thursday night’s meeting at the DeKalb High School Auditorium and will continue Monday night with the LaSalle County event at 5:30 in Utica Village Hall. Will County’s town hall hosted by the Naperville Democratic Congresswoman will be on Wednesday night at 5:30 at the Joliet Public Library followed next Thursday night, August 10th, with the Kane County meeting at Aurora East High School beginning at 5:30. Even though the venues haven’t been disclosed, the Kendall County Town Hall is set for August 14th, Putnam County on August 17th, and Bureau County on August 28th.
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A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 Friday morning at Thornton Park on Ottawa’s west side for a new three-hole multi-golf-park course. The three-hole course offers both Foot Golf, also known as Soccer Golf, and Disc Golf all in one. Soccer golf is played just like disc golf with the difference being kicking a soccer ball into the hole under the golf pin. This multi-golf-park course is one of only two courses in the United States.
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The Illinois Department of Transportation says Buffalo Rock State Park west of Naplate off Dee Bennett Road will be closed next week from Tuesday, August 8th, to Thursday, August 10th for construction at its main entrance. The project will reconstruct a retaining wall along the park’s entrance road. Other improvements include new pavement, gutters, and guardrails. Following the closures, traffic will be reduced to one lane and will be controlled by signals during the project, which is expected to be completed by Nov. 30.
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Ottawa’s Friendship Days continue through Sunday in the downtown area from Washington Square Park to the Jordan Block and the north shoreline of the Illinois River. Friday’s events include an outdoor craft & vendors show in Washington Park from 5 to 9 pm, Gray’s School of Dance has a show on the Jordan Block stage on Main Street at 5:30, and Music In the Streets features the 303 Band playing on Court Street from 8 until 11. Saturday events include the Craft Show in Washington Park from 10 til 6, a presentation by the Vest Dance Troupe on the Jordan Block stage at 11, and the LaSalle County Cruisers Car Show from 8 am to 1 pm in the lower lot along Albin-Stevens Drive. Saturday morning from 10 until Noon the Ottawa Police Department will offer free Child Identification Kits. Music in The Park Saturday night extends for another hour featuring Shindig from 6 until 9. Friendship Days wrap up Sunday with the Craft & Vendors Show from 10 until 4 in Washington Park. The family-friendly free Touch-A-Truck event from 11 until 3 on the Riverfront is presented by the local building trades and labor groups with kids able to climb on some big and little rigs, Ottawa First will have their Kids Block events including free treats, and the final event of the celebration is a Gospel Music Family Night from 6 until 8 in Washington Park. If there is a weather threat Sunday evening, the gospel music event will move to First Presbyterian Church at Jefferson and Columbus Streets.
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Reconstruction and expansion of the Creedon Parking Lot in downtown Ottawa will start Monday. The project on the lot at the southwest corner of Columbus and Madison Streets is expected to be completed by early September. The parking lot work is in conjunction with the parking changes in the 100 block of West Madison Street to create two lanes of traffic and angled parking on both sides of the street.
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The opening of a temporary Chicago casino is being pushed back. Bally’s said the casino at Medinah Temple will now open next month. The company was granted preliminary approval by the Illinois Gaming Board in June to continue preparing the site in River North for gaming and hiring the employees necessary to operate a casino. At the time, executives hoped to have the casino up and running by this month. The temporary location will operate until a permanent one is built at the site of the former Chicago Tribune printing plant in River West.
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Marijuana prices in Illinois are among the highest in the country. A new report from Headset says Illinois generated 950 million dollars in pot sales in the first half of this year. However, the average price per item in Illinois is 89 percent higher than in the rest of the U.S. cannabis market.
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Illinois is establishing the Illinois Farm to Food Bank Program. The program will expand resources for food bank systems across the state while supporting local farmers. The measure creates mechanisms for acquiring and distributing fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry, dairy, and eggs to organizations providing free food for those in need. The program initially began as a pilot in 2021 with grant funding from USDA and is made permanent through this bill.
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Illinois is launching an effort to create a more supportive environment for students across the state. Governor Pritzker signed a bill that contains several recommendations from the Whole Child Task Force, a group established to identify how Illinois can support more equitable, inclusive, and supportive environments for every student. The recommendations include a Children’s Adversity Index, which is designed to measure community childhood trauma exposure across the population of children three to 19 years of age.
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A federal judge is halting an Illinois law targeting so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.” During a hearing yesterday, the judge granted a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to immediately halt the measure, which allows the Illinois Attorney General to investigate complaints against centers accused of using misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation in order to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. The injunction was requested in a lawsuit filed by the National Institute of Family Life Advocates