Northern Illinois is under a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service (NWS), starting today to 3 a.m. to noon Saturday. The warning covers McHenry, Lake, Cook, Kane, DuPage, Kendall, DeKalb, Ogle, Lee, La Salle, Will, and Grundy counties. Whiteside and Bureau counties have a separate warning starting at 9 p.m. Thursday. The northern part of the region is expected to face over 8 inches of snow, accompanied by wind gusts up to 45 mph, causing challenging travel conditions and limited visibility. The southern part, including La Salle, Kendall, Grundy, Cook, and Will counties, may experience over 6 inches of snow, mixed with rain before returning to snow. Whiteside and Bureau counties anticipate 5 to 10 inches of snow, with a potential flash freeze and subzero temperatures expected after the storm on Sunday morning, with wind chills as low as minus 30 degrees.
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The La Salle County Board, consisting of 29 members, postponed a decision on becoming a no-sanctuary county, opting for further discussion. The proposed resolution, resembling Grundy County’s, aimed to impede the movement of asylum seekers. Board member Doug Trager highlighted the lack of committee discussion before a vote, emphasizing the need for thorough consideration. The unanimous decision to refer the matter to the rules committee was made, with a commitment from Chairwoman Jill Bernal to address it promptly. However, judging from the diverse opinions expressed during the meeting, reaching a consensus on whether the county or cities should have authority and the moral obligation to assist asylum seekers may prove neither unanimous nor swift in full board action. Board member Ray Gatza urged swift and accurate crafting of a solution, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing the needs of existing residents.
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A mobile home in Streator caught fire on Thursday, prompting a swift response from the Reading Volunteer Fire Department around 8 a.m. The residence at 1410 E. Elm St. was fully engulfed, leading Assistant Fire Chief Darrell Porter to request assistance through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. Responding departments included Grand Ridge, Streator, Lostant, and Allen Township (Ransom), along with the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office and La Salle County Emergency Management Agency. Fortunately, all residents had evacuated before the firefighters arrived, and there were no injuries reported. Despite the efforts, the home was declared a total loss. The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office was present to investigate the fire’s cause.
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The Illinois Supreme Court deliberated on Wednesday whether the mere odor of cannabis provides sufficient grounds for police to search a vehicle, posing a challenge to the state’s 2020 recreational marijuana legalization law. The court considered two combined cases involving vehicle searches based on the smell of cannabis as probable cause. In People v. Redmond, Ryan Redmond was pulled over for a minor traffic violation, and after the officer detected the odor of cannabis, a search revealed a small amount of the substance. Redmond was charged with a misdemeanor for improper cannabis transportation. In People v. Molina, passenger Vincent Molina faced charges of unlawful cannabis possession in a vehicle when a trooper, smelling cannabis, discovered a box of rolled joints. Molina claimed to have a medical marijuana card, but he was charged for not storing the cannabis in an odor-proof container.
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A new trial date has been scheduled for the Ottawa murder case involving 24-year-old Nicolaus Phillips of Spring Valley. During the court proceedings on Wednesday, it was decided to cancel the initially set trial date for next Tuesday, opting instead to reschedule it for April. Phillips, along with 22-year-old Chastity Furar of Ottawa, faces three counts of murder for the alleged shooting death of 42-year-old Eric Clements of Ottawa. Prosecutors assert that Phillips, angered by Clements’ communication with Furar on Facebook, used a gun obtained by Furar, his girlfriend, to fatally shoot Clements at his home on June 5th. Phillips is held on a $5 million bond, while Furar’s bond is set at $1.5 million, with her next court appearance scheduled for Friday.
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Exactly a year ago yesterday, a significant fire erupted at Carus Chemical in La Salle. Swift evacuations were conducted, and residents near the east side plant received a shelter-in-place directive as smoke engulfed the area around 9 o’clock. Firefighters from across northern Illinois responded to combat the chemical blaze. Carus identified the fire’s origin as friction between a forklift and spilled potassium permanganate in the shipping section of the plant. Throughout 2023, Carus dedicated efforts to resolving insurance settlements with affected neighbors and fire departments whose equipment suffered damage during the four-alarm fire.
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Ottawa police arrested Filip Nicolae, a 31-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, on Sunday at the intersection of Columbus Street and East Dayton Road. Nicolae wanted as a fugitive from justice, had a warrant for his arrest in the Pacific Northwest.
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The office of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is expanding online services for drivers. Illinoisans can now obtain more DMV services and complete more transactions online. The Secretary of State’s office has made design changes to its website to make all available online services more accessible to all customers. Giannoulias says more than two million residents in Illinois will need their driver’s license or state ID renewed this year. Of those, more than one million can renew online.
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WEATHER:
WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT TODAY TO NOON CST SATURDAY
Friday
Snow, possibly mixed with rain. Patchy blowing snow before 9 am. High near 35. Breezy, with an east wind of 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. The chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches is possible.
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Friday Night
Snow. Patchy blowing snow after 10 pm. Low around 16. Windy, with a west-northwest wind of 10 to 20 mph increasing to 20 to 30 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph. The chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches is possible.
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OBITUARIES:
John Michael “Yocko” Fraine, 83, of Ottawa, passed away on Wednesday, January 10th, at home. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 13th, at St. Francis of Assisi Church. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, at the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa.
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Jon Mark Wenger, 67, of Lostant, passed away on Sunday, January 7th, at his home. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, January 13th at Heritage Christian Center in Ottawa. Funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. at the church. The burial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, January 15th at Hollands Grove Cemetery in Washington, IL. Seals-Campbell Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.
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We have an updated funeral service information for Margaret Gaffney, 97, of Ottawa, who passed away Sunday, December 24th, at The Pavilion of Ottawa. The visitation previously scheduled for Saturday the 13th, will now be rescheduled to Monday, January 15th, from 10:00 am until noon at Ottawa Funeral Home. The funeral ceremony will now take place at noon Monday the 15th, at the funeral home. Burial will be in Oakwood Memorial Park. Cremation rites have been entrusted to Ottawa Funeral Home.
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Ralph E. Rowe, 83, of Marseilles, passed away Saturday, January 6th, at his home with his family by his side. The Ottawa Funeral Home is handling any arrangements.
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Dorothy Darlene (Houchin) Fowlie, 86, of Ottawa, passed away on Thursday, January 4th, at her home surrounded by her family. Funeral services will be private. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Mueller Funeral Home Ottawa.
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Rita Jean (Dippel) Honer, 91, of Ottawa, passed away on Tuesday, January 9th, at her home. Funeral services will be private. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa.
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LOCAL SPORTS:
Shepherd Middle School – 7th grade lost to Bureau Valley in the Starved Rock Conference Championship game by a score of 35-13. Leading the way for Shepherd: Joseph Donahue with 4 points, Mason Mucci with 3 points, and Keandre Miller had 8 rebounds. 7th grade is now 12-8.
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8th grade defeated Princeton in the Starved Conference Third Place game by a score of 38-31. Leading the way for Shepherd: Blake Schiltz with 17 points and 5 steals, Nevan Holloway with 13 points, Amari Molina with 5 points, and Jett Johnson with 3 points. 8th grade is now 11-9.
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Girls basketball
Marquette51, Seneca 43: Lilly Craig’s 26 points and stout defense in the second half lifted Marquette to a 51-43 win over Seneca.
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Limestone 45, Ottawa 42: At Kingman Gym, the host Pirates got the nonconference defeat.
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Hall 51, Mendota 21: the Red Devils to a Three Rivers Conference East Division victory in Spring Valley.
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St.Bede 55, Dwight 43: St. Bede left with the conference victory to improve to 9-1 atop the league and 15-7 overall.
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Princeton 54, Kewanee 45: The Tigresses earned a Three Rivers Conference East Division victory in Kewanee.
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Serena 48, Hinckley-Big Rock 36: At Serena, the Royals suffered their first Little Ten Conference loss of the season.
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Boys basketball
Seneca 60, Dwight 46: At Dwight, in a game moved up a day because of the weather forecast, the Irish stayed unbeaten in the Tri-County Conference
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Boys Wrestling
Ottawa Pirates, and Kaneland Knights each top Dwight in the triangular at Love Gym.
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Morris beat L-P 57-24 in an Interstate 8 wrestling dual in Sellett Gymnasium.
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The Bruins made a stop in Sterling to tangle with the Comets of Newman CC & the Riverdale Rams… SB bested NCC 40-18 but fell to a back-and-forth to Riverdale 24-36. The Bruins fought hard against 2 tough opponents and ended the night 1-1
Girls bowling
La Salle-Peru 3,297, Streator 2,485: At the Streator Elks, the host Bowlin’ Bulldogs were defeated
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St. Bede 2,693, Ottawa 2,663: the Bruins got a victory at the Illinois Valley Super Bowl in Peru.
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PRO & COLLEGE SPORTS:
The Blackhawks gave up two goals in the final four minutes of regulation during a 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre yesterday. The Hawks took a 1-0 lead when Connor Murphy lit the lamp early in the second period. However, the Jets scored the game-tying goal with three-and-a-half minutes left in regulation, and they put the game-winner in with about a minute to go. Chicago is in last place in the Central Division with 26 points and a 12-28-and-2 record. The Hawks host Dallas tomorrow night.
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The Bulls go for their fourth win in a row when they host the Golden State Warriors at United Center tonight. The Bulls are coming off a 124-119 overtime win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. Chicago is in ninth place in the Eastern Conference at 18-and-21. Tonight’s game tips off at 7:00 PM.
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The Bears are losing one of their true home games in the 2024 season. The NFL announced yesterday that Chicago will host an international regular season game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London in 2024. The Bears are 1-and-1 all-time in London. They most recently played the Raiders there in 2019, a game that they lost 24-21. Further details will be released when the NFL schedule is revealed in the Spring.
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The Cubs are making some more offseason moves. The club traded for Dodgers prospect Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte yesterday. Chicago sent prospects Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope back to Los Angeles to complete the deal. Busch hit .323 with 27 home runs and 90 RBI in 98 games at Triple-A last season, but he had just a .167 average in 27 Major League games with the Dodgers. Almonte was 3-and-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 49 appearances with Los Angeles last year. In other team news, the Cubs avoided arbitration with six players by signing them to one-year deals yesterday.
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Chris Getz is adding to the White Sox front office. The club hired Jin Wong as its assistant general manager yesterday. Wong spent the last 24 seasons in the Royals organization and played a role in helping build the Royals into American League Champions in both 2014 and 2015. In other Sox news, the team avoided arbitration with seven players yesterday, including starting pitcher Dylan Cease and first baseman Andrew Vaughn.
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The number-ten Illinois Fighting Illini earned a hard-fought 71-68 win over Michigan State at State Farm Center. Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins, and Ty Rodgers all had 15 points in a balanced scoring effort. The Illini are 12-and-3 overall and 3-and-1 in the Big Ten. They host Maryland on Sunday.
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The Northwestern Wildcats go for the upset when they visit number 15 Wisconsin at Kohl Center tomorrow. The Wildcats are on a two-game winning streak after taking down Penn State 76-72 on Wednesday. Northwestern is 12-and-3 overall and 3-and-1 in the Big Ten. Tomorrow’s game tips off at 11:00 AM.
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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will try to get a winning streak going when they host Florida State at Joyce Center tomorrow. The Irish are coming off a 75-68 win against Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Tuesday. Notre Dame is 7-and-9 overall and 1-and-3 in the ACC. Tomorrow’s game gets underway at 1:15 PM Central Time.
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In college basketball action tonight, Northern Illinois welcomes Bowling Green. On Sunday, Illinois State is at home against Valparaiso.