Not much change in opinion was seen, or felt, after two hours during the Ottawa City Council workshop session Wednesday night at Central Intermediate School. Ottawa Mayor Robb Hasty and Commissioners Wayne Eichelkraut, Tom Ganiere, and Marla Pearson shared the stage with representatives from OSF Healthcare on the topic of OSF’s plan to replace the current St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center with a smaller hospital across East Norris Drive from the current location. The meeting was triggered by the City Council’s tabling during last week’s regular meeting of a resolution in opposition to the plan. The resolution will be voted on at next Tuesday night’s Ottawa council meeting. Following opening comments from the Ottawa Mayor and Commissioners as well as OSF officials, well over a dozen attendees used the one-hour public comment period to make remarks directed to the panel, specifically the OSF representatives. The speakers included retired medical professionals, citizens, and a few who provided their experience as OSF patients at St. Elizabeth’s. None of those commenting spoke in support of the plan. Several comments spoke to the issue of whether OSF could, or would, consider selling the Ottawa hospital’s assets to another healthcare group. Those comments were met with no response from the OSF officials. The meeting in the Central School Cafetorium drew well over 250 attendees, including some City of Ottawa first responders. Many of the public comments were met with applause. The workshop was live-streamed on the city’s website and will be available for later viewing at cityofottawa.org. The next meeting regarding the OSF plan for a new $124 million is June 13th at 4:00 p.m. in the Central Intermediate School Cafetorium. That meeting, requested by the City of Ottawa, will be before the Illinois Health Facility Board. The meeting will be open to the public.
—————————————
The Illinois attorney general’s office is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s ruling that overturned a conviction in the 2013 killing of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton in Chicago. Michael Ward was found guilty in 2018 of first-degree murder and aggravated battery. However, an Illinois appeals court last year overturned his convictions and ordered a new trial, determining that Chicago police detectives violated his rights by continuing to question him after he invoked his right to remain silent. State prosecutors argued yesterday that there was significant evidence of Ward’s guilt even without his confession to police.
—————————————-
The United States Postal Service is pausing plans to consolidate the Processing and Distribution Center in Springfield. U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced last week that plans to move operations from nearly 60 distribution centers will be paused until at least January 1st, 2025. The current proposal would transfer all outgoing mail processing operations from Springfield to St. Louis. The Springfield facility would remain open as a Local Processing Center.
——————————————
LaSalle County Deputies say a 28-year-old Ottawa man fell asleep behind the wheel of his vehicle around 1:30 Saturday morning on Illinois 23 in South Ottawa Township. Isaac Henderson was uninjured after his vehicle veered off the roadway and struck a guardrail.
——————————————–
A single-vehicle accident Tuesday afternoon in South Ottawa Township resulted in no injuries. LaSalle County Deputies say 50-year-old Todd Richardson of Ottawa was eastbound on North 2650th Road near Illinois 71 when a deer entered the roadway. Richardson swerved to avoid the animal, lost control, and struck a guardrail.
——————————————-
A traffic stop Wednesday at about 6:00 p.m. by LaSalle County Sheriff’s Deputies in Freedom Township near Illinois 23 and North 41st Road resulted in charges against a Chicago man. 33-year-old Mitchell Robinson was cited for speeding 72 miles an hour in a 55-zone and was also arrested for possession of adult-use cannabis by a driver. He was taken to the LaSalle County Jail and later released with a notice to appear in court.
—————————————————————–
WEATHER:
Today
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 10 am. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south-southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph. The chance of precipitation is 50%.
—————————————————————–
Tonight
Isolated showers and thunderstorms before 1 am. Patchy fog after 10 pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 10 mph. The chance of precipitation is 20%.
—————————————————————–
OBITUARIES:
Lori Ann Girard, 53, of Ottawa, passed away Wednesday, May 8th, at her home surrounded by her loving family. Visitation for Lori Ann Girard will be today from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm at Ottawa Funeral Home. A funeral ceremony for Lori Ann Girard will be held tomorrow at 10:00 am at Ottawa Funeral Home. Burial for Lori Ann Girard will follow at Oakwood Memorial Park.
—————————————————————–
Carl Edward “Higgins” Dimmick, Jr., 64, of Ottawa, passed away on Tuesday, May 7th, at his home surrounded by his family. Funeral services for Carl Edward “Higgins” Dimmick, Jr will be private. Arrangements for Carl Edward “Higgins” Dimmick, Jr have been entrusted to the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa.
—————————————————————–
Thomas George Hughes, 60, of Ottawa, passed away on Wednesday, May 1st, at his home in Ottawa. A private burial took place for Thomas George Hughes at Oakwood Memorial Park in Ottawa. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa for the service.
—————————————————————–
LOCAL SPORTS:
Baseball
Marquette 18, Newark 3 (4 inn.): At Serena. Marquette advances to Saturday’s 11 a.m. championship game.
Morris 7, Streator 0: At Morris.
—————————————————————–
Softball
Marquette 10, Indian Creek 0: Advances to regionals.
Geneseo 10, Ottawa 3: At Geneseo.
—————————————————————–
Boys’ track and field
Ottawa’s Weston Averkamp advanced to 3A state in 2 events.
—————————————————————–
Girls soccer
The L-P girls’ soccer team beat Morris 1-0 to advance to a regional final for the first time in program history.
—————————————————————–
PRO SPORTS:
Tommy Pham and Korey Lee propelled the White Sox to a 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals in Chicago. It was the second game in a row the White Sox held the Nationals scoreless. Pham was 2-for-4 with an RBI double, while Lee was 3-for-3 with an RBI single. Garrett Crochet picked up his fourth win of the season with no runs allowed and six strikeouts in five innings. Michael Kopech recorded his fifth save. Chicago is in last place in the AL Central at 14-and-30. The Southsiders visit the Yankees tomorrow. In other team news, the Sox acquired outfielder Corey Julks from the Astros yesterday.
—————————————————————–
The Cubs salvaged their series against the Braves following a 7-1 win in the finale from Atlanta. Mike Tauchman crushed a lead-off homer for Chicago’s first run of the series. Seiya Suzuki also went deep, while Pete Crow-Armstrong finished with a pair of hits and RBI. Javier Assad earned the win after striking out seven batters over six scoreless innings. Chicago is still second in the NL Central at 25-and-19. The Northsiders send Justin Steele to the mound against the Pirates tonight.
—————————————————————–
The Chicago Bears finally have their schedule for the 2024 NFL season. The league released the schedules for all 32 teams yesterday. Chicago opens the season at home against the Tennessee Titans on September 8th. On October 13th, the Bears play against Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. The Monsters of the Midway also have three prime-time games, a Sunday Night Football game against the Texans on September 15th, a Monday Night showdown with the Vikings on November 24th, and a Thursday Night contest against the Seahawks on December 26th. Chicago wraps up the season on the road against Green Bay in January.
—————————————————————–
The Chicago Sky couldn’t sustain a strong first quarter in an 87-79 season-opening loss to the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. The Sky led by nine after one, but they were outscored 71-54 the rest of the way. Marina Mabrey poured in 19 points in the losing effort, while Diamond DeShields finished with 14. The 0-and-1 Sky visit the Wings again on Saturday.