Northbound Interstate 39 is closed today between the Illinois 17 exit 35 at Wenona to the Illinois 18 exit 41 at Lostant for emergency pavement repair. IDOT says the closure should be for only one day. A detour for northbound 39 is in place using Illinois 251. Drivers should expect delays and brief stoppages of traffic. For updates, visit the IDOT website, Getting-Around-Illinois-dot-com.
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The La Salle Police Department says 26-year-old Jerron Fisher of Stanley, North Dakota, and a former Ottawa resident, was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals High Plains Fugitive Task Force on a La Salle County warrant for aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. The charges stem from a July 28 shooting in the 100 block of Tonti Street in LaSalle, where Fisher had been shot in the chest, but was uncooperative with investigators. Authorities determined that Fisher had also fired a gun at 26-year-old Leeonta Patton of Oglesby, who has since been indicted on multiple charges, including being an armed habitual criminal, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and drug-related offenses. Fisher is currently held in North Dakota awaiting an extradition hearing before his expected transfer to La Salle County for a detention hearing under the Illinois Safe-T Act.
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A Sunday morning traffic accident near Will County claimed the life of a Morris man. According to Grundy County Coroner John Callahan, the crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. near Dresden Cooling Lake on East Pine Bluff Road. The vehicle, driven by Caleb Counterman, struck a patch of ice, lost control, and rolled over. Counterman was ejected from the vehicle and later pronounced dead at Morris Hospital. The condition of the passenger, who was also in the vehicle, was not disclosed in Callahan’s statement.
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The Ottawa Police Department is now accepting applications from motivated individuals eager to pursue a career in law enforcement. Applicants must be physically fit, possess good moral character, hold a valid driver’s license, and have at least a high school diploma or GED. Candidates must be at least 21 years old, though those aged 20 with two years of accredited law enforcement education may also apply. Additionally, applicants must be under the age of 35 as of January 7. Successful hires will enjoy comprehensive healthcare benefits, retirement healthcare, and opportunities for career advancement. Begin your journey today—visit CityofOttawa.org for more information and to take the first step.
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The 2024 Freezin’ for a Reezin fundraiser for the Ottawa Community Food Basket was a tremendous success, with WCMY raising nearly $50,000 through your generous donations on Friday. There’s still time to contribute! Donations will be accepted until January 10th, and we’ll continue to update the total—along with the food collected during the event—on the WCMY website and Facebook page.
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Makayla Backos, a Senior at Marquette Academy, was honored at Reddick Mansion as the Illinois Chapter winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Scholarship. Selected from a group of six finalists, including Ayla Dorsey from Ottawa High School, Clara Bruno of Seneca High School, Ava Rosengren from Serena High School, Ella Park of Streator High School, and Ayden Radke from Woodland High School. Backos will now advance to the district level, with the opportunity to compete for state and national recognition.
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Kristi Mindrup is making history as the new president of Western Illinois University. The WIU Board of Trustees voted unanimously Friday to appoint Mindrup as the University’s 13th president. That makes her the first female president in Western’s history. She has served as WIU’s interim president since April.
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Only days after President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, the Reverend Jesse Jackson is requesting a similar action. Reverend Jackson sent a letter to the president asking that he pardon his son former Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his ex-daughter-in-law former Chicago Alderwoman Sandy Jackson. Jackson Jr. and Sandi Jackson pleaded guilty in 2013 to using 750-thousand dollars in campaign funds for personal expenses. Both served prison sentences. The Jacksons divorced in 2018.
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Far-right social media influencer Nick Fuentes is facing battery charges after a confrontation at his Illinois home. Fuentes was recently in the spotlight after he made a viral social media post saying “Your body, my choice. Forever” after Donald Trump was elected. A woman named Marla Rose went to Fuentes’ home after he made the post and knocked on the door. The video shows Fuentes opening the door and spraying what appears to be pepper spray at
her. A woman driving by told police she saw Fuentes shove Rose as well. When police arrived, Fuentes “became uncooperative” and refused to answer questions. He was arrested and released the same day. He now faces battery charges and is set to appear in court on December 19th.
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46-year-old Jessica A. Hawley of Davenport, Iowa, was arrested at the Menards in Peru. Investigators discovered Hawley had an active warrant for larceny issued out of Winnebago County. In addition to being taken into custody on the warrant, Hawley was charged with possession of methamphetamine.
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68-year-old Robert K. Grove of Peru was arrested by Peru Police at the intersection of Plank Road and Schuyler Street. During a traffic stop initiated after Grove was observed driving the wrong way in a roundabout, officers discovered he did not possess a valid driver’s license. Grove was charged with operating a vehicle without a valid license.
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LaSalle County Deputies arrested 30-year-old DeShaun Teamer of Streator during the Noon hour Friday near Bloomington and Bridge Streets in Streator on charges of operating an uninsured vehicle and suspended registration. He was released with a court date.
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46-year-old Judd Dumke of Ottawa has charges from Ottawa Police for possession of methamphetamine, driving on a revoked license, and failure to signal. Dumke was stopped Friday at West Norris Drive and Walnut Street.
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An Ottawa teenager has charges of felony retail theft and unlawful consumption of alcohol by a minor. 18-year-old Audrey Land was arrested by Ottawa Police Saturday at Wal-Mart.
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32-year-old Samantha Ortega of Ottawa is charged with domestic battery and aggravated battery to a peace officer after Ottawa Police investigated an incident early today at 998 Knottingham Drive.
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Six people face charges after state police performed a two-day human trafficking enforcement operation in the Rockford area last week. The operation focused on identifying individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts. It was part of an effort by state police to stop human trafficking in Illinois.
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A Streator man is charged with indecent solicitation of a child. Ottawa Police arrested 62-year-old John M. Moyer in the 2600 block of Columbus Street Sunday.
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WEATHER:
Today
Mostly cloudy through mid-morning, then becoming sunny, with a high near 52. West wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with a low of around 30. West southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
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OBITUARIES:
Marilyn “Mag” Maubach, 77, of Ottawa, passed away Wednesday, December 4th, at her home surrounded by her family. Visitation will be today from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm at Ottawa Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Tuesday, December 10th, at 10:30 am at St. Patrick Catholic Church. Burial will follow in St. Columba Cemetery.
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Maria Rose Durdan, 72, of Ottawa, passed away on October 20th, at her home after battling Type 1 Diabetes for almost 63 years. A visitation will be held at Ottawa Funeral Home on January 18th, from 2 PM – 4 PM. The Celebration of Life will follow at 4 PM.
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LOCAL SPORTS:
Ottawa Dolphins Place 1st at ILVY Meet
161 Swimmers competed from 6 teams
The Ottawa Dolphins had 52 swimmers participate
Team Scores
· Ottawa Y Dolphins – 760
· YMCA of RRV Stingrays – 589.5
· Illinois Valley Y Dolphins – 452
· Clinton YMCA Otters – 425
· Kankakee Area YMCA Stingrays – 168.5
· Dixon Family YMCA Dolphins – 102
Personal Best Swims
· 69/152 (45%) personal best swims
· 9 swimmers swam all their events in personal best times. Congratulations to Jeremiah Abernathy, Logan Aleman, Bennett Andree, Gretchen Andree, Stella Andree, Hayden Bressendorf, Oliver Funk, Colter O’Brien, and Maren Terry.
Triple Event Winners
Evelyn Hansen
Double Event Winners
Oliver Funk, Lewis Kuiper, Lily Miller
Single Event Winners
Jeremiah Abernathy, Sawyer Booras, Caden Brown, Lillian Clayton, Brennen Heaver, Kallyn Jobst, Jack Johnson, Guinevere Kotecki.
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Boys basketball – Friday
Kaneland 66, Ottawa 49
Streator 59, Herscher 36: At Herscher,
Seneca 70, St. Bede 37: At Seneca
Lowpoint-Washburn 31, Marquette 26: At Washburn
Newark 67, Serena 64: At Newark
Indian Creek 55, Earlville 30: At Shabbona
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Boys basketball – Saturday
Amboy 37, Marquette 31: At Bader Gym
Rockridge 61, Seneca 48: At the Lanark Shootout
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Girls basketball
Polo 54, Marquette 49: At the Amboy Shootout
Ottawa 43, Seneca 25: At Kingman Gym
OTHS Freshman girls basketball team improved to 5-0 on the season, in winning the Ottawa Lady Pirates freshman Holiday Tournament this weekend.
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Boys wrestling
Seneca 4th, Ottawa 11th at Irish Invite: At the 20-team Seneca Irish Invitational contested Saturday
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Girls wrestling
Streator 7th, Ottawa 25th at 1st Girls PIT: At the inaugural PIT – aka Princeton Invitational Tournament – Saturday
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Bowling
Streator girls 3rd at Plum Hollow: At the Oregon Invitational held at Dixon’s Plum Hollow Lanes
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PRO SPORTS:
The Chicago Bears are on a seven-game losing streak following a 38-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Chicago had just 162 yards of offense and surrendered 452 yards. Caleb Williams had 134 passing yards and two touchdowns in the losing effort. Chicago is in last place in the NFC North at 4-and-9. The Bears go up against the Vikings next Monday.
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The Chicago Bulls fell to the Philadelphia 76ers 108-100 at United Center yesterday. The Bulls trailed by as many as 19 points during the losing effort. Zach LaVine poured in 30 points during the losing effort. Chicago fell to 10-and-15. The Bulls will host the Hornets this Friday.
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The Chicago Blackhawks sputtered out after a quick start during a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at United Center on Saturday. Alex Vlasic and Alex Martinez each scored in the first period to put the Blackhawks up by one, but Chicago surrendered three unanswered goals to end the game. The Hawks remain in last place in the Central Division with 18 points and an 8-17-and-2 record. Chicago visits the Rangers tonight.
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A three-time White Sox All-Star is headed to Cooperstown. The Classic Era Committee elected Dick Allen to the Hall over the weekend. Allen spent three of his 15 MLB seasons with the Southsiders, and he made the AL All-Star team each season. He also won the AL MVP Award in 1972. Allen hit .307 with 85 home runs and 242 RBI during his three years with Chicago. Allen passed away at age 78 in December of 2020.
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COLLEGE SPORTS:
The number-five Notre Dame Fighting Irish found out their first-round match-up in the College Football Playoff yesterday. The Irish will host number eight Indiana in the CFP on December 20th. Notre Dame was given the seventh seed in the CFP bracket reveal yesterday. If the Irish beat the Hoosiers, they’ll take on number-two Georgia on New Year’s Day.
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In college football action over the weekend, Illinois State lost to UC-Davis in the FCS playoffs 42-10. In other college football news, the number-20 Illinois Fighting Illini learned yesterday that they will play number-15 South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Northern Illinois will play Fresno State in the Potato Bowl on December 23rd.
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The Northwestern Wildcats knocked off number-17 Illinois with a 70-66 overtime win at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Friday. Brooks Barnhizer hit a game-tying jumper in the final minute of regulation to send the game to OT, where the Wildcats led for most of the period. Nick Martinelli poured in 27 points in the victory, while Barnhizer finished with 17. The Wildcats improved to 7-and-3 overall and 1-and-1 in Big Ten play. They take on Georgia Tech on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kasparas Jakucionis had 20 points in the losing effort. The 6-and-2 Illini dropped to 0-and-1 in conference play. They host number 11 Wisconsin tomorrow.
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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Syracuse 69-64 at Purcell Pavilion on Saturday. The game was tied with three-and-a-half minutes left in regulation when Braeden Shrewsberry knocked down a go-ahead three that put the Irish up for good. Shrewsberry had 25 points in the victory. The 5-and-5 Irish are 1-and-0 in ACC play. They take on Dartmouth on Wednesday.
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In other college basketball action on Saturday, Loyola beat South Florida 74-72, Illinois State took down Pacific 72-61, and Northern Illinois was crushed by Northern Iowa 101-57. Yesterday, IUC edged Dartmouth 69-68, and Chicago State lost to Saint Louis 85-62.
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Men’s Basketball
IVCC 60, Harper 56: Roko Jurasovic had 14 points and Roderick “Scooby” Watson-Pearcey and London Cabrera added 11 each as the Eagles won at Palantine.