Details were sketchy as of late in the day Tuesday after confirmation from the LaSalle County State’s Attorney’s office that a homicide occurred early Tuesday morning in Streator. As of this morning, no detailed information has been available from the State’s Attorney’s office or Streator Police.
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Tuesday, the La Salle County Coroner’s Office released the victim’s identity from Thursday’s shooting at the Flying J Truck Stop in La Salle. The female shooting victim has been identified as 25-year-old Gina Nicole Bryant, of Macomb Township, Michigan. A forensic autopsy was conducted this past Monday, with results pending. La Salle police said they have identified the man they believed had killed Bryant as 26-year-old Justin Wendling, of Holly, Michigan. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a rest area off Interstate 80 after Bettendorf, Iowa, police approached his vehicle at a rest area off Interstate 80. The suspect and victim do not have ties to La Salle. The shooting is being investigated by the Coroner’s Office, LaSalle Police, and Illinois State Police Crime Scene Unit.
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A southwestern DeKalb County home is destroyed following an explosion that sparked a fire. The home exploded yesterday in the 58-hundred block of Goble Road north of Earlville. One woman was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
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The Illinois State Board of Education is ordering the transition of all students out of three facilities owned by Menta including one in LaSalle. The order was issued after the facilities, including the other two in Springfield and Centralia, began operating without state approval. All three were operating as therapeutic day schools for students with significant social-emotional disabilities. The Menta facilities had applied to ISBE for approval in the spring, but none of them received approval. Despite that, they still opened and started enrolling and serving students.
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Illinois is providing tax relief for individuals and businesses affected by the conflict in the Middle East. Impacted taxpayers may request to waive penalties and interest with the Illinois Department of Revenue if they cannot file their returns or make timely payments for income, withholding, sales, specialty, and excise taxes. Those who qualify include any person whose home or business is in Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza.
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Moline City Administrator Bob Vitas is being appointed by Governor Pritzker to the Illinois High-Speed Railway Commission. The commission is tasked with creating a statewide plan for a high-speed rail line and feeder network connecting Chicago and St. Louis, including a Quad Cities-to-Chicago link. Initial work includes conducting a ridership study. Vitas was nominated by the Illinois Municipal League and will be that organization’s representative on the commission.
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Governor Pritzker is highlighting the importance of Electric Vehicles. The governor joined several local stakeholders yesterday in Chicago for the Electric Vehicle Policy Bootcamp hosted by the Electrification Coalition. The event was an opportunity for Illinois legislators, companies, and environmental organizations to convene to advance Illinois’ commitment to fighting climate change with transitions to zero-emission vehicles. Pritzker delivered the keynote address to kick off the day-long conference.
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Decades ago the old State of Illinois Building at LaSalle and Randolph in the Chicago Loop was torn down as government offices moved to the new Thompson Center. Now plans are moving forward to demolish part of the Thompson Center. Permits have been granted to begin tearing down the exterior and atrium of the iconic downtown building. Google purchased the Thompson Center last year and plans to transform the former state government building into the company’s Chicago headquarters.
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56-year-old Kelly Wheeler was arrested at 332 Desoto Street by Ottawa Police on Friday for driving while license suspended and retail theft. Wheeler was released with a notice to appear.
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Ottawa Police stopped 49-year-old Robert D. Leach Friday on the 1200 block of La Salle Street for driving while their license was suspended. Leach was released with a notice to appear.
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22-year-old Julianna S. Reeder Lee was arrested at 1418 Dakota Drive by Ottawa Police on Friday for criminal trespass to real property. Lee was released with a notice to appear.
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Ottawa Police stopped 39-year-old Lesley A. Warren Saturday on the 700 block of East Etna Road for failure to appear on possession of a controlled substance. Warren was taken to La Salle County Jail.
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27-year-old Lavance S.D. Pringle was arrested at 524 Third Avenue by Ottawa Police Saturday on a warrant out of Kendall County for failure to appear on a criminal trespass charge. Pringle was taken to La Salle County Jail.
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Chicago police are investigating after a video surfaced online showing a brawl involving fans at the Bears game last Sunday at Soldier Field. The clip shows an unidentified man wearing a Justin Fields jersey and a Bears cap punching a shorter man from behind and knocking him to the ground. The man then appears to pull another man backward, allowing a second man to start pummeling him. The victims began arguing with three other men when they were assaulted. Both took themselves to the hospital and no arrests have been made.
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WEATHER:
Wednesday
Isolated showers after 5 pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. Breezy, with a south wind of 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. The chance of precipitation is 10%.
Wednesday Night
Showers are likely, mainly before 10 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low of around 52. South southwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. The chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts to less than a tenth of an inch possible.
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OBITUARIES:
Leonard J. Ostrowski, 85, of Ottawa passed away on Thursday, October 12th, at home. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, the 19th, at the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa. Funeral prayer will be recited at 10 a.m. on Friday, the 20th, at the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa. Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:30 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ottawa. Burial will follow the Mass at Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, IL with Full Military Honors.
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JoAnn Mae Richardson Neil, 88 years old of Ottawa passed away on Saturday, October 14th. Visitation will be Thursday, from 9-10:30 a.m. at the Ottawa Funeral Home. A mass of Christian Burial will immediately follow at 11:00 a.m. at St. Columba Church in Ottawa, and burial will follow at St. Columba Cemetery.
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Patricia A. Perrot, 93, of Ottawa, passed away Wednesday, September 27th, at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, IL.
Visitation will be from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 20th, at Ottawa Funeral Home. A funeral ceremony will follow at 1:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in Oakwood Memorial Park.
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Marie Monheim 68, of Ottawa, passed away Wednesday, October 11, at St.Anthony’s Hospital in Rockford. A visitation will be at the Ottawa Funeral Home this Saturday, October 21st, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. at St. Columba Church. Her burial will be at St. Columba Cemetery following Mass.
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Patricia E. (Young) Finley, 84, of Mendota, passed away on Sunday, October 15th, at Stonecroft Village in Mendota. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, October 23rd, at Waltham Presbyterian Church. Burial will be at Waltham Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until the time of service at the church.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL LOCAL SPORTS:
Shepherd 7th Grade Lady Rams defeated Sandwich 37-4
Gabby Ewers had 10 points
Wren Harris 8 points
Leela Gromm 7 points
Brinley Winter 6 points
7th Grade is now 8-6
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Shepherd 8th Grade Lady Rams also defeated Sandwich 44-10.
Meredith Waldron 14 points
Kennedy Kane has 12 points
Karsyn Moore 12 points
8th Grade is now 11-3
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HIGH SCHOOL LOCAL SPORTS:
Volleyball
Ottawa defeated L-P in three sets last night at Sellett Gymnasium. Ottawa moves to 25-8-1 overall, 5-4 in the Interstate 8 Conference. L-P drops to 28-6, 6-4.
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Newark 2, LaMoille 0: At LaMoille, the Norsemen collected their 30th victory of the season while also wrapping up a perfect Little Ten Conference regular season championship with a win over the Lions.
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Marquette Academy 2, Roanoke-Benson 0: At Roanoke, the Crusaders improved to 24-5 overall and 7-1 in TCC play with a triumph over the Rockets.
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Streator 2, Wilmington 0: At Pops Dale Gym, the Bulldogs picked up an Illinois Central Eight Conference triumph over the Wildcats.
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Girls Swimming
La Salle-Peru co-op wins triangular: At Pontiac, Sam Nauman won two individual events and swam on two winning relays to help the La Salle-Peru co-op to a victory in a triangular.
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Boys Soccer
The Sterling Golden Warriors defeated the La Salle-Peru Cavaliers 6-2 in the Class 2A Sterling Regional semifinals Tuesday night at Roscoe Eades Stadium.
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The Somonauk-Leland-Newark co-op’s Lance Grandgeorge scored three times to power a win over Aurora Central Catholic 7-0 on Tuesday night for a Class 1A regional championship.
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PRO/COLLEGE SPORTS:
WOMEN’S SOCCER
DuPage 11, IVCC 0: The Eagles fell to 1-11 with a shutout loss in La Salle.
>>Blackhawks Prepare For Colorado
(Chicago, IL) — The Blackhawks will head out west to take on the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena tomorrow night. The Blackhawks are coming off a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. Chicago and Colorado are tied for first place in the Central Division with four points. The Hawks are 2-2-and-0 to begin the year. Tomorrow’s game begins at 9:30 p.m.
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>>Bulls Fall To Raptors In Preseason
(Chicago, IL) — The Bulls fell in the final minutes of a 106-102 preseason loss against the Toronto Raptors at United Center. The Bulls tied the game at 102 when Ayo Dosunmu hit a lay-up with two minutes left in regulation. However, the Raptors got to the foul line three times and made four of their six shots to put the game away. Zach LaVine rattled in 25 points in the losing effort, while Nikola Vucevic chipped in with 20. Chicago is 1-and-3 in exhibition play. The Bulls wrap up the preseason with a home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night.
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>>Bears Add QB McSorley
(Lake Forest, IL) — The Bears are bringing in another quarterback in case Justin Fields is out longer than expected. The team signed former Penn State gunslinger Trace McSorley to its practice squad yesterday. Fields dislocated his thumb during Chicago’s loss to the Vikings on Sunday, and he won’t be able to return to the field until he regains his grip strength in his throwing hand. McSorley was with Arizona last season. He passed for 412 yards, no touchdowns, and five interceptions. He would be the Bear’s third option behind Tyson Bagent and Nathan Peterman. Chicago hosts Las Vegas this Sunday.