It’s the first deep freeze of the season as temperatures across nearly the entire state have dipped below 32 degrees, with 20s in the northern third of Illinois. The Freeze Warning locally runs until 9:00 a.m.
———————————————————————-
The weather forecast for Halloween has temperatures hovering just above freezing in the early evening along with a potential for some snow showers. Here are some of the times communities have set aside for young ones to caper for candy. Ottawa expects to see ghosts and goblins on the sidewalks between 6 and 8. If that’s not long enough, the spooks can continue darkening porches in Naplate until 9. Utica sanctions seeing friends on the sidewalks between 5:30 to 7:30. In Marseilles, La Salle, Peru, Oglesby, Seneca, and Streator, the doorbells can start ringing for treats between 5 and 7.
———————————————————————-
The La Salle City Council meets tonight at 6:30. Among items up for discussion and potential action, Ameren Illinois will formally request breaking ground at 853 9th Street to pull out gas service and other housekeeping matters. There will also be a Treasurer’s Report. The meeting is open to the public at the City Council Chambers on Second Street in LaSalle.
———————————————————————-
The iconic Assembly Plant in Belvidere is set to reopen. The facility will welcome back thousands of workers soon to build trucks after the United Auto Workers union and Stellantis reached a tentative deal over the weekend. Stellantis will also be adding over a thousand jobs at a new battery plant in Belvidere. The Assembly plant has been idle since February.
———————————————————————-
This Thursday and Friday, Ottawa High School is offering “Rhythm of Our Youth” cardiac screenings. It’s a free electrocardiogram screening program provided by a team from Morris Hospital. Students who wish to participate will need parental approval. An electrocardiogram is a non-invasive, painless test that measures the electrical activity and detects heart abnormalities that can lead to sudden cardiac death. “Rhythm of Our Youth” was first launched in 2016 as a result of funding provided by donors to the Morris Hospital Foundation. Since then, over 8,000 area high school students have been screened through the program. The test takes about three minutes to complete. Sudden cardiac death claims more than
2,000 lives of children and adolescents in the United States each year. Most victims have had underlying heart conditions that could have been detected through a simple electrocardiogram screening. For more information visit morris-hospital-dot-org.
———————————————————————-
The IVCC Ottawa Center is offering certification classes in Food Service Sanitation on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between November 7th and 16th. Students learn how to identify causes of foodborne illness and apply procedures for sanitizing an entire culinary facility in keeping with the latest best practices. At the end of the course is a Serv-Safe Food Protection Manager Certification Exam. The cost of the course is 130 dollars and there is a textbook to purchase. For details or to register visit ivcc.edu.
———————————————————————-
A former Illinois Department of Natural Resources employee is pleading guilty to official misconduct. James Mayes entered the guilty plea Friday after being accused of exposing himself to a fellow female IDNR employee. Mayes was sentenced to 30 months of probation. He will be required to undergo a sex offender evaluation and any recommended treatment.
———————————————————————-
Multiple people are facing charges after the Illinois State Police conducted an anti-human trafficking operation in the Will County area. The ISP led a human trafficking suppression operation last week focused on identifying individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors. As a result, six people were arrested. Local law enforcement provided support in the operation.
———————————————————————-
20-year-old Jacob R. Serby of Ottawa faces a driving under the influence charge by Ottawa Police after a stop Friday in the 200 block of West Washington Street. He was released with a notice to appear. And, Derrik Gulley of Ottawa was arrested for the second time in a week Friday on charges of alleged retail theft and criminal trespass. Gulley was picked up by Ottawa Police Friday in the 1500 block of Columbus Street and taken to the LaSalle County Jail.
———————————————————————-
WEATHER:
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 39. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 25. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
———————————————————————-
OBITUARIES:
No new Obituaries to report at this time.
———————————————————————-
HIGH SCHOOL LOCAL SPORTS:
(9) Marquette 7 at (8) Forreston 20
(14) St. Bede 6 at (3) Hope Academy 58
(16) Dwight co-op 0 at (1) Seneca 45
(15) Paxton-Buckley-Loda 7 at (2) Princeton 44
(9) Norridge Ridgewood 34 at (8) Sandwich 49
———————————————————————
Upcoming Games:
(1) Seneca at (9) Rockridge 2 p.m. Saturday
(8) Sandwich at (1) Chicago Dyett TBD
———————————————————————
Girls cross country
Seneca’s O’Connor wins the title, Fighting Irish heading to state as a team: Seneca junior Evelyn O’Connor ran to the individual championship at Saturday’s Class 1A Oregon Sectional at Park West and the Fighting Irish placed second of the 19 teams to qualify for the next Saturday’s 9 a.m. state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
———————————————————————
Ottawa finishes 12th at Class 2A Geneseo Sectional: Ottawa finished 12th of the 18 teams at the Class 2A Geneseo Sectional at Richmond Hill Park, with junior Shaylen Quinn leading the Pirates with a 44th-place mark in 21:11.
———————————————————————
LPHS – Finishing 57th with a 21:42 was Anya De La Luz, and qualifying for the IHSA State Final next week.
———————————————————————
Boys cross country
Solid sectional performances for Seneca at sectionals: Seneca placed 15th of the 20 competing teams at the Class 1A Oregon Sectional at Park West with Logan Pasakarnis leading the Fighting Irish with an 80th-place mark in 19:16.
———————————————————————
Ottawa’s Farabaugh competes at Geneseo: Ottawa sophomore Lucas Farabaugh placed 58th in a time of 17:19 at the Class 2A Geneseo Sectional.
———————————————————————
Girls Volleyball
The Ottawa volleyball team topped host Streator in the championship match of the Class 3A Streator Regional on Thursday at Pops Dale Gymnasium.
———————————————————————
Gibson steps down at Mendota
Nicci Gibson has resigned after four seasons as head volleyball coach at Mendota.
———————————————————————
PRO/COLLAGE SPORTS:
>>Bears Fall To Chargers On Sunday Night Football
(Inglewood, CA) — The Bears got off to a slow start during a 30-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday Night Football. The Bears gave up the first 17 points of the game and trailed 24-7 at halftime. Chicago didn’t score again until the fourth quarter. Tyson Bagent passed for 232 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions during the losing effort, but he did run for a score. The Bears remain in last place in the NFC North at 2-and-6. Chicago visits New Orleans on Sunday.
———————————————————————
>>Bulls Lose Despite 51 From LaVine
(Detroit, MI) — Zach LaVine’s 51-point effort wasn’t enough as the Bulls lost to the Detroit Pistons 118-102 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday. Chicago was outscored by ten points in the second quarter and was forced to play catch-up the rest of the way. LaVine added four rebounds and a steal to his 51 points, and DeMar DeRozan finished the game with 20. The 1-and-2 Bulls visit the Pacers tonight.
———————————————————————
>>Blackhawks Take Down Golden Knights In OT
(Las Vegas, NV) — The Blackhawks upset the reigning NHL champions with a 4-3 overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Friday. The Blackhawks trailed by two before Ryan Donato, Connor Bedard, and Taylor Raddysh all scored in succession to give Chicago the lead. Vegas tied the game in the middle of the third period, but Philipp Kurashev knocked in a power play goal in OT to win it. Chicago is now 3-5-and-0 on the season. The Hawks visit Arizona tonight.
———————————————————————
>>Notre Dame Routs Pittsburgh
(South Bend, IN) — The number-12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish blew out Pitt 58-7 at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday. The Irish improved to 7-and-2, and they visit Clemson this Saturday.
———————————————————————
>>Wildcats Hold Off Maryland
(Evanston, IL) — The Northwestern Wildcats survived a late Maryland rally to beat the Terrapins 33-27 at Ryan Field on Saturday. The Wildcats take on Iowa at Wrigley Field this Saturday.
———————————————————————
>>College Football Wrap-Up
In other college football action over the weekend, Valparaiso lost to Butler 17-7, and Illinois State fell to Northern Iowa 24-21.
———————————————————————
>>Illinois Basketball Takes Down Kansas
(Champaign, IL) — The Illinois men’s basketball team beat number-one Kansas 82-75 in the Maui Strong Relief Matchup exhibition at State Farm Center. The Illini open up the regular season with a game against Eastern Illinois next Monday.n