A fatal crash occurred at about 5 pm on Route 71 just north of Norway. A car headed northbound swerved to avoid a deer and ended up in a ditch on the side of the road. Two other passengers were also injured. We are awaiting a press release from the La Salle County coroner.
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In a love triangle gone wrong or just jealousy gone amok, twenty-four-year-old Nicolaus Phillips of Spring Valley was in La Salle County court Tuesday on three counts of murder. 22-year-old Chastity Furar of Ottawa is also charged with murder. The pair were allegedly responsible for the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Eric Clements on June 5th at his home in Ottawa. Clements was shot dead in the torso. Phillips allegedly determined Clements flirted with Furar online and decided to take matters into his own hands and end the affair by shooting Clements, fatally. It was all done with Furar’s tacit approval, Phillips obtained the gun from her. Phillips is looking at 45 years to life because a firearm was used, with the possibility of no parole. Phillips is under wraps unless he pays 10% of a 5 million dollar bond. Furar is being held on a 1.5 million bond.
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Ottawa Commissioner of Water Distribution Brent Barron announced a water and sewer rate increase last night in city hall. It’s all to cover expenses that are piling up for the new wastewater treatment plant being built on 7 acres of land on Route 71 and Route 6. The current rate goes up .40 cents to 4.50 on December 1st which will raise a million and a half dollars to cover the debt service for the new plant. The city needs the funds because it is already paying 118,000 a month for the engineering fees for the design from Fehr Graham Engineering in Aurora.
The new plant will cost 25 million but if Ottawa chose to upgrade the current wastewater plant on the southside, it would cost 75 million.
The new plant will eventually treat a million gallons a day initially. That can be expanded to up to 4 million gallons a day. The new plant will service homes east of Champlain Street as well as all of the northern Ottawa industrial sites. As well as the industrial park on the east end of town.
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35-year-old Kevin Thompson of Plainfield was picked up by Ottawa police on Tuesday at the 200 block of Route 71 on an in-state warrant. He was taken to La Salle County jail.
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35-year-old Michael Mitchell Jr. of Ottawa was charged by Ottawa police Tuesday in the 100 block of Lincoln Place with fleeing and eluding, driving on a revoked license, no insurance, no registration, disobeying a traffic signal, speeding, and improper lane usage. The report says he was given a notice to appear. We contacted the police department to confirm that but were unable to reach records. Mitchell was likely taken to La Salle County jail. We will try and update that before the day is out.
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31-year-old Tyler Z. Lane of Ottawa was stopped by Ottawa police Monday at Columbus and Fremont for improper use of registration and driving with a suspended license. He was given a notice to appear.
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43-year-old Amanda Volk of Lostant was charged by Ottawa police on Monday in the 100 block of East Norris Drive with multiple counts including possession of a controlled substance, forgery, and attempting to gain possession of a controlled substance, all class 4 felonies. She was given a notice to appear.
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43-year-old Matthew Strait of Ottawa was nabbed by police Monday at Columbus and Stevenson for driving with a suspended license. He was given a notice to appear.
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62-year-old Daniel J Rayas of Marseilles was charged by Marseilles police with DUI Tuesday at Commercial and Sycamore. He was released with a notice to appear.
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WEATHER:
Today
Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 45. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
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Tonight
Clear, with a low of around 30. Southwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
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OBITUARIES:
Thomas G. Williams, age 67, of Ottawa, passed away Saturday, November 18th, with his loving family at his side. Funeral services will be at 11:00 AM on Saturday, the 25th, at Gladfelter-Roetker Funeral Home. Interment will follow in St. Hyacinth Cemetery, LaSalle. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 7:00 PM on Friday the 24th at the funeral home.
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LOCAL SPORTS:
Boys basketball
Seneca 55, Herscher 29: At the Seneca Turkey Tourney, Fighting Irish junior guard Paxton Giertz popped in a game-high 18 points — including surpassing 1,000 career points with a 3-pointer with 6:34 left in the third quarter.
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Hall 74, Somonauk 68: At the Seneca Turkey Tourney, the Bobcats trailed by 13 at halftime then battled back to tie the game late before falling in their season opener to the Red Devils.
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Marquette 56, DePue 24: At Bader Gymnasium, the Crusaders started their season with a solid win over the Little Giants.
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LPHS 72, Streator 49: The John Senica era started at La Salle-Peru with a 72-45 rout of Streator on the second day of the Dean Riley Shootin’ The Rock Thanksgiving Tournament on Tuesday.
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Pontiac 52, Ottawa 40
Ottawa hung strong against a very talented Pontiac team, but in the end, the Indians’ size, athleticism, and shooting were the biggest differences.
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Flanagan-Cornell 65, St. Bede 48
In Tuesday’s first varsity game, St. Bede trailed for the entirety of the game.
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Earlville 64, Momence 36: At the Route 17 Classic in Dwight, the Red Raiders (2-0) ran to a win for the second straight night.
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Annawan 51, Bureau Valley 49: The Storm fell to 1-1 with a two-point loss at the Wally Keller Invitational in Kewanee.
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Ashton-Franklin Center 72, LaMoille 48: Tyler Billhorn scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Lions lost to the hosts at the AFC Thanksgiving Tournament.
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Girls basketball
Serena 46, Amboy 40: At Amboy, the Huskers improved to 5-0 to start the season with a road win over the Clippers.
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Oregon 44, Mendota 36 (OT): The Trojans lost a nonconference game in Mendota.
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Princeton 68, Rochelle 60: The Tigresses earned a nonconference victory in Princeton.
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Riverdale 67, Bureau Valley 41: The Storm fell in a Three Rivers Conference crossover in Port Byron.
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Boys bowling
St. Bede Academy 2,899, Streator 2,785: At the Streator Elks Lodge, the Bulldogs dropped the home match to the Bruins.
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Mendota 3,414, Rochelle 3,356: Landon Bauer rolled a 661 series to lead the Trojans to a victory at T-Byrd Lanes in Rochelle.
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La Salle-Peru 3,052, Kaneland 2,677: Aaron Siebert rolled a 653 series to help the Cavaliers to an Interstate 8 Conference victory at the Illinois Valley Super Bowl in Peru.
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Boys wrestling
Sandwich 70, Westmont 12: At Sandwich, the Indians opened their season with a dual victory over the Sentinels.
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At Amboy: Mendota opened the season with three wins in a quadrangular. The Trojans beat St. Bede (42-36), Amboy (42-36), and Putnam County Hall (54-24).
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PRO & COLLEGE SPORTS:
>>Bulls Visit Thunder
(Oklahoma City, OK) — The Bulls will try to get back in the win column when they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center tonight. The Bulls are coming off a 118-100 loss to the Miami Heat at home on Monday night. Chicago is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference at 5-and-10. Tonight’s game tips off at 7:00 PM.
>>Blackhawks Take On Blue Jackets
(Columbus, OH) — The Blackhawks aim to avoid their fifth loss in a row when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena tonight. Chicago is on a four-game losing streak following a 3-2 loss to Buffalo on Sunday. The Blackhawks are in last place in the Central Division with ten points and a 5-11-and-0 record.
>>White Sox Sign SS DeJong
(Chicago, IL) — The White Sox are adding an All-Star shortstop. The team signed veteran Paul DeJong to a one-year deal yesterday. DeJong will replace Tim Anderson, whose option was declined by the White Sox earlier in the offseason. DeJong (duh-Jong) was an All-Star with the Cardinals in 2019, but last year he hit just .207 with 14 home runs and 38 RBI in 112 games split between St. Louis, Toronto, and San Francisco.
>>Bears Cut McSorley
(Lake Forest, IL) — The Bears are parting ways with one of their quarterbacks. The team released Trace McSorley from the practice squad yesterday. McSorely was signed after Justin Fields dislocated his thumb last month, but Fields returned to the fold this past week. In a corresponding move, the team signed safety Adrian Colbert to the practice squad. Chicago visits Minnesota on Monday.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Kirkwood 76, IVCC 46: Roderick Watson-Pearcey and Wade Sims scored 10 points each as the Eagles lost a nonconference game in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
>>Notre Dame Basketball Go Against Maryland Eastern Shore
(South Bend, IN) — The Notre Dame Fighting Irish look to get a winning streak going when they host Maryland Eastern Shore at Joyce Center tonight. The Irish are coming off a 66-64 overtime win against Oklahoma State in Brooklyn last Friday. Notre Dame is 2-and-2 to begin the season. Tonight’s game starts at 6:00 PM Central time.
>>College Basketball Round Up
In college basketball action yesterday, Chicago State lost to Northern Colorado 78-77, Illinois State was edged by High Point 74-72, and Valparaiso beat Western Illinois 73-66. Today, Chicago State takes on Morgan State, Bradley visits UTEP, Illinois State plays against Wright State, and Loyola hosts number-seven Creighton.
>>Irish Move Up In CFP Rankings
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are trending upward. The Irish moved up one spot to number 18 in yesterday’s CFP rankings. Notre Dame is coming off a 45-7 rout of Wake Forest this past weekend. The 8-and-3 Irish go up against Stanford on Saturday.