David Plyman, the Streator city manager addressed the City council last night. The main topic of discussion was taxes. Plyman said at the next meeting, the first week of December, the city council will review the budget again, they will be conducting a public hearing and anyone is welcome to attend. If you plan to attend, you can do your homework beforehand. Draft copies of the budget are available for anyone to look over at City Hall. The tax levy will also be on the agenda for the next meeting. There will be two meetings in December to adopt the fiscal year 2024 budget. It must pass at one of those because the budget must be filed with La Salle and Livingston counties by January 1st. The public is invited to all City of Streator meetings, regular or special. Special meetings tend to involve more discussion, and regular meetings follow a set list of actionable items. The next regular Streator City Council meeting will be December 20th and one way or another, the budget has to be approved by then so it can be filed on time.
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Streator Unlimited is wrapping up Epilepsy Awareness Month, they are an organization formed in 1965 in Streator that serves adults with developmental disabilities. The director Stephanie Harcharik says they operate five group homes staffed 24/7 where individuals they serve live. There is one main center where individuals work performing such tasks as palletizing and packaging for large companies.
They also offer epilepsy support groups where individuals can do fun activities with other persons with like-minded disabilities who understand epileptic seizures for example.
The next support group meeting is December 11th at the Festive Block in Grand Ridge. The goal is to allow people with disabilities such as epilepsy to live as independently as possible, and become integrated into the community. Stephanie Harcharik is the director there, she says all listeners are more than welcome to take a tour and find out more about what they do. Some of Streator Unlimited’s most popular services include Day Services, Community Employment, and Secure Document Destruction Services.
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On Monday 63-year-old Rhonda Lovell of Ottawa was charged by Ottawa Police with domestic battery at her home at 524 West Washington Street. Lovell was taken to La Salle County jail.
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It was announced yesterday that more than $3.7 million has been awarded for recreational trail development projects in 19 Illinois communities to help them meet the growing demand for improved trails and outdoor recreation facilities and in a quite astounding omission, Starved Rock trails were NOT on the list of 19 recommended projects.
The program provides up to 80% reimbursement to local grant recipients for the cost of trail projects, with local sponsors providing the balance of the funding. Grants may be awarded for land acquisition, trail construction, and rehabilitation, purchase of equipment for trail development and maintenance, restoration of areas damaged by unauthorized trail use, construction of trail-related support facilities such as parking and restrooms, and educational programs.
The 19 projects were recommended for funding by the Illinois Greenways and Trails Council, which is overseen by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and is made up of representatives of statewide motorized and non-motorized user organizations, state agencies, organizations involved in greenways and trails, and metro-area greenways and trails coalitions.
To see the full list of the lucky 19 sites that get the funding, you can check out the WCMY website or our Facebook page.
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WEATHER:
Thursday
Partly sunny, with a high near 50. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday Night
Rain, mainly after midnight. Low around 36. Light and variable wind becoming northeast at 5 to 10 mph after midnight. The chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
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OBITUARIES:
Donald Winslow, 90, of Ottawa, passed away Sunday, November 26th, at OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center. Visitation will also be from 11:00 am until noon today at the Ottawa Funeral Home. A funeral ceremony will follow at noon at the funeral home. Burial with military honors will be at 2:00 pm in the Sheffield Cemetery in Sheffield, IL.
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Kenneth Duane Lane, 75, of Lake Placid, FL, formerly of Marseilles, IL, passed away on Wednesday, November 22nd at AdventHealth in Orlando, FL. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 3rd at Seals-Campbell Funeral Home. Funeral services will follow at 3 p.m. at the funeral home. Military honors will be accorded at the funeral home by the Ottawa American Legion honor squad.
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Elizabeth Ann “Bette” (Bader) Meyer, 91, of rural Marseilles, passed away on Saturday, November 25th, at her home, surrounded by her family.
Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 2nd, at St. Columba Catholic Church in Ottawa. Burial will follow at St. Columba Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, December 1st, at the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, at the funeral home. The Catholic Daughters of America will recite the Rosary at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, at the funeral home.
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John M. “Ol Man” Logsdon, 81, of Marseilles, passed away on Monday, November 27th, at his home. Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. today at Seals-Campbell Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. The burial will be in St. Columba Cemetery in Ottawa.
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Edmund Braxton Thornton, of Ottawa, Illinois, peacefully departed this life on Friday, November 24, 2023, at the age of 93. A private celebration of Edmund’s life will be arranged at a later date.
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LOCAL SPORTS:
Shepherd Boys Basketball
7th grade defeated Morris Grade School 29 to 19. Leading the way: Luca Fernandez with 7 points, Marquise Davis with 6 points, Bryce Ceja and Mason Mucci each had 4 points. 7th grade is now 5-4.
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8th grade defeated Morris Grade School 32 to 22. Leading the way: Nevan Holloway with 13 points, Blake Schiltz with 10 points, Amari Molina with 6 points, and Carson Keylard with 2 points. 8th grade is now 7-2.
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Girls Basketball
The Dixon Duchesses trailed host Ottawa Pirates by 12 late in the third quarter but regrouped to force overtime and eventually stayed undefeated on the season with a 40-38 triumph on Wednesday night at Kingman Gymnasium.
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Our next featured game is the Marquette Lady Cru taking on Newark Lady Nordsmen this Saturday at 2:30 pm at Bader Gym. Andrew Evola is on the call, and David Bergeson along to help.
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BOYS BOWLING
La Salle-Peru 3,013, Ottawa 2,732: Emerson Vasquez rolled a 617 series to lead the Cavaliers to a victory in an Interstate 8 Conference match at Dettore’s Town Lanes in Ottawa.
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GIRLS BOWLING
Ottawa Lady Pirates bowling traveled to Princeton to take on Kewanee in a non-conference matchup. Ottawa came away victorious with a score of 2749 pins to 1946 pins. The high series for Ottawa was sophomore Lindy Dhuse with a 503 three-game series, including a 177 high game. Senior Dawn Hudkins added a 476 series and 183 high game, while sophomore Rylee Harsted rolled a 461 series and 186 high game.
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BOYS WRESTLING
At Plano: Mendota went 1-2 in a quadrangular in Plano.
The Trojans beat Mooseheart 63-0 and lost to Coal City (60-6) and Plano (76-6).
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GIRLS WRESTLING
At Ottawa: La Salle-Peru won nine of its 10 matches at the Ottawa Girls Scramble. Sarah Lowery recorded three pins, Ryiana McCrary had two pins, Danica Scoma was 2-1 with two pins and Kiely Domyancich was 2-0 with a pin and a 4-2 decision.
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PRO & COLLEGE SPORTS:
>>Bulls Host Bucks
(Chicago, IL) — The Bulls aim to avoid their sixth loss in a row when they host the Milwaukee Bucks at United Center tonight. The Bulls just got crushed by the Boston Celtics 124-97 on Tuesday. Chicago is in 13th place in the Eastern Conference at 5-and-14. The Bulls lost to Milwaukee 118-109 when the two teams last met on November 13th. Tonight’s game tips off at 7:00 PM.
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>>Blackhawks Visit Red Wings
(Detroit, MI) — The Blackhawks will try to get a winning streak going when they visit the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar’s Arena tonight. The Blackhawks are coming off a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. However, Chicago is still in last place in the Central Division with 14 points and a 7-13-and-0 record. Tonight’s contest gets underway at 6:00 PM.
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>>Report: Cease Could Be Traded Soon
(Chicago, IL) — The White Sox might be moving on from their ace starting pitcher. Jon Morosi is reporting that the Southsiders have received a lot of interest in Dylan Cease over the last 48 hours, and he added that he might be moved before this weekend ends. Atlanta is reportedly one of the front-runners for Cease, who went 7-and-9 with a 4.58 ERA in 33 starts last season. He posted a 2.20 ERA in 2022.
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>>Eberflus Wins Iron Horse Award
(Chicago, IL) — The bye week isn’t preventing Matt Eberflus from earning some recognition. The Bears head coach was given the Iron Horse Award yesterday. The honor is presented by the ALS United of Greater Chicago, and it recognizes a person who exemplifies the same humility, courage, and strength as Lou Gehrig, who died from ALS in 1941. Eberflus’ dad Stan Eberflus passed away from ALS in February of 2015.
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>>College Basketball Round Up
In college basketball action yesterday, Bradley lost to Murray State 79-72. Tonight, Chicago State hosts Del State, and UIC welcomes Illinois State.