About 44 people walked from Washington Park in Ottawa on Saturday morning to raise money and awareness for polio eradication, in an event run by the Ottawa Noon Rotary and Sunrise Rotary clubs as part of the World's Largest Polio Walk. Rotary has worked against polio for more than 45 years and helped cut cases worldwide by 99.9%. Donations are accepted through the Rotary Foundation website.
Raymond Joyce, 38, of Ottawa was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to felony theft. Court records say he stole property worth less than $300 in Ottawa in February. He will serve six months of probation after his release. Judge H. Chris Ryan imposed the sentence.
Ottawa Township High School faculty and staff selected sophomores Daisy Rabadan, Elizabeth Arnold, Bodie Martin and Luca Fernandez-Jobst for the 2027 Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Illinois Central South conference, June 17-20 at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. The four-day conference brings together more than 100 sophomores from across the state for hands-on leadership training. The Ottawa Kiwanis Club and the OTHS Class of 1970 are sponsoring the students.
The La Salle Public Library, 305 Marquette St., joins a Battle of the Bookshelves food drive against the Peru Public Library starting Monday, Nov. 2. A Shark Movie Night showing "Jaws" (PG) with a ticket raffle is at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in collaboration with Stage 212. A puzzle race for teams of up to six, ages 8 and up, is at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25, with a grand prize for the winners; registration is required at lasallepubliclibrary.org. Call 815-223-2341 for details.
Streator was chartered in 1868 on a bluff above the Vermilion River. Coal brought the railroads, and glass made the name: for decades the town turned out more glass bottles than almost anywhere on earth. Walk the brick blocks downtown and the story is still there in the cornices.