L-P’s big day at cross country regionals
The postseason football pairings for four area schools B1
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www.newstrib.com | Monday, October 28, 2019 | 75 cents
Strike ends, Mendota students return to classrooms Teachers’ union votes in favor of contract By Craig Sterrett NEWS EDITOR
MENDOTA — The Mendota teachers’ strike is over, and approximately 1,100 students returned to class this morning in the public elementary school district. On Saturday, a joint statement by the board and the teachers announced a tentative agreement in their contract dispute. Also Saturday, the school district website announced classes would reopen today, and parents should watch the school website for any alterations to the calendar resulting from eight school days lost to the strike. Calendar changes should come during a 6:30 p.m. school board meeting, along with a vote on ratification of the contract and possible pay changes for non-certified staff and administration. No members of the bargaining units were talking publicly as of Saturday and Sunday about how the contract might affect the school budget. Mendota Elementary Association, the Mendota grade school teachers’ union, “overwhelmingly ratified the tentative agreement this morning and the board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, Oct. 29 to vote on the contract,” according to the joint statement issued at 11:40 a.m. Saturday. The joint statement, attributed to Mendota school board president Sean Pappas and MEA co-presidents Rachel Sabin and Brandon Scheppers, also noted: “This has been a difficult situation for all involved and it is our hope and commitment that we work together in the future to provide the best education for our students and help our community heal. We are all looking forward to seeing students back in school on Monday. Thank you for your support.” Scheppers said he, Sabin and Pappas met at Northbrook School Saturday morning and See MENDOTA Page A4
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TRICK OR TREAT — OR NOT Is door-to-door a thing of the past?
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Doh! It’s Halloween!
The Rebholz family (from left) Lilly, Brianna, Madison, Matt and Nick of Peru, dress as “The Simpsons” for La Salle Hometown Halloween on Saturday. The family took first place at the parade for best family costume. For photos from La Salle and Spring Valley, see Page A3.
Take care of you With stage 4 cervical cancer, Marliss Ventura urges every woman to keep up with routine exams By Kim Shute
BUREAU-PUTNAM BUREAU CHIEF
DEPUE — Filling a prescription may have saved a DePue woman’s life. Marliss Ventura was a busy working mom of an adult son and 4 year-old daughter who just needed to fill her birth control prescription last fall. Her doctor said she needed to come in for her yearly exam before she could get a refill. She never skipped her exams, so, while it was a slight inconvenience in her busy day-to-day life, Ventura scheduled the appointment. The 41 year-old, who said she was healthy and feeling fine was devastated to learn she had stage 4 cervical cancer.
“They did some biopsies and sent them to the Mayo Clinic,” Ventura said. “They said it started in the cervix and the biopsy showed it spread to my uterus and the lining of the vagina.” Ventura said she was sent for a positron emission tomography scan that subsequently showed cancer in her bones and lymph nodes. “I had bone and lymph node biopsies done and it was confirmed stage 4. I had multiple MRIs done and the brain scan was clear, but it’s also in my lower vertebrae and thoracic spine,” she said. Ventura hasn’t been able to work since her treatments began in Peoria, something she is unac-
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Marliss Ventura of DePue wants her experience with cervical cancer to serve as a warning to others. Despite having no symptoms, the 41 year-old DePue mom found out during her yearly exam that she had stage 4 cervical cancer. Had she not kept up on her appointments she said, she could have gone years not knowing she was ill. customed to, having worked her whole life. She said the strain — physical, mental and financial — has been a challenge. To date, she’s had 45 radiation treatments, five chemo treatments and two high dose
brachytherapy surgeries. She’s now undergoing three chemo treatments every 21 days, something that leaves her weak and drained for days afterward. Ventura said she’ll have 3-4 See CANCER Page A2
Wildfires are spreading amid power outages throughout Northern California By Terence Chea and Don Thompson
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
SANTA ROSA, California (AP) — As nearly 200,000 people remain under evacuation order from threat of wildfire,
some of the millions of people in Northern California on track to get their electricity back may not have power restored before another possible round of shut-offs and debilitating winds. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has notified more than 1.2 million
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people that they may have their electricity shut off for what could be the third time in a week and the fourth time this month. Fire conditions statewide made California “a tinderbox,” said Jonathan Cox, a spokesman for the California Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection. Of the state’s 58 counties, 43 were under red flag warnings for high fire danger Sunday. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in response to the wildfires, powered by gusts that reached more than 102 mph.
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