Explosion At Home In Sandwich

A family in Sandwich is without a home, at least for the time being after an explosion.

Sandwich firefighters responded to an explosion Monday night. Upon their arrival, firefighters say they smelled a strong odor of chlorine. They think people living at the home mixed a couple brands of chlorine in the kitchen, causing the explosion.

A man, woman, and child were in the house at the time of the explosion. They were all taken to area hospitals.

Gas service disrupted in Cherry

A gas line break means you’ll be microwaving your dinners in Cherry.
A contractor accidentally hit a line outside of town Wednesday morning. Ameren IP says the gas is turned off to the entire village while they fix the break. Afterwards, they’ll be going from home-to-home to relight pilot lights. The whole process is expected to take most of the day.

Indoor swimming topic of discussion in Peru

Year-round swimming is one of the perks of an indoor pool, but supporting a swimming pool isn’t cheap. The City of Peru has been renting the indoor pool at Crafter’s Village for years, most recently for 900 dollars a month.
That could be ending soon if city officials think it’s a service too few people are using. Membership numbers have declined in recent years with only a little more than half of the members being from Peru.
You can hear the Recreation Committee discuss it more during a meeting at 7pm Wednesday in city hall.
The full council meets at 7:30pm Wednesday for an informal council meeting. They plan to talk about a water meter ordinance.

Electricians picket outside of Peru Mall

Shoppers coming and going at the Peru Mall are being greeted by electricians upset over the use of out-of-town workers.
About 14 electricians with IEBW Local 176 began picketing the Peru Mall entrances Tuesday morning.
Jim Conness is with the Local 176. He says they’re upset because the money and jobs aren’t being kept local.
Mall management released a statement Tuesday saying they work with many area contractors that have union shops and that they provide tenants who need services a list of union contractors.

Riverside concert in Ottawa

A large barge docked at Allen Park in Ottawa isn’t carrying grain. It’s carrying an international symphony orchestra.
American Wind Symphony Orchestra, a traveling group of young professional musicians is putting on a free concert at 7:30pm. The barge quickly transforms into an orchestra pit allowing the group to play all along the river. It’s the same group that played a show in Morris a few days ago. They last played in Ottawa in 2000.
If you plan on going, bring blankets or lawn chairs.