Two Men Accused Of Hurting Youngsters

20 year old Lyle Behm of Depue has been indicted on one count of aggravated battery of a child.

He was arrested two weeks ago by La Salle Police after he reportedly punched a young boy in the groin area. Bond for Behm is 75 thousand dollars.

21 year old Andrew Valenzuela was indicted this week for aggravated battery of a child. He’s accused of forcing a baby bottle into a girl’s mouth, causing bruising.

Valenzuela is in the county jail on 20 thousand dollars bond.

New Lincoln Marker In Ottawa

Did you know Abraham Lincoln practiced law in Ottawa? The fact that he did will be recognized tomorrow.

The 4th “Looking For Lincoln” wayside exhibit in Ottawa is going up outside the downtown courthouse. A ceremonial unveiling is tomorrow at 11:30. Titled “Lincoln the Litigator”, the signage depicts Lincolns time in the county courthouse.

L-P Struggles Meeting Test Standards

Standardized test scores at LP High are up, but enough to meet the No Child Left Behind target. It’s the fourth year the school didn’t make adequate yearly progress, or AYP.

AYP is determined using the math and reading scores from the Prairie State Achievement Exam. 70 percent of the students needed to meet or exceed the standard in both subjects but at LP last year, a little less than 58 percent of the students did in reading and slightly over half did in math.

It’s left the district on Academic Watch Status with the state.

Storm Damage In The Area

Torrential rain and damaging winds made their way thru the area between four and six o’clock last night.

According to ComEd, 3,000 customers in Streator were without power at the peak of outages last evening. Trained spotters in Streator reported wind gusts as high as 80 miles per hour as there are reports of large branches, trees and powerlines knocked down across town.

In Mendota, there were several reports of ditches, streets and yards flooding. One spotter who lives about a mile north of town reported two and a half inches of rain in just a couple hours time.