Three face charges after Ottawa robbery

The robbery of a gas station in Ottawa has two men and a woman facing charges.
It happened after someone noticed a suspicious car around 11:30pm Wednesday and called the police. While an officer was talking to two people in the car, they got a report that a nearby BP Amoco had just been robbed.
After some investigating, police arrested David Boyd of Odell for aggravated robbery. Police believe he had been with Jason Schenherr of Marseilles and Jennifer Colman of Odell- the two people in the car.
Schenherr and Colman were arrested for felony obstructing justice. The three were taken to the county jail.

Mendota man arrested in Massachusetts

A man wanted for sexual abuse in Mendota has been arrested by U-S Marshalls in Massachusetts.
Christopher Highsmith of Mendota was considered one of the Illinois Department of Correction’s ten most wanted after police say he left the area for Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
A warrant was issued for him last Friday. He was arrested Wednesday and is being held in Massachusetts, awaiting extradition to Illinois.
Police say he’s already on parole for residential burglary. He faces a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse when he returns.

Fire damages old house in Earlville

A home in Earlville that’s over 100 years old has been heavily damaged by fire. Someone driving by noticed smoke coming from the home around 7am Thursday and called the fire department.
Earlville Fire Chief Larry Todd says there was fire coming through the roof when they arrived. It took Earlville and departments from Leland, Paw Paw, Troy Grove and Mendota about three hours to get the fire under control.
Todd says the fire started on the third floor, though he’s uncertain how. The State Fire Marshall’s office is investigating.
Todd says he’s not sure if the home can be saved.

Peru Treasurer talks numbers

Times are tough, even for the City of Peru, where the treasurer is keeping close tabs on money going in and going out and sales tax revenue. Still, treasure Gary Hyla says the city isn’t in a death spiral when it comes to tax flow, things are just tight.
Hyla explained the status of sales tax dollars and several other revenues and expenses with the board during an informal city council meeting Wednesday night. Using figures spanning 2004 to what’s been budgeted for 2010, Hyla says sales tax had been steady. They plan to bring in 356 thousand less in 2010 than in 2009 though.
An area that concerns Hyla is employee compensation, which includes wages and pensions. It’s the city’s second largest expense and it’s only growing more expensive. They plan to pay 6.8 million dollars out of the fund in 2010, an amount that for the most part has been steadily increasing.
When it comes to having cash, Hyla says they’ve been lucky that the first quarter hasn’t had any unknown expenses but he thinks that is likely to change as they go through the fiscal year.
Hyla plans to go over other financial numbers during the next informal, two weeks from last night.

Fog A Problem This Morning

The National Weather Service has issued a Dense Fog Advisory until 9am for all of North Central Illinois.

Visibility in some spots could be a quarter mile or less.

Area School Reports Swine Flu

An Ottawa Elementary student has apparently come down with swine flu.

Superintendent Craig Doster says the student goes to Central School which is now the old Wal-Mart. Fifth and sixth graders go there.

Parents were sent a note saying their child may have been exposed to the virus since it is contagious. Doster also reported a Central School student coming down with swine flu in June.

The La Salle County Health Department hasn’t confirmed the latest case.

La Salle Looking At Dog Park

La Salle has a handful of parks, but you none that are open to your dog. That could be changing,

The city council has asked the Parks and Recreation Board to consider creating a dog park. Alderman Gary Schroeder brought up the idea at the city council meeting Tuesday night. He suggested Fourth Street Park or Mary Hegeler Park as a possible location.

What it takes to create a dog park, they’re not exactly sure but they’re hoping the park board will give the idea some thought.

White Powder Scare In Ottawa

If you wondered why firefighters were hanging around the downtown courthouse in Ottawa yesterday, it was for a suspicious powder.

Firefighters went to the courthouse shortly before three yesterday afternoon to look at a white powdery substance that was found in an envelope. A Hazmat machine was brought in to see if the powder was hazardous and it turned out not to be.

There was a similar scare last year at Ottawa City Hall.