Fire destroys Crafters Village, Peru indoor pool

The blaze that destroyed Crafters Village and the Peru indoor pool had fire fighters out in the dangerously cold weather for nine hours.  And Peru fire chief Jeff King and investigators are back out there Tuesday morning trying to figure out what caused it.

          The last engine left the metal structure off of Progress Boulevard just after 3am.

          People began calling 911 shortly before 7:30pm Monday.  Police say no one was at the building when they arrived. 

          Departments from La Salle, Spring Valley, Ottawa, Mendota and other communities responded.  For most of the evening, they fought it with three aerial trucks, but still the blaze ate its way from the north end of the building on south.

          The only injury was a fire fighter twisting his ankle because of the icy pavement.

Power Lines Around Ottawa Back In News

Ameren’s plans to run nine miles of high powered transmission from Ottawa to Wedron will be brought up Tuesday morning in Springfield.

Illinois Commerce Commission Administrative Judge John Albers is holding a status hearing at 10 o’clock to address concerns he has with testimony submitted by those opposing Ameren’s planned route.  Opponents include the city of Ottawa, and groups calling themselves “Fox River Alliance” and “Friends of Fox River”.

Some opponents claimed they were told by Ameren another route was going to be picked so they were blindsided when the city agreed to go up Champlain Street along the Fox River, thru Dayton and Skydive Chicago and ending at Wedron.  The biggest concerns brought up were Ameren’s plans to tear down a swath of trees along the Fox River and interfere with Skydive Chicago.  The Skydive owner even mentioned they may close if Ameren went ahead with their power lines along his property.

The Ottawa City Council later voted to rescind its support of the Fox River route.

Baby New Year At IVCH

The first baby delivered at IVCH in 2010 came early New Year’s Day.

Paola Judith was born at 7:19 New Year’s Day  morning.  She’s seven pounds, two ounces and 21 inches long.  Paola is the daughter of Efrain and Gabriela Solorzano of Mendota.  She’s the couple’s first child.

She was delivered by Dr. Mary Chinn.

Superintendent to explain new building plans

Passing a school referendum is hard even when the economy is good.  In Ottawa, a group calling themselves Our Kids Come First Committee is backing an $18.5 half million referendum to build a new grade school.

The school would replace Central School that was damaged by flooding.

Ottawa Elementary School Superintendent Craig Doster has called a press conference to talk about the new school.  It’s scheduled for before school Thursday morning at Ottawa City Hall.

The referendum will be on the February 2^nd ballot.

Walk along the Little Vermilion turns into a rescue effort

Rescuers had to save a man and two dogs from the Little Vermilion River near La Salle.

It happened shortly before 2pm Sunday.  Fire fighters say the man was apparently walking his dogs when one went out onto the ice and fell through.  The man apparently tried to save the dog and also fell through.

La Salle Fire and Police and the Peru River Rescue responded.

The man, who was treated at Illinois Valley Community Hospital, and the dogs are okay.

Flood warning for Fox River

Cold temperatures are affecting the Fox River in La Salle County.  A flood warning has been posted for the Fox River at Dayton because of ice jamming and flooding on the lower Fox. 

The National Weather Service says an ice jam had caused significant rises in water levels in the Dayton area to around Wedron.

Cold temperatures may have killed Minooka woman

Frigid temperatures are what investigators believe killed an 80 year old woman from Minooka.

          Martil Jovanes was found dead early Sunday morning along a set of railroad tracks.  Her car had been hit by a train the night before.  Investigators believe it had caught fire and burned prior to being hit.

          Investigators say the woman had been under medical care for the past year and had started getting confused.  They think she got her car stuck on the tracks and tried walking for help, but collapsed because of the weather.

          A death investigation continues.