Garage fire becomes house fire in Triumph

A house was damaged and a garage and SUV destroyed after a fire in Triumph.  Investigators are trying to figure out what started the fire around 12:30pm Tuesday.

Fire fighters say it began in the garage and spread to the SUV and to the house which was only a few feet away.  A mother and two children were at a neighbor’s when it started.  Only part of the home was damaged.  The cost of the damage is estimated at $70,000.

Mendota received assistance from Troy Grove, La Salle, Utica, Peru, Earlville and Sublette.  Fire fighters were there until 3:30pm.

The State Fire Marshall’s office is involved in the investigation.  They’re not sure what started it.

Swine flu continues to affect people in La Salle County

Swine flu is still making people in La Salle County sick.  The health department reports two more people had to be hospitalized because of the virus since last week.

Both were men ages 49 and 53.  So far 22 people in La Salle County have been hospitalized because of the virus.  One person has died from it.

If you would still like to be vaccinated for swine flu, the health department has a clinic every Friday from 9am until noon at their office on Etna Road in Ottawa.  It’s open to everyone and there’s no cost.

Central School Talk Tonight

Still on the fence about which way to vote for the Central School tax referendum in Ottawa?  There’s a community meeting about the issue tonight.

The Ottawa Elementary School Board is hosting a Community Meeting about Central tonight at 7 inside the old Wal-Mart, or makeshift Central School.

The board last month voted to buy 46 acres of land on the south end of Ottawa to put a new Central School.  Before doing that, they approved an 18.5 million dollar tax referendum question that’ll be voted on next Tuesday.  The tax money would help pay for the new school.

Rescheduled Republican Candidates Forum

Some Republican hopefuls will take the stage tonight at Illinois Valley Community College.

A Candidate Forum is being hosted by several area republican groups starting at 6.  The forum was originally scheduled on January 7^th but was postponed because of the weather.

U.S. senate candidates that will be at the college are: Patrick Hughes, Andy Martin, Judge Don Lowery and Kathleen Thomas.  They’re seeking the seat held right now by Roland Burris.

Congressional candidates who’ve confirmed are: Adam Kinzinger, Dave McAloon, Henry Meers and Darrell Miller.  They’re seeking the seat held now by Debbie Halvorson.

Winter Weather Advisory

A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until 9am for La Salle County and 10am Bureau and Putnam Counties.

An inch or two of snow overnight coupled with wind gusts out of the northwest as high as 35 miles per hour will create low visibilities in some spots.

City responds to truck traffic on LaHarpe Street

Truck traffic between Carus Chemical and a warehouse has a man living on LaHarpe Street asking the city to find a different route for the trucks.

Jay Wendelken lives in the 1100 block of LaHarpe near the warehouse where Carus stores raw materials.  He complained to the city a couple of weeks about the traffic.  Since, the city has spoken with Carus and they’re looking at other ways the trucks could take, but that’s proving to be a challenge.

Scott Hoge from Carus was at Monday night’s council meeting. He says they’re drivers have instructions regarding driving through the neighborhood.  He says anytime they’ve damaged a yard, they’ve repaired it.  He also pointed out that they’ve owned the warehouse since the 1940s and the amount of truck traffic depends on the production taking place.

One solution could be a truck speed limit sign setting the speed at 10 or 15 miles per hour.  The traffic committee will talk about it further when they meet next Monday evening.

Bids received for Oak Ridge Drive sewer project

The bids are in for the Oak Ridge Drive sewer project in La Salle and going by the lowest bids, it looks doable.
The project is broken into two storm sewer lines.  The lowest bid for the more expensive line, line one, was $159,271. It came from JBR Earthscapes of Wenona.  They also submitted the lowest bid for line two, at $37,675.
The council is waiting to accept the bids though.  They still need to get easements from the affected property owners.  The bids will likely be reviewed by the wastewater committee before coming back to the council.