Four arrested on drug related warrants

From anti-anxiety pills to heroin, investigators with TRIDENT were out picking up suspected drug dealers.

Four men were arrested Wednesday on La Salle County warrants.   Allan Green of Ottawa faces one count of unlawful delivery of heroin.  Miguel Mascote of Streator is also accused of having heroin.

David Arzola of La Salle was arrested for delivery of cannabis and a drug commonly known as Xanax.

Jared Brandow of Ottawa faces one count for possession with intent to deliver a drug commonly known as ecstasy.

They were taken to the La Salle County Jail.

JFK students prepare for laptops

You’ve heard of students carrying baby dolls to teach them what it would be like to be a parent, but at JFK School in Spring Valley they’re doing something similar.  Only instead of dolls, they’re carrying laptop cases as they prepare to receive 75 new laptops.

The computers are being purchased with money raised during Lou’s LaGrotto’s Concert for a Cause headlining Lady Antebellum.  The sold-out concert was sponsored by 96.5 The Wolf.

The carrying cases were donated by Spring Valley City Bank.  School official will eventually talk with parents to explain how to use some of the programs.

Thanks to the Newstribune for information in this story.

Area phone customers experienced another service outage

Phones are ringing again for customers of Frontier Communications who had sketchy phone service Thursday.

Outages started being reported mid-morning in Spring Valley, Mendota and in Putnam County.  Frontier officials haven’t set yet what caused the problem.

Many of the same areas lost phone use earlier this month when a line was cut near Mendota.

Arrest Made After Waltham Elementary Bomb Threat

A student at Waltham Elementary in Utica is accused of making a bomb threat.

The student was arrested yesterday afternoon after he allegedly voiced a bomb threat.  The boy was charged with felony disorderly conduct and taken to the La Salle County Detention Home.

The La Salle County Sheriff’s Office went to Waltham North at 2:30 yesterday afternoon and made the arrest.  Sheriff Tom Templeton says students and staff were not in danger.

One Year Since Ottawa Teacher’s Strike

As students set up Homecoming plans this week at Ottawa High School, last year at this time they were wondering when there would be school again.

A nearly month long teacher’s strike started September 30^th of last year.  The teacher’s and school board eventually agreed on a new three-year contract and class started again October 26^th.  Lost in the strike though were many extra-curricular activities including early finishes to many sports seasons.

Salary and health insurance were the main issues which caused the strike.  Teachers ended up getting raises each year of the three-year contract but do now have to pay more for health insurance.

Sixteen classroom days were made up at the end of the school year and on previously scheduled time off for holidays.

Talents On Display At Hospital Variety Show

Variety is an appropriate word to description a live show that will benefit the IVCH Foundation.

You’ll hear opera, country and comedy during the IVCH Foundation Community Variety Show Saturday night.  The show is intended to help raise money for IVCH’s new obstetrics and intensive care units.  It’s a 15 and a half million dollar project.  They would like to raise two million dollars in donations.

The show is 7pm Saturday in Matthiessen Auditorium at LP High School.  Admission is 15 dollars.  You can get tickets at the hospital information desk and at the door the night of the performance.

MC’s for the evening will be La Salle County Broadcasting’s John Spencer and Bev Sons.

You can hear learn more by listening to an interview with Gene Vogelgesang available on the am 1220 wlpo dot com news page.

Ottawa Lawyer Suspended For Questionable Conduct

An Ottawa attorney won’t practice law for at least six months.

The Illinois Supreme Court last week suspended the law license of Melvin Hoffman for violating professional rules of conduct.  A state judge originally put Hoffman’s license on suspension for a year starting last year but Hoffman appealed that ruling.

In the ruling, a judge said Hoffman has “serious anger issues” and his misconduct was serious.  He’s accused of calling a Cook County judge “a narcissistic, maniacal, mental case who shouldn’t be on a bench”.  In another incident, Hoffman allegedly compared a case he handled with the DCFS as “kangaroo court” and that the court hearing was “no more a fair hearing than they had in Russia when operating under the Soviet system”.  The final case of questionable conduct came where Hoffman allegedly called another lawyer unethical and said the lawyer “must be from a Jewish firm”.

Hoffman has practiced law since 1973.

Ottawa Deals With Fire On The Canal

Ottawa firefighters didn’t need water to put out a fire last evening.  Instead they used brooms.

Crews took a call just before six last night about a small fire along the I&M Canal on Superior Street.  Firefighters used brooms to put out the grass fire.

They were on scene for about 15 minutes.

Mendota Duo Arrested For Heroin

A man and woman from Mendota face heroin charges.

TRIDENT along with help from Mendota Police arrested Danielle Miller and Anthony Suspenzi of Mendota yesterday for unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a class 4 felony.  Both were taken to the county jail where both remain on 20 thousand dollars bond.

Court hearings are set for Miller and Suspenzi on October 21^st.

Republican Attorney General canidate says he understands business

Business will have a strong supporter in state government if the Republican candidate for Attorney General wins the November election.  Steve Kim of Northbrook has represented and advised various companies and has also worked for Jim Edgar while Edgar was in office.

Kim doesn’t have experience as a prosecutor but he says that’s not a problem because the office of Attorney General deals with regulatory issues, and he’s familiar with that.  He says he understands how regulatory rules affect business and can work to make Illinois a more business-friendly state to keep jobs.

He also says more needs to be done to crackdown on political corruption.

Kim’s previous political experience is having been a township trustee.

He faces incumbent Democrat Lisa Madigan and Green Party candidate David Black.