County Sued By Former Nursing Home Head

A year after being fired, former La Salle County Nursing Administrator Adrienne Erickson is suing her former employer.

A lawsuit was filed this week in circuit court seeking at least 50 thousand dollars in damages.  Erickson claims that she wasn’t given any reason for being fired last September.  At the time of the firing, two other employees were let go at the nursing home amidst allegations that multiple sexual assaults by a single male resident had been going largely unreported.

Erickson is being represented by Anthony Raccuglia.

Operation Claus Back For Another Ride

It’s not too early to be thinking about Christmas shopping.  A motorcycle parade and toy drive will be touring the Illinois Valley Sunday.  It’s the 4^th annual Operation Claus event.

Line up for the parade is at 11 in Utica.  The parade heads out to Oglesby at 1 before going thru La Salle, Peru and Spring Valley before ending up at Celebrations 150 around 2:30.  There’s no cost to ride but there’s a 10 dollar charge for the party at Celebrations 150.  You can get in for free if you bring a new, unwrapped and unopened toy.

Food, live music and drawings will happen at Celebrations 150.

Water Back On In Leonore

Water is back on in the village of Leonore.

A water main broke Friday afternoon prompting a water shut off from the park to the east side of town.  Water was turned back on as of 7 Friday night but a 24 hour boil order is in effect for the affected area.

Bureau County Man Tried Meeting Young Girl For Sex

Federal officials say a Tiskilwa man has been sentenced to a decade in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to entice a minor for sex.

64-year old Gregory Merkley thought he was chatting online with a 14-year old girl and planned to meet her at a Peoria mall for sex.  The person he was chatting with turned out to be a Peoria County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Prosecutors dropped a charge against Merkley of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.