Kinzinger returns to La Salle County for a scholarship dinner

Don’t under estimate young people; fitting words from U-S Representative elect Adam Kinzinger.  The 32 year old Republican spoke to an audience that was at least generation older than him Friday night at the second annual Reagan Legacy Scholarship Dinner.  It was hosted by the La Salle County Republicans.

Kinzinger says he’s seen a younger generation that’s fired up and understands conservative policies and that you don’t spend more money then you take in.

Kinzinger says he was told La Salle County would be a hard county to win.  He says Illinois is a red state and they have to work to keep it that way.

Kinzinger beat out Democratic incumbent Debbie Halvorson Tuesday in the 11^th District congressional race.

Wide load causes traffic problems on Interstate 80

Some construction zones can be a tight squeeze.  That was the case for a truck apparently hauling a house late Friday afternoon on westbound Interstate 80.

The truck entered a construction zone west of Spring Valley but couldn’t make it through, blocking westbound traffic for a couple of hours.

Eventually traffic was rerouted.  No one was ticketed.

Brady concedes IL governor race

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) – Republican Bill Brady has conceded the extremely close race for Illinois governor to Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn.

The state senator from Bloomington thanked supporters in his hometown Friday and says he’s called to congratulate Quinn.

Brady was joined by his running mate Jason Plummer and family when he delivered his concession speech.

The Brady campaign has been searching since Election Day for possible uncounted votes to close the more than 19,000-vote lead Quinn held.

Election results have made it clear that Quinn won his bid for a first full term after replacing ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich nearly two years ago.

Cocaine Arrest In Ottawa

A woman from Ottawa was arrested in an alleged late night drug deal.

Members of TRIDENT arrested Brittany Carver just after midnight this morning for unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.  She’s accused of selling less than a gram of cocaine to an informant.  The alleged sale happened in rural Ottawa.

Carver was taken to the county jail.

Semi Dumps Televisions After Crashing Near Ottawa

A trucker spilled a bunch of televisions after crashing west of Ottawa.

Blake Bales of Iowa told troopers that he blacked out while he was driving east on I-80 west of Ottawa.  He proceeded to drive his semi 300 yards into a ditch, entering IDOT’s old test drive site.  The semi rolled over onto its side.  The trailer spilled several televisions.

Bales wasn’t hurt but was ticketed for improper lane usage.  The crash happened just before seven this morning.

March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction Huge Success

135 thousand dollars is how much the March of Dimes Signatures Chefs Auction was able raise towards their effort to help every baby born be a healthy baby.

The annual fundraiser celebrated its 10^th anniversary last night at Celebrations 150.  Over 500 people sampled dishes from area restaurants and came away with packages from the silent and live auctions.

Pete Miller of Miller Group Media and his wife Cathy were the honorary chairpersons.  The Miller Group Charitable Trust was the presenting sponsor.

Miller Group Media includes AM 1220 WLPO, 99-3 WAJK, 96-5 The Wolf, The NewsTribune, AgriNews, and Ottawa Delivered.

This year’s fundraising total is 30 thousand dollars more than a year ago.

La Salle Gets New County Board Member

The newest member of the La Salle County Board was unveiled Thursday.

La Salle Democrat Michael Kasap was unanimously approved to fill the District 12 seat of Kelly Reffett who resigned to do work in Kankakee County.  Kasap is 61 years old and recently retired as an electrician.  His mom, Betty Kasap was on the board from 1996 thru 2000.

Kasap says the process of joining the board has been fast.  He approached a local union Wednesday who gave him a letter of recommendation.  A day later, he was a county board member.

Kasap will serve the reminder of Reffett’s term which goes up for re-election in 2012.  He also takes Reffett’s committee assignments that include public safety, auditor and circuit clerk.

Cable TV Rates On The Rise

Mediacom customers in Marseilles, Ottawa and Streator may have noticed some changes with their tv lineup.

The cable company recently added some high definition stations but it’s coming at a price.  Fees are going up starting with next month’s bill.

Mediacom will raise the cost of its basic or limited subscriptions by two dollars a month and three dollars for the expanded package.  The family cable subscription is going up three dollars a month.

Mediacom says it had to raise rates again to combat rising programming costs in 2011.  Monthly bills went up last September as well.