Peru pool grant will be submitted

A state grant that had the Peru City Council going against the mayor will be submitted to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.  The PARC grant could pay for up to three-quarters of the construction cost of a new pool.

Mayor Scott Harl refused to sign the grant saying they didn’t have the funding in place to pay for it.  The city council went ahead anyway.

Harl says someone from NCICG will hand deliver the application on November 29, the last day it can be submitted.

Peru alderman encourages progress with city’s commercial TIF

Creating a TIF District isn’t enough to entice developers to do something with the old motels and truck stops north of Interstate 80 in Peru.

Dave Potthoff, a Peru alderman, says they need to create a TIF agreement that establishes how much developers would be reimbursed for their costs.  The TIF he’s concerned about is a commercial TIF that includes the old motels and businesses along May Road.

Others agree with Potthoff that the high cost of knocking down the old motels makes it too expensive for a developer if they’re not given an incentive.

Potthoff wants city officials to talk with their attorney Herb Klein about coming up with a percentage they can offer developers.

Food For Fines

If you have overdue book fines at La Salle, Peru or Oglesby Public Libraries, here is a way to get out of paying.  Donate food for the Illinois Valley Food Pantry. 

The libraries are sponsoring a joint “Food for Fines” amnesty program to benefit the food pantry.  From December 6^th thru the 11^th, each of the libraries will take canned or boxed food donations for overdue fines.  Each food item can be used to pay a dollar in fines up to a maximum of 25 dollars. 

Donations cannot be used for lost or damaged books.  Suggested foods include canned vegetables, fruits, cereal, and pasta mixes.

Leonore Man Faces Hit And Run Charges

A man from Leonore will be in court next month for charges that he ran over three people with his truck.

A preliminary hearing for Joseph Bierbrodt is December 16^th in Stephenson County Court in Freeport.  He was arrested last month after allegedly hitting two men and a woman from Freeport.  The incident allegedly happened the morning of October 3rd outside of a bar.  Bierbrodt’s accused of dragging one of the victims 75 feet before stopping and running him over.  All three victims are out of the hospital. 

Bierbrodt is charged with aggravated battery, leaving the scene of an injury accident and aggravated reckless driving.  He posted bond and is out of jail.

Storms Roll Through Illinois Valley

No injuries or power outages to report from this afternoon’s storms although they packed quite a punch.

Storms began affecting Bureau County around two o’clock with reported golf ball size hail in Sheffield.  A trained spotter in Princeton reported pea size hail and rain coming straight down.  There was a tornado warning for Bureau County but there’s no confirmed twister.

The line of storms began affecting La Salle County in the three o’clock hour with marble sized hail and flooded intersections reported in Mendota.  Quarter sized-hail was reported northwest of Peru with a 55 mile per hour wind gust and an inch an hour of rain falling in Ottawa.

Seneca Bridge Implosion Delayed

A second implosion of the old Illinois River bridge in Seneca will have to wait.

City officials had planned to blow up the south end of bridge tomorrow but that has been postponed.  The implosion could instead happen sometime next week.

The north end of the bridge was destroyed Thursday morning.  Like last week, village officials are selling two dollar raffle tickets to push the button to destroy the bridge.

Raffle tickets are being sold at Seneca Village Hall and other spots in town.  Proceeds from the raffle go to the non-profit Seneca Development Organization and Seneca Historical Guild.

Homes needed for cast and crew of play in Ottawa

If you have an extra bedroom and wouldn’t mind having company, the Ottawa Visitors Center wants to hear from you.

They need people that would be willing to host members of the cast and crew for the upcoming play about the radium dial girls and the landmark legal decision that came from their efforts.  If you’re interested, call the Ottawa Visitor’s Center.  The cast should be arriving around December 1st and leaving Sunday, December 5th in the late afternoon.

MCH building project on schedule

A little more than year after breaking ground, a replacement hospital for Mendota Community Hospital is taking form.  The new building going up on the east side of town is nearly 70% complete.

Lynn Klein is the hospital’s CEO.  She says most of the outside work is complete.

Klein says they’re on schedule to be completed next fall.  Phalen Steel is the contractor overseeing the work.  Klein estimates that 50 to 75 people from different trades are working on the project on any given day.   Klein says they’ll use a moving company to move items from the current building to the replacement hospital.  New equipment will also be installed.  Illinois Department of Public Health will have to inspect the hospital before they can start using it.

An interview with Lynn Klein is available at the news page.