Peru fire and police respond to McDonalds Friday

After checking, Peru Firemen said that  a report of the odor of gas near McDonalds on Shooting Park road was probably a problem with the refrigeration system. Initial calls came in about 6pm and the Fire department was on the scene about 1 hour.

Black Friday Crowds Behaving Themselves

While the cash registers have been busy, police in Peru have enjoyed a fairly quiet day.

A commander with the police department says the biggest fear of shoplifters has not come to fruition with no reports of any retail theft calls.  There have been a couple minor fender benders according to the officer but nothing serious.

An ambulance was called to a two-vehicle accident in the Target parking lot just after five in the morning but a woman involved refused medical treatment.

Next Seneca Bridge Implosion Planned

The last pieces of the old Illinois River bridge in Seneca could come down December 7^th.

A demolition company out of Oklahoma is hoping to do the implosion that day pending approval from the U.S. Coast Guard.  Two south spans of the old bridge remain.

Two dollar raffle tickets are still being sold to push the button to demolish the remaining parts of the bridge.  The drawing is Monday at noon at Ellis Ace Hardware.

Felony retail theft charges for out-of-towners

Christmas shopping or shoplifting?  A man and woman from Bloomington were arrested for felony retail theft after be stop Wednesday in Peru.

Trisha Crews and Waylon Brown are accused of stealing from Walmart.  Brown was also ticketed for traffic charges.  They were taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Last call for leaves

Last call for leaves to be picked up in Ottawa.

Ottawa Street Department officials say they will go through neighborhoods one last time this year with their leaf vac.  If you have remaining leaves in your yard, rake them to the berm by Monday morning.  Crews will start their final run through town on Monday.  The city needs the trucks available for snow removal.

Many other towns have wrapped up their leaf collection program.

Men accused of stealing from cars in Ottawa remain jailed

Two men suspected of burglarizing several cars on the south side of Ottawa have been indicted.

Brandon Katrein and Justin Waterworth of Ottawa are charged with one count each of burglary.  Ottawa Police think they may be responsible for several car burglaries even though so far they’re only charged in one.

Ottawa Police say they’ve been able to recover stolen property from one of the burglaries on the south side of town.

Both Katrein and Waterworth are in jail on $20,000 bond.

Shoppers up early for Black Friday

Tis the season to go shopping. Holiday shoppers were up overnight as stores opened, some as early as three.  It’s Black Friday.

Some actually started shopping yesterday. Sears and Kmart were among the stores that were open on Thanksgiving.  A woman shopping in Peru said she had visited three stores by 6am.

Flat screen TV’s were popular items.