Completion Date For La Salle Wastewater Plant Running Behind

Weather and site conditions are some of the reasons the general contractor for La Salle’s east side wastewater plant is getting extra time to finish the job.

Sjostrom and Sons had said they would reach substantial completion by January 26 of this year, but that date has been rescheduled for June 13.

Reasons they gave for extending the project included delays with awarding bids and weather related issues.  Work began in the fall of 2008.

The city’s paying nearly $15 million for the project using federal stimulus funding, which required an increase in sewer rates.

Once it’s completed, the plant will handle all of the sewage from the area east of I-39.

WAJK Morning Man Competing For Local Charity

While the bracket isn’t out yet for the NCAA basketball tournament, the pairings are out for the Peoria Chiefs “Media Madness Bracket”.

99.3 WAJK morning man Jon Shap and NewsTribune sportswriter Erik Hall both are competing for votes in the Chiefs promotion that will benefit charities.  Shap is trying to win the bracket challenge for Cops 4 Cancer while Hall is in it for Ladd Baseball.

Either Shap or Hall needs to get the most votes in five different rounds to win 500 dollars for their charity.  If they finish in the final four, their charity gets a hundred dollars.  If Shap or Hall win it all, they will also have a bobblehead made of themselves that will be given away to fans at the August 5^th Chiefs game.

Voting in round one goes thru Sunday.  You can vote as many times as you want.

Vote at PeoriaChiefs.com

Oglesby Turning To Bank For Financial Help

Oglesby Finance Commissioner Paul Danekas says he’s not going to be like the state and fall behind on paying bills.

Danekas and the rest of the city council approved an ordinance allowing them to borrow up to 700 thousand dollars from Illini State Bank.  He says the money is in case the city needs more cash to pay bills before property taxes come in a few months from now.

After catching some heat about borrowing money from people at last night’s council meeting, Danekas said the money is a line of credit, not a borrowing plan.  He says councils in the past have done the same thing.

Danekas shot down any rumors that they planned to raise water or sewer rates in the near future.

St. Bede Coach Stepping Down

The NewsTribune is reporting that St. Bede Boys Basketball Coach Terry Nelson is resigning.

Nelson led the Bruins to a 20-7 record this season.  St. Bede lost in the Regional semifinals to Princeton.

More details as they become available.

Death Penalty Decision Coming Soon

CHICAGO (AP) – Gov. Pat Quinn says he will act this week on a bill that would abolish executions in Illinois.

Quinn says he’s “going to act” this week, but not Tuesday. He said there’s still information he wants to read and research he wants to do before acting on the legislation. Quinn has said his decision will be based on his conscience.

He has spent two months consulting with prosecutors, murder victims’ families, death penalty opponents and religious leaders as he weighs his options. Illinois is one of 35 states to have the death penalty. The state currently does not carry out executions because of the 2000 moratorium.

La Salle County has one pending death penalty case involving accused double-murderer Keith Mackowiak of Seneca.

Police Chief Mum On Airport Cash Seizure

Peru’s police chief is staying tight lipped when it comes to Sunday’s seizure of thousands of dollars at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport.

Police Chief Doug Bernabei says he can’t release information like where the plane they searched flew in from or what were the names of three people that were held for questioning yesterday because it’s an ongoing investigation.  Bernabei says his department is controlling the investigation and federal officials aren’t involved.

After four days of surveillance, investigators searched a plane Sunday afternoon and found 570 thousand dollars in cash.  They also found a small amount what could be drugs and drug paraphernalia. Three people who were under surveillance were interviewed and released pending further investigation.

Bernabei says it’s the largest money seizure in Peru Police Department history and one of the largest in LaSalle County history.

Peanut Butter Recall

WASHINGTON (AP) – The company that makes Skippy peanut butter is recalling two of its spreads that may be contaminated with salmonella.

No illnesses have been linked to the recall of the Skippy reduced fat creamy and reduced fat chunky brands. Unilever United States Inc. did not specify how many jars have been recalled. They are packaged in 16 oz. plastic jars with used-by dates of May 16-21, 2012. Unilever detected possible salmonella through its own testing.

The recalled jars were distributed to retail outlets in Illinois and 15 other states.

Ottawa High School Music Department Close To Another Title

It looks like Ottawa High School is set to bring home another state music title.

Sectionals were held Saturday across the state for solo and ensemble contests and Ottawa’s team received the highest point total among all the five classes.  Ottawa received 666 points in Class A which is the state’s second biggest class for music competition.  Vernon Hills was second in Ottawa’s class with 615 points.

Ottawa was first in its class in the band competition, 6^th in orchestra and 2^nd in the vocal competition.  The next competition is next month in Morris.

If Ottawa wins, it’ll be their 15^th straight state music title.

More than $13,400 received during fundraiser

More than $13,400 was raised for breast cancer awareness during the second annual Boob-A-Palooza.  The event Saturday night in La Salle featured food and music.

La Salle business could benefit from TIF district

The City of La Salle created a downtown TIF district a few years ago to attract businesses.  It appears that a couple of business owners would like to take advantage of it.

The city council could approve an agreement with the owners of Fetching Frieda’s Pet Emporium tonight.

The city council meets at 7pm Monday.  The Streets and Alleys Committee will meet before the council at 6:30pm.