Long Running Telethon Changes Venue

The 31^st edition of the Easter Seals of La Salle and Bureau Counties telethon has a new home.

Tomorrow’s telethon is at Ottawa High School instead of the Easter Seals center on the south side of Ottawa.  The telethon is also shortening lasting from 6 until 10 instead of the eight hours it used to run.

Just like in the past, there will be entertainment during the telethon and it will be broadcast on an hour delay on Mediacom Channel 19 in Streator and Ottawa.  You can also watch live at ottawadelivered.com or ivcellular.com.

When the telethon went off the air last year, over 175 thousand dollars was raised.  Easter Seals provides education, outreach and advocacy for people living with autism and other disabilities.

Miller Group Charitable Trust is a platinum level sponsor for the telethon.  Miller Group Media includes AM 1220 WLPO, 99.3 WAJK, 96.5 the Wolf, NewsTribune and AgriNews.

State Guardsmen Affected By Potential Shutdown

Some area soldiers are getting an unplanned weekend off from training.

Because of the potential federal government shutdown, the Illinois National Guard has postponed training this weekend for the 2^nd Squadron, 106^th Calvary Regiment based in Kewanee.  This also affects guard members based in Aurora, Dixon and Pontiac.

A battalion based in Chicago is also cutting back its training to just today.

Streator girl says she was attacked by a man

A scary moment for a 16 year old girl in Streator has the police looking for a man.

Police say the teen told them Thursday that she was approached by a man between 8:15pm and 8:30pm Wednesday night while walking near the railroad tracks in the 700 and 800 blocks of North Vermilion Street.

The girl says the man said something to her, but she ignored him.  She says as she tried walking away, the man grabbed her by the waist and shoved her to the ground.  The girl says she began screaming and was eventually able to get way.

The man is described as black, in his early 20s, between 5ft 10in and 6ft tall, weighing about 155-170 pounds.  His hair was in corn rows, there was a diamond stud earning in his left earn and his dark shoes were untied.

If you have any information, call the police.

Three arrested for heroin related charges in Bureau County

You don’t hear about a lot of trouble going on in Ohio, Illinois.  But members of the drug team TRIDENT says they found heroin in an apartment in the small Bureau County town while investigating drugs in the Princeton area.

Elijah Fields of Chicago was arrested Thursday for unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, a class one felony.  Police say Fields was using the apartment to hide heroin.

Ansel Alm of Princeton was also arrested Thursday for unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a class four felony.  Fields and Alm were taken to the Bureau County Jail.

Their arrests follow a similar arrested last month in Walnut where Brianna Olson of Walnut was arrested after police say she sold heroin to someone working with the police.  Olson was charged the unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, a class two felony.  She’s free after posting bond.

Businesses warned about advertising scam

A scammer has been dialing area businesses.  Peru Police investigators believe someone claiming to be Firehouse Promotions has called local businesses asking them to advertise on memo boards.  They make it sound like they’re working with Peru alderman-elect Rodney Perez, but police say Perez and the Peru Fire Department have no affiliation with them.

If you receive one of these calls, don’t give out your information and report it to the Peru Police.

Cleaning disrupted traffic on Route 251 bridge

The Route 251 bridge on the south end of Peru was getting a cleaning Thursday.  Traffic was down to one lane as a crew worked on the southbound lane.  They were preparing it to be sealed.

Herb Jung with IDOT says it is part of a larger bridge-deck sealing project that’s underway in La Salle and part of Grundy County.

Jung expects they’ll continue to work on Route 251 next Tuesday.

Demolition Of Old Electric Building In Peru At Standstill

The old powerhouse on Water Street in Peru is supposed to be undergoing asbestos removal and ultimately demolition, but 60 days into a contract with a salvage company, city officials say nothing has been done.

A-Unified out of Ohio was hired in late January to have the asbestos removed and items of value salvaged from the old powerhouse.  Then the building was to be leveled and filled in.  They were given 180 days but just last week, company officials meet with Mayor Scott Harl and attorney Doug Schweickert asking to make changes to the contract.

Harl says he doesn’t see anything that needs to be changed.  He also says they haven’t paid a performance bond.  That would give the city something if they fall through on the contract.

Electric Superintendent Jim Potthoff says other companies are interesting in demolishing the building but they want to know if the city’s still has a contract with A-Unified.

Schweickert says they could take action to declare the company defaulted on the contract.  Some aldermen have suggested the send the company a letter giving a deadline to pay the performance bond and if they don’t, look for a new company.

Its likely discussion of the contract will continue.

Pill Disposal Program Working

Local efforts to keep prescription drugs out of drinking water continue.

Ottawa Police along with Jennifer Sines of IVCH emptied the prescription pill disposal box in Ottawa this week and found 371 pounds worth of controlled and non-controlled medication.  The pills were collected from December thru March.

Sines began the effort called “P2D2” over a year ago where people are asked to dump expired prescription drugs into disposal boxes at police stations instead of flushing the drugs down the toilet.  Police and health officials think many drugs flushed down the toilet end up in your drinking water.

If you have expired medication to drop off, there will be no questions asked.