Tickets on sale for Special Olympics dinner and auction fundraiser

The Illinois Valley has a lot of student athletes and they’re playing more than just high school football and basketball.  The Starved Rock Area Special Olympics has 550 athletes in the area.  You can help them continue their annual sporting events and maybe take something cool home by going to their 9^th annual fundraising auction.

96.5 The Wolf’s Cowboy will be the MC for this year’s event, next Thursday from 6-9pm at Celebrations 150.  “Under The Big Top” is the theme for the evening.

You’ll be able to bid on Chicago Blackhawks and White Sox tickets, a laptop computer, and a private tour of the Hegeler Carus Mansion.

The auction is presented by the Miller Group Charitable Trust and 96.5 The Wolf.  Miller Group Media includes AM 1220 WLPO, 96.5 the Wolf, and 99.3 WAJK along with the Newstribune and Agrinews.

Get your tickets for $25 each in advance by calling the Special Olympics office in Peru.

La Salle County unemployment remains in double-digits

Receiving on unemployment?  The June unemployment rate for La Salle County was down from the same time last year but was still slightly more than 10%.  June unemployment rates were slightly higher than May’s rates in La Salle, Bureau and Putnam Counties.

In Bureau County unemployment was 9.4%.  Putnam County unemployment was 9.3%.

The Ottawa-Streator area unemployment rate was 10.1%, two points lower than the same time last year.  Still, the Illinois Department of Employment Security says the area lost manufacturing and professional-business services jobs.

Ottawa hoping insurance will cover lightening damage at Reddick Mansion

The cost of repairing the Reddick Mansion after a lightning strike will be well into the thousands.

Public Property Commissioner Dan Aussem is meeting with the city’s insurance adjustor Thursday in hopes of getting repairs covered under insurance.  Aussem thinks the mansion needs a new roof and chimney and also will need repairs to a window and air conditioning unit.  Workers were on the roof Wednesday temporarily patching holes.

The Ottawa Visitor’s Center who has office space in the mansion also had their phone and computer system damaged by the Sunday morning strike.

Pair of accidents keeping police and paramedics busy Thursday

A couple of accidents have had police and paramedics busy Thursday.  State Police Troopers and firefighters from Peru were called to a car that went off the road and hit the median under the Interstate 80 Plank Road overpass.  It happened just after 12pm.  The two people were in the car were conscious when crews arrived.

The second crash was late Thursday morning north of Tonica.  At least one person was taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital. The accident involving a car and a delivery truck happened at Route 251 and Ed Lambert Road.  The crash has since been cleared, but police haven’t yet said who was involved.

Another Hot Day In The Valley

The temperature could threaten 100 degrees once again today.

A Heat Advisory is in effect for La Salle County until 9 tonight.  Afternoon temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid 90s with high humidity making it feel more like 105.

Friday should feel a little better with temperatures in the 80s.