Renovations Done At Utica Tourist Spot

Tired of flooding, staff at the Illinois Waterway Visitor’s Center in Utica is headed for higher ground.

Nearly 3 million dollars of renovations are done at the building and a ribbon cutting for the reopening is tomorrow at 10.  After getting federal money, an addition was built onto the waterway center bringing offices and the auditorium out of the basement.  The balcony was also extended and an elevator built for handicap accessibility.

Money was also spent to fight back future floodwaters.

Circus money won’t be able to go into pool fund

There will be elephants, clowns and trapeze when the circus rolls into Peru next Tuesday, but proceeds from the ticket sales won’t be going into the Peru Municipal Pool Fund.

City officials received a call from the Federal Aviation Administration yesterday basically telling them that money from events held at the airport need to go back into the airport fund.  The restrictions are because the airport has received thousands of dollars in federal grants.

The Carson and Barnes Circus will hold performances at 4:30pm and 7:30pm Tuesday at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport in Peru.  Advance tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for children and are on sale at area grocery stores and the Peru City Clerk’s office.

Oversided load runs out of gas and blocks traffic on I-80

If you were stuck in traffic on Interstate 80 in Bureau County Thursday afternoon but couldn’t figure out why, you can thank the person hauling an oversized load.  The truck apparently ran out of gas while in a one-lane construction zone.

Eastbound traffic was backed up beyond the I-180 exit near Princeton.  Westbound traffic was fine.

School Bus Rear Ended Near Streator

The bus ride to school took a little longer than usual for 10 students of Streator High School.

The student’s bus was stopped on Route 18 west of Streator this morning picking up another kid when it was rear-ended by a car driven by Branden Lewandowski of Streator.  No one was hurt in the crash.

Lewandowski was ticketed for failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident.  His car was towed from the scene.

Another bus was sent to pick up the students.

California man accused of having two suitcases of marijuana

It doesn’t matter how you try to hide drugs, the police dog is going to smell it.  A man from California is accused of having two suitcases packed with 55 pounds of marijuana.

Linh Thai of San Jose was stopped early Thursday on Interstate 80.  Police say their dog smelled drugs; they searched the car and found two suitcases.

Thai was being held in the La Salle County Jail for possession of cannabis with intent to deliver.

Gas Prices Rising

You may want to get fill up on gas as soon as possible.

Gas prices are climbing across the valley.  In Ottawa, prices have jumped to 3.79 a gallon at Thornton’s and the I-80 Shell Oasis.  In Peru, prices are ranging from 3.51 a gallon at Sapp Brothers to 3.69 a gallon now at Shell on Shooting Park Road.  In La Salle, gas at Flying J’s is still $3.55 a gallon but is $3.69 at Casey’s on Route 6.

All the stations in Mendota have already gone up between $3.67 to $3.69 a gallon.

Rally To Raise Minimum Wage

CHICAGO (AP) – Low-wage workers and their advocates will march along Chicago’s “Magnificent Mile” to campaign for an increase in Illinois’ minimum wage.

The march begins today at 11 a.m. along Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower Plaza to Huron Street. The event is sponsored by Raise Illinois. It’s a coalition of community, business, religious and labor organizations working for an increase in the minimum wage.

They want lawmakers to increase the minimum wage from the current $8.25 an hour gradually over four years to more than $10. The group says that’s the equivalent in today’s dollars of what minimum-wage workers made in 1969.