Peru Pushing To Tear Down Old Bank Building

It’s obvious the burned out building at Westlcox and old power plant on Water Street need to be demolished, but a third Peru building also faces its end.  The former Amcore Bank building on Fourth Street has been fenced off for safety reasons.

Owned by the FDIC, city building inspector Frank Taylor has been trying to push the government to have it torn down.  The building has a bad roof and a mold problem.  Repairing it would be expensive.

As recently as last week, a demolition contractor hired by the government contacted the city, but has yet to ask for a demolition permit.

Taylor says the government would have it knocked down to ground level but the basement would remain. City officials seem confident that something will be done with the building but working with the feds is a slow process.

Official Snowfall Amounts From Thursday Storm

How much snow did you get this week?

The National Weather Service says Marseilles and Paw Paw both registered 6 inches.  In Bureau County, Princeton got 5.5 inches.  Measurers in Mendota, Streator and Sheridan say they got 5 inches of snow.  The snow amount in Ottawa was 4.5 inches with Earlville measuring just over 4.

Measurements in La Salle, Peru, Oglesby and McNabb were just below 4 inches.

Dancing Shoes Put Away For A Year

A fundraiser that turned local celebrities into performers is taking the year off.

The fifth annual Illinois Valley Cellular’s Dancing with the Stars for Charity is being tabled.  The show’s producer, Don Grant Zellmer, says he’ll be talking next week with Tom Walsh of IV Cellular to come up with a different kind of fundraiser.

They had recently seen a decline in donations from corporate sponsors.  Zellmer says they could revive the fundraiser next year.

DNR On The Clock With Sand Mine

Opponents of a sand mine near Starved Rock State Park are criticizing the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for not speaking up about potential negative impacts to the park.

Mississippi Sand wants to operate a sand mine land just outside the eastern boundary of the park. The DNR is in a unique position because it’s an adjacent land owner and in charge of regulating mining. But spokesman Chris McCloud says the agency is bound by laws governing permits, and will make an unbiased decision.

The DNR has 120 days to issue or deny a permit once the company
submits its application.