Crack-Cocaine Bust In Mendota

Crack cocaine never leads to anything good.  A man in Mendota is accused of selling the drug after officers with TRIDENT searched him and his home Monday.

Deontavian Watts was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver crack cocaine.

Two teens, Alexis Vondpenbandt of Ottawa and Xanver Manrriquez of La Salle were arrested on minor marijuana related charges.  They were given court dates.  Watts was taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Peru cracking down on signs and banners

A church’s pancake breakfast, a benefit for a person battling cancer or a trivia night for your local school- some of the events you’ll see advertised on signs and banners posted at busy intersections.

The rules for posting signs in Peru could be getting tougher.  New rules would limit the number of signs you could post to three and you would have to pay a $100 deposit says Alderman Bob Ankiewicz.

City employees will remove illegally posted signs.  You would still need permission from the landowner.

The planning commission will discuss the rules before the city council can approve them.

IV Regional Airport runway lights to be repaired

Take a late night drive along Plank Road in Peru and you’ll notice the lights along the two runways at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport.  Occasionally something will cause the lights to go out but that’s closer to being fixed.

The City of Peru and IDOT’s Department of Aeronautics have picked RMD Holdings to re-cable the runway lights for $98,000.  IDOT still needs to approve the bid.  No date yet for when the work would start.

Putnam County Investigators say husband shot wife before shooting himself

If you’ve been following the story of the couple found dead in their home in Hennepin, investigators say it was a murder suicide.  The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says 73 year old James and 83 year old Darlene Price were found dead in the kitchen area of their home Sunday evening.  Deputies went to the home after receiving a 911 call.

Investigators believe James Price shot his wife once before shooting and killing himself.

Autopsies were performed Monday morning.  Toxicology reports are pending.

 

Streator Woman Hurt After Weather Related Crash

The weather is blamed for a crash near Streator that sent one person to the hospital.

Sheriff’s deputies say Brian Volkman of Streator was on a county road last evening when he lost control on the snowy road.  He crashed into Eva Gasca also of Streator.

Gasca was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment.  Volkman and his two passengers were okay.

Tiskilwa Derailment Lawsuit Bogged Down In Court

A lawsuit stemming from last year’s train derailment in Tiskilwa came up in Princeton court.

A status hearing has been postponed until May 4th in Bureau County Court. The lawsuit was filed by the Illinois EPA, Attorney General’s Office and Bureau County State’s Attorney against Iowa Interstate Railroad. Iowa Interstate owns the tracks that were the site of an October 7th derailment where ethanol tankers blew up.

The state and Bureau County officials want to make sure Iowa Interstate Railroad is responsible for any ethanol that may have seeped into soil is cleaned up. The lawsuit is seeking to have the railroad company pay for all cleanup costs of the fire.