I-39 wrong way fatal

An elderly Ohio state man died Friday night the result of two collisions while driving northbound in the southbound lanes of I-39. The names of those involved have yet to be released. Details from County Coroner Jody Bernard indicated state police were first notified by several phone calls of a vehicle entering the southbound lanes of I-39 near Tonica. That vehicle may have traveled some twelve miles northward in the southbound lanes of I-39 before colliding with two vehicles carrying students bound for spring break. The first vehicles four occupants were taken to IVCH, however, those in the second vehicle received no serious injuries. Illinois State Police District 17, their reconstructionist and the County Coroner Continue to investigate.

Local Stretch Of Vermilion Officially Back Open

DNR Director Marc Miller gave the official thumbs Saturday morning to open up to public recreation a nearly three mile stretch of the Vermilion River in Oglesby.  Miller called the agreement with Buzzi Unicem to get the river back open “innovative and unprecedented”.

The state spent around 200 thousand dollars on safety repairs especially in the area of a low head dam where Buzzi ran into liability issues after rafters died.  There is still a 180 foot buffer upstream from the dam and 45 feet downstream from the dam where it’s considered trespassing.

Today’s reopening ceremony was held at Vermillion River Rafting, a business hit hard by the closure.  Owner Bob Herbst thanked Miller and State Representative Frank Mautino for spearheading the deal and promised to be as good a neighbor as he can be.

Fatal Crash Shuts Down Stretch Of Interstate 39

At least one person was killed in a late night crash on Interstate 39.

Police and ambulance crews responded to an apparent head-on collision a couple miles north of the I-39 and I-80 intersection.  State Police are confirming there was at least one death and among other injuries including people having to be extricated from their vehicle.

Traffic was taken rerouted off I-39 for several minutes.

Illinois Lotto Website Crashed During Mega Millions Hysteria

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois lottery website stopped working for 25 minutes during sales for a record high $640 million jackpot.

Liz Leonard is the spokeswoman for the Northstar Lottery Group that runs the lottery. She says technicians were working on another area of the site which caused the problems. The website was down from about 3:30 p.m. to 3:55 p.m.

There was a notice telling visitors about the technical issues and to check back shortly.

Mega Millions Winner Sold In Illinois

CHICAGO (AP) – The spokesman for the Illinois lottery says three tickets have split the record $640 million Mega Millions jackpot.

Mike Lang says the winning tickets were in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland. He says the Illinois winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis. The Maryland lottery announced earlier its winner was from Baltimore County. No details have been released on the winning ticket in Kansas.

Lang says each winning ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million before taxes.

Five people to be inducted into IVCC-LPO Hall of Fame

Some people leave an impact on their community and the people around them.  Five of them are being added to the Illinois Valley Community College -LPO Hall of Fame.

The fifth annual induction ceremony will include IVCC class of 1982 graduate Daniel Janka).  He’s the President of MAG Global.

LPO College alumni Evelyn Moyle, a former IVCC librarian and William Vlastnik of Vlatnik’s Menswear in Peru will be inducted.

Former La Salle County Farm Bureau President Malcolm Whipple and real estate developer Dick Janko will also be honored during a ceremony at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28 at La Salle-Peru High School’s Matthiessen Auditorium.

Ottawa spa connected to a prostitution arrest closes

A spa in Ottawa accused of a shady practice is out of business.  A month after an employee was arrested on a prostitution charge; Spa RX no longer has a business license through the City of Ottawa.

The business license holder, Sun Chong, surrender the license before a hearing that was scheduled for Friday.  The woman that was arrested, Kyorg Mi Kim, has an April 16 court date.

Auction and fundraiser Saturday for IVAR

Think of how much money you spend every year feeding and taking care of your pets.  Now think of how much it would cost if you were feeding and taking care of every stray animal in La Salle-Peru.  It’s not cheap that why the Illinois Valley Animal Rescue has building and care fund auction each year.

You can help pay for strays by bidding on items during live and silent auctions.  You can also enter raffles and buy food and drinks.

The fundraiser is from 5pm-9pm Saturday at Grand Bear Lodge in Utica.  Admission is free. Auction items include gift certificates, cat and dog baskets, Mother Goose Gardens memorabilia, and vintage items for collectors.

Mega Millions Hysteria

If you haven’t bought your Mega Millions lottery ticket, you may have to wait in line.

Bob Ankiewicz with Ankiewicz’s Deli says they’ve had a line all morning for people wanting to buy a lucky ticket.  He says many of the buyers are first time customers who probably don’t regularly play the lottery.

The jackpot is well over $500 million.  The drawing is tonight.

Area Student Collecting Food For Needy

For those of you wanting to hear positive stories about today’s kids how about the work 12-year old Adam Claggett is doing.

The Waltham School student is again holding an Easter food drive to benefit the needy.  Adam began the drive March 21^st and is taking canned goods thru today at several spots including: Hy-Vee; IVCH; St. Margaret’s; Horizon House and Spring Valley Public Library.

Claggett held his first food drive in 2008.  Last Thanksgiving, his food drive collected over six thousand pounds of food and over 13 hundred dollars.