Clagett collects food

Seventh grader Adam Clagett doesn’t know his life’s work yet, but what he’s doing now may hold a clue. Since 2008, the Waltham Grade school Student has collected non-perishables for area pantrys, because, his mom, Keri, says he likes to help. Adam’s drives are annually at Easter and Thanksgiving. His first drive raised eighty-eight pounds of canned goods…but, Keri says, the amount doubled with each successive drive. Last Thanksgiving, Adam presented over three tons of food and 13-hundred dollars to Illinois Valley Food pantry. This Easter’s collection was smaller at 44-hundred pounds. That went to the Hall Township Pantry. But, that, will not stop Adam from collecting this November. It was a TV ad showing the stock market and unemployoed people that prompted Adam to ask his Mom, Keri if he could have a food drive. And, Keri Clagett says, ……..what Mom would say “no”?

Vermillion River reopening

For people that do whitewater rafting and paddling, many say the Vermilion River near Oglesby is the best place in the state for it. As of Saturday, you can enjoy the rapids once again. DNR Director Marc Miller gave the official okay to reopen a stretch of the river owned by Buzzi Unicem. Buzzi closed the roughly three-mile stretch in 2009 after a drowning at the low head dam. Since then, the state spent around 200 thousand dollars in repairs and worked out a lease deal with Buzzi. State Representative Frank Mautino, an integral part of the project was also on hand. There is still a 180 foot buffer upstream from the dam and 45 feet downstream from the dam where it’s considered trespassing. Miller cautioned there is still no completely safe dam. 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.

wrong way driver

No names have been released in an accident that would give any driver the “willies”. An elderly Ohio state man driving northbound crossed the I-39 median Friday night and continued driving in the wrong lanes for almost 12 miles. The bizarre situation ended shortly after 10pm when he collided with two cars headed to Florida. The elderly man died as a result of the collisions. Four students in the first car that was hit were taken to IVCH. The students in the second car reportedly were not hurt. District 17 State police, an accident reconstructionist and the County Coroner continue to investigate.

Tribune Broadcasting + Direct TV

Tribune Broadcasting says there’s been no settlement with DirecTV Inc. in their contract negotiations, which means DirecTV subscribers in 19 U.S. markets will lose access to certain programming. Tribune Broadcasting said in a statement late Saturday that without a deal in place, by federal law DirecTV cannot carry the signal of Tribune’s local television stations after midnight, when the agreement expires. The affected markets include New York, Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia. In its own statement, DirecTV said it had hoped Tribune would allow its programming to remain up while negotiations continue. Earlier, DirecTV said the two had reached a handshake deal Thursday with an agreed-upon rate for Tribune’s channels. Tribune said it had not reached a deal or come to terms with DirecTV on any aspect of the contract.