First Street and Malcolm Avenue included in La Salle streets project

La Salle has been big on improving their downtown and it probably helps that they’ll be resurfacing First Street.

The main drag is included in this year’s streets program.  Some side streets including a rough stretch of Malcolm Avenue will be redone.  In the case of Malcolm Avenue curb and gutters will be added.

The road work will be paid for with motor fuel tax money, meaning IDOT will have to approve the city’s plans before a contractor can be hired.

The city will also be bonding $1 million.  Mayor Jeff Grove says that won’t affect taxes.

Illinois Wesleyan Frat Suspended For Three Years

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) – A fraternity at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington has been suspended for three years after a student’s death.

School president Richard Wilson announced the suspension in a statement Tuesday. Investigators in Oregon say 18-year-old Brandon Landau of New York was at a party in White Pines State Park and died after being found unresponsive in a stream.

Sigma Pi can appeal the sanctions. It also can request reinstatement in 2015, but would face another four years of
probation. Wilson says the university found the fraternity responsible for “serious violations.”

Route 89 Bridge Replacement Meeting In Spring Valley

You can drive from Granville to Spring Valley in a matter of minutes if you take Route 89.  And at least one woman in Spring Valley would like to keep it short and quick when the Route 89 bridge is replaced.

Debb Ladgenski is the city’s economic development director.  She’s encouraging business owners and people who cross the bridge regularly to attend an Illinois Department of Transportation public information hearing tomorrow. Ladgenski says most importantly fill out the comment card.

IDOT has three ideas for replacing the bridge and she believes one of them would be to tear it down and build a new one in its place.  She would rather see a new bridge built while the old one remains open.

The bridge was last closed in 1989.  She says it hurt business then and thinks it would again.

The informational meeting is from 4-7pm tomorrow in the downstairs of city hall.  You can stop in, look at the proposal, talk with IDOT representatives and leave a comment.

Area Pool Reopens After State Ordered Repairs

Making the state happy can be a long process, just ask people at the Streator YMCA.

The Y’s pool is back open after being closed for over three months for state mandated drainage repairs.

The Streator Y will have a family fun night April 28^th that will serve as a grand reopening.

Gun Range Issue In Court Today

Which side do you stand on when it comes to the dispute between the state and the Buffalo Range Shooting Park?

A hearing is this afternoon at 1:30 in Ottawa to talk about a state restraining order against the shooting park being allowed to reopen.  Circuit Judge Eugene Daugherity granted an injuction last month after the state found out the range planned to reopen on March 16^th.  Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office says the range “failed to respond to repeated demands to address safety standards at the gun range”.  The state says Conservation Police have investigated complaints of bullets from the range passing thru Buffalo Rock and the I&M Canal trail.

However the website of the shooting range tells a different story.  The website says the closure is “nothing more than a malicious extension of the liberal anti-gun agenda in Springfield”.