Peru Man Admits To Nearly Stabbing Teenager To Death

A man from Peru is headed to prison after nearly stabbing a 15-year old girl to death.

30-year old Richard Vasquez has pled guilty to the attempted murder of a teenager from Iowa.  By pleading guilty, he received an 18 year prison sentence in which he has to serve at least 85 percent of that.

Vasquez stabbed the girl at a home where he was a houseguest.  Prosecutors say he stabbed the girl nine times and also injured her grandmother before running.  He was caught at a trucking company in La Salle after he hurt a worker and himself when he jumped thru a glass window.

Ottawa Woman Wants To Take On Kinzinger

A social worker from Ottawa could challenge Adam Kinzinger for Congress.

Nearly 70 people showed up in DeKalb Saturday to pick a candidate to oppose the Republican Kinzinger in the November election.  Wanda Rohl of Ottawa and Robert Giolli of DeKalb were the nominees with Rohl being the pick.

The next steps are for Rohl to collect 650 signatures and get support from county chairpersons.

Rohl is a social worker at Passages Hospice and is a paraplegic.  She went to Serena High School before graduating from Illinois Valley Community College and then Aurora University.

Englewood’s downward spiral

Jennifer Hudson’s childhood home looks like many in the violence-ridden Chicago neighborhood where she grew up: It has boarded windows, chipped paint and crumbling front steps. About the only difference between it and thousands of others in the notorious Englewood neighborhood is that the Oscar-winning actress and singer grew up there – and her mother, brother and nephew died there, allegedly gunned down by Hudson’s brother-in-law, a known gang member. While cities nationwide have seen a drop in homicides, Chicago slayings jumped by a whopping 60 percent the first three months of the year. In Englewood alone, there have been 15 slayings, nearly double the number reported during the same period a year ago. Experts say the area’s downward spiral started when families moved out and gangs moved in.

Child’s mysterious death

Authorities in Illinois say an 11-year-old boy found bleeding with a puncture wound to his chest has died. A spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office says Allan Fernandez died about 3 p.m. Saturday at an area hospital. The child was found near his home in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates. It’s not clear how he was injured. The medical examiner’s spokeswoman told the Chicago Tribune he was not shot and an autopsy is scheduled for today. She says the child had been playing outside, and family members began looking for him after he hadn’t been heard from for about 45 minutes.

Daycares NOT getting reviewed

A published report says more than half of Illinois day cares haven’t been inspected by the state. The Chicago Tribune reported (http://trib.in/IeBxyk) in its Sunday edition that 55 percent of the approximately 12,300 day care operations haven’t had visits from state inspectors during their current three-year license period. The Tribune reports that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has nearly 3,000 employees, but only 123 are assigned to licensing. The newspaper reports that caseloads for licensing workers often are double what they should be. The Tribune cites agency figures that it analyzed in its investigation.

Ottawa heroid dealer busted

If she didn’t know it before, she knows it now. Dealing drugs is a hazardous business with TRIDENT around. Jeffri Shields of Ottawa is facing two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, heroin, after her arrest Friday. Police say a warrant was issued for Shields’ arrest after she sold heroin a number of times to somebody working under cover with the drug fighting group. Shields bond was set at 50-thousand dollars before she was placed in the county jail.

Start walking

A Chicago pastor who camped on the roof of an abandoned motel for three months to draw attention to gun violence has a new plan. The Reverend Corey Brooks says he’ll set out on a three-month walk on June 5th. The goal is to raise $15 million for the community center he wants to build on the site of the motel, which had become a haven for prostitution and drug dealing on Chicago’s South Side.

protesting Quinn cuts

A group representing Illinois nursing homes has embarked on a multi-city tour to fight Democratic Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed $2.7 billion in Medicaid cuts. The Health Care Council of Illinois rallied yesterday in Rockford. The group plans a similar rally with nursing home employees today in Chicago. Quinn announced his plan for closing a $2.7 billion hole in the health program for needy state residents on Thursday.

It’s dry….WATCH out

Again it’s becoming dry enough in our area that the National Weather Service says we COULD HAVE a “red flag warning” in effect by Monday afternoon. A cool dry air mass is staying put over us through Tuesday and conditions TODAY (Sunday) will be favorable for an increased wildfire threat this afternoon. Strong winds today and Monday won’t help things either. The Fire Weather Watch will be in effect Monday afternoon and evening. Please no open burning or pitching lit cigarettes out car windows.

short chase….many charges

The short chase didn’t do any good…but, the fact he was in a stolen vehicle from Bureau County was the clincher. 31-year old Eric Moss of Wyanet was arrested in the 400 block of Bucklin Saturday night after a brief chase through city streets. LaSalle police charge him with aggravated fleeing and eluding, having a stolen vehicle and many more charges. Moss is in LaSalle County jail awaiting a bond hearing.