Cemetery Fire In Princeton

Firefighters in Bureau County spent their noon hour battling a brush fire at a cemetery.

The initial fire call came in right around noon for a brush fire in a culvert at the Oakland Cemetery on the southwest side of Princeton.  One firefighter said the fire was on both sides of a culvert.

Mutual aid was provided to Princeton by Bureau, Malden and Tiskilwa Fire Departments.

ISU Police Cracking Down On Jaywalkers

NORMAL, Ill. (AP) – Illinois State students are on notice: campus police are about to get tough – on jaywalking.

More than 30 percent of the people who took a campus survey said jaywalking is a serious problem. And police are taking it seriously.

ISU Police Chief Aaron Woodruff says fliers warning students are being handed out this week. Next week jaywalkers will get tickets and have to pay fines.

Mass Text Message Scam Overnight

Did you get woken up last night around one o’clock by a text message?  There’s a good chance you were one of many who were targeted by a scam.

A mass text message went out last night from a 312 area code number that said you’ve been selected to win a free Walmart gift card worth a thousand dollars.  The message then says to enter a code and click a website link on the text message.  Walmart is included in the phony website link.  The message tries to create a sense of urgency saying only 123 of these free gift cards remain.

This type of scam has also been going around with people getting cards in the mail.  If you got the text, just delete it.

Route 178 Construction Nears Completion In Utica

Yesterday was a big day for the Route 178 reconstruction in Utica.

Crews poured asphalt on the overpass over Interstate 80 yesterday.  Joe Spika with IDOT says this is last major part of the overpass reconstruction.  All that’s left now is some striping, painting, lighting work and seeding.

Also yesterday, Spika says they made a traffic switch opening up additional parts of 178 thru downtown Utica.  For the first time, you can drive across the new I & M bridge before being brought back on the existing stretch of 178 just south of the bridge.

The entire Route 178 project should be done by this fall.

Sheffield Donation Jar Thief Pleads Guilty

Stealing a donation jar isn’t serious crime but it’s definitely low.  A man from Iowa has pled guilty as a donation jar thief in Bureau County.

Andrew Noriega of Davenport pled guilty this week to misdemeanor theft and will be sentenced June 14^th.  He was arrested in early January after he turned himself in.  The sheriff’s department released surveillance video from inside the Casey’s General Store right before he owned up to the crime.

Money inside the stolen jar was for new playground equipment at Sheffield’s Veteran’s Park.