Wind topples construction site in Peru

Hold on to your hats and iron frame structures…strong winds have toppled the red iron base frame of an expansion project at Eakas Corporation in Peru.

Plant Manager Jeff Wagner says it happened at 12:45pm Wednesday.  Luckily, he says construction workers were on their lunch break and nobody was hurt.

Wagner says the 400 foot by 100 foot addition is for a new plating line.  Vissering Construction of Streator is the contractor.  Work began in mid-March.  Wagner isn’t sure how much this will set them back.

Outage affected Bureau County Corn Belt customers

The electricity is back on for homes and businesses in Bureau County.  Corn Belt customers were left in the dark Wednesday afternoon because transmission was cut off to three of their substations.

900 customers in towns like Buda, Manlius, and Princeton were affected.  A woman with Corn Belt says service was back up by 1:30pm.

Peru hires engineer for five-year plan

Part of why you’re paying higher sales taxes in Peru is so the city can take care of its streets and infrastructure.  That requires an engineer.  The city council Tuesday night hired Mike Perry of Chamlin and Associates to come up with a five-year infrastructure plan.  It will cost the city no more than $35,000.

While Mayor Scott Harl and most of the aldermen think it’s a good step, aldermen Dave Potthoff and Rodney Perez disagree.

Perez was hoping they could hire an engineer to do the work in-house.  The city had a man they wanted to hire but he apparently took a different offer.

La Salle approves contract for public works employees

A 1% wage increase isn’t much but it’s better than nothing in La Salle.  Union public works employees and the city council have agreed on a three-year contract that started Monday.

Year one includes a 1% increase with the city continuing to pay 90% of their insurance.  Year two includes a 2% increase with the city decreasing their insurance contribution.  That continues into year three.

Illinois Minimum Wage Could Jump

Illinois could soon have the highest minimum wage in the United States.

The Illinois Senate could vote today to increase the minimum wage from $8.25 an hour to over ten dollars an hour. The last minimum wage increase was in 2010.

The federal minimum wage rate is $7.25 an hour.

No Breaks In Search For Missing Ottawa Man

The search for Chris Strobel is now onto day five.

The 36-year old married, father of two was last seen around 2am Saturday near Ottawa City Hall.  Yesterday, the Ottawa Fire Department brought out their ladder truck and spanned the rooftops of buildings in the city for any sign of a body.

Ottawa Police Chief Brian Zeilmann says they have received very few serious leads of what may have happened to Strobel.  One fear is he ended up in the river.  Zeilmann says Strobel hit several taverns the night of his disappearance and he lives on the south side of town.

If you have information about where Chris Strobel could be, call Ottawa Police.

Woman From The Burbs Caught With Fake Mega Millions Ticket

DES PLAINES, Ill. (AP) – It’s hard to cheat the lottery system but a woman from the suburbs allegedly tried.

Leandria Williams of Elgin was indicted Tuesday felony charges  of wire fraud, attempted theft and forgery. Officials say lotto investigator called police when Williams came to the department’s Des Plaines office with a fake winning ticket.
Lottery logs showed Williams’ ticket was actually bought 10 minutes after the March 30 drawing and her receipt was apparently altered.

Williams has been released on bail.