La Salle street program attracts one bidder

Anytime you’re planning an expensive project you try to get the most competitive prices.  La Salle has a list of streets to be repaved this summer and after going out for bids, they only received one.

Len Trovero Construction offered to do it for about $710,000.  The city council Tuesday night accepted the offer saying though they only received one it came in under the engineer’s estimate.

Streets being repaved include a stretches of First and Bucklin.

There won’t be a leaf burning referendum for La Salle

You won’t be voting on a La Salle burning ordinance in November.  Although Alderman Boo Herndon wanted to have the people decide if the city needed more yard waste burning restrictions, most of the aldermen did not.  His effort to put a non-binding referendum on the ballot only got the support of two other aldermen Tuesday night.

Alderman John Duncan was on the public health committee that recommended burning rules that limit who’s allowed to burn leaves.  He and Alderman Tom Ptak agreed that the city council should be able to decide on burning rules because that’s what they were elected to do.

New burning rules could be approved next week that would end leaf burning in areas where the leaf vac could reach.

Tractor tips during mowing, nobody hurt

Two weeks and a day after an Illinois Department of Transportation employee was killed during a mowing accident, another tractor being used by IDOT tipped over.

Nobody was hurt when the tractor overturned Tuesday near Ottawa.  Bruce Hucker of IDOT says the tractor was similar in size to the one being used by William Meyers on June 25.  Meyers was mowing near Interstate 80 in Bureau County and was killed.

Hucker says the tractor that tipped today had a rollover protection system and seat belts.  The tractor will need to be inspected by the manufacturer before they’ll use it again.

Local counties receiving IEMA grants

Tornados, floods and fires- the Illinois Valley has had its share of disasters.  Local counties are receiving grants from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to stay prepared.

Bureau County is receiving $21.000, Putnam County is receiving a grant worth $14,000 and La Salle County $38,000.

The money ultimately comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and can be used for day-to-day operations of local emergency management programs.

Lawmakers speak out against closing Ill. prisons

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois lawmakers aren’t giving up their fight against Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to close prisons and juvenile facilities.

A group of legislators said Tuesday that they will try to block Quinn’s action this fall. And a major state-employees union is urging Quinn to postpone the closures until a final decision can be made.

Legislators approved a state budget that included money to run prisons at Tamms and Dwight, along with youth detention centers in Joliet and Murphysboro. But Quinn vetoed the money and said it should be spent on other services.

Democratic Rep. Frank Mautino says Quinn is showing “poor judgment” by closing prisons when the correctional system is already overcrowded.

Overriding Quinn requires a three-fifths majority. Legislators wouldn’t say how close they are to that goal.

Stretch Of I-80 Buckles In Ottawa Causing Traffic Backup

Throw-in buckled pavement to a stretch of road already under construction and you have yourself some problems.

It was slow going on westbound Interstate 80 yesterday afternoon just west of Ottawa.  IDOT crews were dealing with a piece of interstate that apparently buckled in the recent heat.  The same issue that popped up on I-39 last week.

IDOT says they’ve had dozens of reports of interstates buckling because of the heat.

Kid Rock Show Just Few Days Away

Happy Kid Rock concert week!

Tickets remain on the sale for the latest Lou’s La Grotto “Concert for a Cause” at Lou’s in Peru.  They are 58 dollars now but will cost 65 dollars at the gate on Friday.

Gates will open at 4 at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport.  Opening act Dirty Guv’nahs will take the stage around 7:30 with Kid Rock starting around 9.

Listen to 993 WAJK and 96.5 the Wolf all this week for your chance to win Kid Rock tickets.

Proceeds from the show are benefitting Trinity Catholic Academy in La Salle.