Matthiessen School being prepared for demolition

Before the new school year begins a piece of La Salle Elementary’s past will be a pile of ruble.  Crews are preparing to demolish the old Matthiessen School.

Dore and Associates Contracting have begun the ground work to gut the building.  Asbestos was already removed from the school that sat largely unused while owned privately.  It became a target for vandals.

City Building Inspector Brian Maddox says the foundation and basement floor slab will also be removed and the area will be backfilled.

The project is projected to be completed by mid October.

Sewer Projects Mean Higher Bills In Ottawa

Sewer bills are going up in Ottawa nearly 35 percent and you can mostly blame the feds for that.

The city council is looking at raising water and sewer bills by nearly 16 bucks a month starting in September.  Public Property Commissioner Dan Aussem says they need about 15 million dollars to separate their storm and sanitary sewers or else face fines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The sewer and water bill increase will generate about a million dollars a year.

Mayor Bob Eschbach says he’s not excited about the significant rate increase but they’re still on the lower end for water and sewer bills.  According to his numbers, Streator, Marseilles, La Salle and Princeton all still charge more for sewer and water.

The council raised sewer bills last year by over two dollars a month.

Possible attempted kidnapping in Peru

White vans are getting the attention of police in Peru after a girl told her parents that a man in white van possibly tried to kidnap her.

It happened just after 4pm Tuesday at Fourth Street and Monks Avenue in Peru.  Police say the girl rode away on her bicycle and told her parents who than called the police.

The van was described as full-size, white with no side or back windows.  The man was white with no hair, age 40-50 with a chubby face and yellow shirt.  They stopped a few white vans but they didn’t match the description.

Lemonade stand raises almost $2,500 for Peru girl

There’s nothing like a cold cup of lemonade on a hot summer day.  Hundreds of people swarmed a lemonade stand in Peru Tuesday but not because they were thirsty; they wanted to help raise money for a Peru girl that’s fighting cancer.

The lemonade stand was a fundraiser for Lily Rosploch.  Abby Burress, Molly Leone and Nancy Hyson served lemonade, orange juice and sno cones in Hyson’s front yard.  In two hours they raised almost $2,500.

Hyson was taken back by the generosity of the people who stopped by, many who just left donations without wanting a lemonade.

Demolition underway at the site of the new La Salle Dollar General

Heavy machinery is taking down an old doctors office chunk by chunk in La Salle.  Crews are demolishing the former St. Margaret’s Health Clinic on Route 6 and Gooding Street to make way for a new Dollar General.

La Salle Building Inspector Brian Maddox says once the doctor’s office is torn down an apartment building behind it will be torn down next.  Demolition is expected to take at least a week.

Maddox says permits for the new building have been issued.  The Contractor for the job is Cissell Mueller of Missouri.

At one point the new store was expected to open in October.  Officials haven’t said what would happen with old store on First Street.

Oglesby and Peru lift burning bans for now

What a difference an inch or more of rain can make.

After some rain over the weekend, fire chiefs in Oglesby and Peru have lifted their burn bans.  Both say if it gets dryer again, the burn ban will come back.

If you burn, you’re asked to be extra cautious and watch all open fires closely.

Ex-Ottawa Fire Chief Arrested For DUI

Ottawa’s former fire chief is in trouble for driving drunk.

Jim Duback was arrested for DUI Saturday afternoon after rear-ending a car on the south side of Ottawa.  Duback hit Sharon Reynolds on State Street.  No one was hurt.

Duback was released with a court date.

Heat Advisory Issued

Dangerous heat didn’t stay away very long.

A Heat Advisory is in effect for the entire listening area thru Wednesday evening.  Daytime temperatures will likely get near 100 with it feeling hotter than that factoring in humidity.

Highs are expected to stay in the 90s the rest of the week.

 

Governor Pardons Two Local Felons

A couple convicted felons from the area have been granted pardons by the governor.

As part of his ongoing effort to whittle down a backlog of pardon requests, Governor Quinn granted 42 pardon requests Friday.  Jason Glynn was convicted in the 90s of battery causing bodily harm and resisting a peace officer in Bureau and La Salle Counties.  Those records are now erased.

The other pardon went to Cynthia Wilkins who had convictions in the 90s for battery, criminal trespass and possession of a controlled substance.  She was charged in La Salle and Cook counties.

 

Chief Says No Problems At Kid Rock Show

Despite some people no doubt expecting the worst, Peru’s police chief says everyone was well behaved at the Kid Rock concert.

Doug Bernabei told the Peru City Council last night that no arrests were made at Friday night’s concert at the Peru airport.  He says two people needed an ambulance but that was for pre-existing conditions.

Bernabei says it’s the largest crowd the Peru PD has had to handle and he credited Deputy Chief Bob Pyzska with coming up with the plan to handle the thousands of people.