Fire just outside Ottawa

Midwest Agri-Com showroom on Route 71, northeast of Ottawa will be open Monday. Owner Mike Hess confirmed that with AM 1220 WLPO by phone late Saturday afternoon. Shortly after 1pm Saturday, an explosion and fire erupted in two storage buildings behind the showroom requiring firefighters from Marseillles, Naplate and Serena. Hess confirmed that no employees were hurt. Della Allan, bookkeeper at Hank’s Restaurant, directly across the road, said she heard and felt the explosion in her house behind the restaurant. Her son was in the parking lot, saw and heard it, too and called the fire department immediately. One of the burned buildings stored a vehicle. It’s unknown if it was saved.

United Way collecting school supplies

It’s hard to do your homework when you don’t have pens and paper.  About half of the students in the Illinois Valley come from low-income families that could struggle to afford school supplies.  To help them out the United Way of the Illinois Valley is collecting school supplies.

They call it the HUSKY Program, helping underprivileged school kids year round. They’ll be collecting supplies at their office on Route 6 in Peru and then giving them to 25 area schools.  Students who need supplies will get them through their schools.

If you would like to help, bring items or cash to their office.  They’ll be distributing supplies to schools on August 9.

Jesse Jackson Jr. in Mayo Clinic for depression

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) – The Mayo Clinic says Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is being treated for depression at its hospital in Rochester, Minn.

The hospital’s statement Friday provides the first details about the Congressman’s whereabouts and condition since he mysteriously went on a medical leave from Congress several weeks ago.

The hospital says he’s undergoing an extensive inpatient evaluation for depression and for gastrointestinal issues.

His staff initially said the Democrat was being treated for exhaustion, then later said his condition was more serious and that he’d been grappling with emotional issues. They never said where he was.

The Mayo Clinic’s statement didn’t address Jackson’s previous whereabouts. But it said the congressman, the son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, and his family are “grateful for the outpouring of support and prayers.”