Culvert replace to affect La Salle County Highway 57

If you do any driving through Farm Ridge Township one of the main roads will be closed Thursday.  County Highway 57 also known as Red, White, and Blue Bridge Road will be closed from N. 2250^th Road to the Deer Park Blacktop for a culvert replacement.  The road will reopen at the end of the day.  A detour won’t be posted.

Peru alderman wants to stream council meetings

If you could watch a city council meeting online would you?  Peru Alderman Rodney Perez is suggesting that the city set up a camera to offer live-streaming of city council meetings.

He says it would be similar to what the Princeton City Council does with their meetings and that it would improve transparency.  As for how much it would cost, he says he’s not sure but probably not more than the cost of a camera.  He wants to talk about it more during next week’s council meeting, a fact pointed out by Alderman Dave Potthoff.

You can already attend and record any public meeting under the Opens Meeting Act.

Massachusetts man accused of having marijuana

25 pounds of marijuana is what police say they found in the trunk of a car stopped on Interstate 80.  State Troopers pulled over Kevin Darosa of Cambridge, Massachusetts Thursday in Bureau County.  They say he was speeding.

Police say they searched the car after smelling marijuana.  Darosa was arrested for Possession of Cannabis with Intent to Deliver.

Pumps and dam to be removed from Lake DePue

The pumps will no longer be bringing in river water in to Lake DePue.  The lake was dammed a couple of weeks so the water level could be raised to five feet to make it suitable for the boat races.  Pumps were used to pull in water from the Illinois River.

The races ended Sunday.  Village President Eric Bryant says that they’re taking down the tractors and pumps Monday.  He says the sandbag dam will be slowly removed when the Illinois Department of Natural Resources says it’s okay.

Bryant thinks the lake will be about three feet deep once the dam is removed.

Body found after fire in Pekin home

PEKIN, Ill. (AP) – Authorities in central Illinois are investigating after a body was found when firefighters responded to a fire that engulfed a Pekin home.

The (Peoria) Journal Star reports that several departments responded to the fire, which broke out late Saturday. Cincinnati Fire Chief Curtis Cornwell says the fire took several hours to control and by the time it was extinguished Sunday the home was a total loss.

Tazewell County Coroner Carl Powell isn’t releasing any information about the body that was found. The victim hasn’t been identified, and an autopsy is planned.

Several agencies, including the Illinois State Police and the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office, are investigating.

Big Bureau Creek watershed focus of field day

Learn a little something about the Big Bureau Creek watershed during a day of field demonstrations. The “Big Bureau Creek Field Day & Tour” is Tuesday, August 7 and will include a series of different conservation practices.  Farmers will learn about how conservation programs and practices can protect valuable soil and water resources and boost farm productivity.

Registration begins at 7:45a.m. at City County Park north of I-80 in Princeton, IL. The tour will begin at 8am.

Ice cream social and band concert planned in Oglesby

There’s nothing like an ice cream social on a warm summer night.  The annual Dickinson House Ice Cream Social is at 6pm Tuesday at the Dickinson House.  The Oglesby Municipal Band will play at 7pm.  Bring your lawn chairs.