Hall student accused of having pellet gun and grenade in his car

You can’t cause too much damage with an air-soft pellet gun and an inactive grenade but that doesn’t mean you can bring them to school.

The police were at Hall High School Wednesday afternoon for a 16-year-old boy accused of having a pellet gun and hand grenade is his car.  It started earlier in the day when a student told a teacher about it.

Spring Valley Police Chief Kevin Sangston says the car was searched while the boy had it in the auto-mec shop and nothing was found.  He says the gun and grenade were found after the car was parked off campus.

The boy was arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was given a juvenile referral.  Sangston says nobody was ever in danger.

Streator man accused of video taping young girl

Already in prison twice for sex offenses, a Streator man facing a new charge.

Ronald Gage was indicted Tuesday in La Salle County Court for unauthorized videotaping.  He’s accused of recording an underage girl in her home this past June.

Gage is in the La Salle County Jail on $100,000 bond.  He’s been in prison for aggravated sex abuse and failing to register as a sex offender.

Multiple Crashes On Interstate 80 In Ottawa

The fog has lifted and hopefully that will make driving safer.

The dense fog led to several crashes on Interstate 80 Wednesday morning, primarily between Utica and Ottawa.  A few of the accidents involved cars and pickups crashing with semis.  It didn’t sound like anyone was seriously hurt.

Traffic was at a standstill at times and the Interstate was briefly closed.

Ottawa Looking For Help To Fill Empty Buildings

What will it take for someone to move into the old Kmart and Walmart buildings in Ottawa?  The Ottawa City Council hopes a consultant and 47 thousand dollars gets the job done.

The council has hired a Mississippi-based company called The Retail Coach to help attract new businesses.  Mayor Bob Eschbach says the consultant will especially be given the task of trying to fill empty buildings on the north side of town.  Eschbach says they’ve been close to landing new businesses but often fall short.

The city expects to work with the retail consultant for a little over a year.  Most of the money for the retail advice will come out of Ottawa’s north side TIF District.