Man accused of selling heroin in Peru

Of course you would go to a drug store to buy drugs, but police say a man sold heroin to an undercover cop while in the Peru Walgreen’s parking lot.

Deonte Thomas of Peru was arrested Tuesday by members of TRIDENT after they say he sold heroin to an undercover cop near the Tou-Rest Motel.

Police say Thomas was living at the motel and had been living in the area for several months.  He’s charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.  He was also arrested on a parole violation warrant and was being held at the La Salle County Jail.

Two people accused of burglarizing rural Earlville home

           It didn’t take police long two arrest a man and woman after a break-in outside of Earlville. 

          La Salle County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a home around 9:30pm Wednesday night.  It looked like someone had forced their way in when nobody was home. 

          Tony Hughes and Misty Donovan of Earlville were found at another house south of town.  Both were arrested for residential burglary and appeared in court Thursday.  Bond for Hughes was set at $150,000 while Donovan’s was set at $50,000. 

Concerts for a Cause headliner to be named

Here’s something to warm you up- imagine spending a warm summer night under the stars dancing to music at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport.

Merry Noonan of Lou’s LaGrotto has booked a couple of big name performers for this summer’s Concerts for Cause.  You can find out who will be headlining one of the concerts by listening to Cowboy on 96.5 the Wolf.  He’ll make the announcement at 7:10am Friday.

Water Main Break In North La Salle

It’s cold out so not surprisingly there’s a water main break in La Salle.

A break happened just before 11am Thursday in the Trevero Subdivision covering parts of Heather and Victoria Drive’s north of 24^th Street.  Crews had it repaired in only a couple of hours.   You won’t need to boil your water.

Support To Keep Dwight Prison Open

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A prison watchdog group is asking Gov. Pat Quinn to reconsider plans to close the Dwight women’s prison.

A statement from John Howard Association executive director John Maki on Wednesday says Dwight is the state’s only maximum-security prison for women.  He says the Livingston County facility has been successful in hiring many women correctional officers and training staff to handle a population that overwhelmingly comes from backgrounds of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Quinn wants Dwight closed to save money. He closed the Tamms super-security prison earlier this year and several juvenile detention centers. Maki pointed out John Howard supported those closures.

Maki says Dwight is 80 miles from Chicago – home to many inmates’ families. The distance allows inmates to maintain contact with children.

Dozens of people working at Dwight’s prison make the commute from La Salle County.

Former Ottawa Mayor Dies

Two-term Ottawa mayor Forrest Buck has died.

The 81-year old died Wednesday at Pleasant View Lutheran Home in Ottawa. Buck was Ottawa mayor from 1991 thru 1999. While mayor, Buck was part of creating a historic preservation commission and the scouting museum.

Funeral services for Buck can be heard during AM 1220 WLPO’s In Memoriam.

Proposed La Salle Sand Mine Moves Forward

If someone is against Dan and Josh Voss creating a sand mine north of Interstate 80 in La Salle they are keeping quiet.  The father and son that own and operate Quality Sand Products have plans to open a sand mine and wet processes plant on about 80 acres west of Hickory Hallows Campground and east of the Pecumsaugan Creek.

To do so they need to have the land rezoned to M2 manufacturing and to receive a special use permit.  The land is already zoned for industrial use and a portion of it is used as farmland.

The Voss’s and their engineers explained their plans to the La Salle Planning Commission Wednesday night.  They plan to upgrade the frontage road to concrete, pay for the extension of water and sewer to their land, and turn the mine into a recreational lake when it’s no longer is use.

Dan Voss says they could be mining there for 25 to 30 years.  He thinks it will create 16-18 new jobs.  He says three trucks would run between the mine and their drying plant in Peru using I-80.

Nobody in the small crowd at the hearing had any questions or complaints.  The commission easily recommended the zoning change and permit. The La Salle City Council will have the final say.

The mine won’t require an Illinois Department of Natural Resource permit because of how much they’ll be mining per year and the amount of digging they’ll have to do to reach the sandstone.

Crack Cocaine Dealing Means Prison For La Salle Man

A man from La Salle is headed to prison for selling crack cocaine.

Cordell Irons has pled guilty to delivery of a controlled substance and was given 10 years in prison.  As part of his guilty plea, multiple drug charges were dropped.

Irons was arrested by La Salle Police and TRIDENT in June for selling cocaine to an undercover informant.

Oglesby Property Tax Dispute Continues

Buzzi Unicem has officially asked La Salle County for a 75 percent cut in its property tax assessment.

According to the NewsTribune, an accountant representing Buzzi told the La Salle County Board of Review yesterday that much of their property is depleted quarries and idled processing units.  They’d like their assessment dropped from just under 4 million dollars to just under 1 million dollars.

The city of Oglesby along with L-P, Oglesby, Deer Park, Tonica and Illinois Valley Community College school districts will all be affected if Buzzi gets to pay less in property taxes.  Buzzi’s representative says to help these tax districts, the cement company would be willing to slowly phase in their tax reduction over a three-year period. Oglesby City Attorney Jim Andreoni thinks Buzzi will get some relief but hopes not the 75 percent cut their asking for.

The Board of Review plans to give its reassessment decision March 7^th.

Granville Construction Worker Hurt On The Job

A maintenance worker from Granville was hurt on the job.

Damon Burress was driving a bridge maintenance truck yesterday morning on Route 30 in DeKalb County when he attempted to park on a grassy area of an overpass.  Burress’ truck slid and hit a tree at the bottom of a hill.

He was taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital.  Burress’ passengers from Grand Ridge and Bradford were not hurt.