Chemistry Lab Scare At IVCC

A leak in a chemistry lab could lead to a lot of trouble.

Oglesby firefighters were called to Illinois Valley Community College Friday evening after a hot water pipe burst in a chemistry lab.  The college was evacuated as fire crews made sure there wasn’t any kind of toxic leak.

Firefighters cleared the scene in about an hour.

Ottawa Finalizing Purchase Of Flooded School

A property is never sold until the closing and the closing day is Monday for the old Ottawa Central School.

The city is buying the flood-damaged building and surrounding land for 375 thousand dollars.

The closing is scheduled for 11 Monday morning at Ottawa City Hall.  At that time the city will be buying just the school building and not the land.  City officials say the land would be bought during a separate sale.

The city plans to demolish the building that’s on the Illinois River flood plain.

Freed Murderer Recaptured

CHICAGO (AP) – Police have recaptured a convicted murderer mistakenly released after a Chicago court appearance on drug and armed violence charges.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Department says Steven Robbins of Indiana was recaptured late Friday night in Kankakee. Officials received various leads and interviewed family and friends in helping to coordinate his capture.

Robbins was serving a 60-year sentence in Indiana when he was brought to Cook County Circuit Court to face charges prosecutors later said were dismissed in 2007. After appearing before a judge, the 44-year-old Robbins was taken to Cook County Jail and was released hours later.  A clerical error is suspected in the mix-up.

Area Schools Plan For Earthquake

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois officials and eight other states are trying to make this year’s Great Central U.S. ShakeOut the largest earthquake drill ever held in the Midwest.

Gov. Pat Quinn urged Illinoisans to sign up for the Feb. 7 exercise. Those registering for the drill at http://www.shakeout.org/centralus will find advice on earthquake preparedness. Around 2.3 million Midwesterners have already signed up for the event, including 410,000 people from Illinois.

Area schools that are signed up for the Great U.S. ShakeOut include: LaMoille, L-P, Ohio, Princeton, and Putnam County.