Police Chase In Peru

A driver from La Salle faces several charges after an early morning crash.

Peru Police say Joel Molina tried to run from them and the state police until he hit a parked car after midnight this morning in the 2300 block of Main Street.  Molina was arrested for aggravated DUI of drugs/and or alcohol and aggravated driving with a revoked license.  He was also picked up for possession of cannabis and leaving the scene of an injury accident.

Officers say Molina had a passenger in his car who was taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital after the crash.  The passenger’s name hasn’t been released.

Molina was taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Gas Prices Trending Down

In case you haven’t noticed, gas prices in the area are on their way down.

After almost reaching four dollars a gallon last month, the price at the pump in the Illinois Valley ranges from $3.54 to $3.69 a gallon.  According to GasBuddy.com, the cheapest gas is at the Shell and Road Ranger stations in Ottawa at the intersection of Interstate 80 and Route 23.

The cheapest gas in Illinois can be found in Bloomington-Normal at $3.42 a gallon.

State Jobless Rate Worsens

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – Illinois’ unemployment rate rose to 9 percent in January. That’s up from 8.7 percent in December and back to almost the 9.1 percent rate of January 2012.

The number of unemployed people in the state rose by 4 percent to 594,800. The state added a relatively small 7,100 jobs in January.

The biggest job losses were among companies in the trade, transportation and utilities sector where the state lost a net 5,500 jobs in January. Government agencies also shed a net 1,500 jobs. Educational and health services employers added 5,500 jobs.