Three men raise suspicions at a La Salle bank

          Police across the area were looking for three men who allegedly tried to deceive the tellers at Hometown National Bank in La Salle. 

          It happened just after 3:30pm Tuesday.  A description of the men given over the radio said the three men apparently left on foot but were thought to have gotten into a 2005 blue Nissan Quest mini van. 

          The van was last seen heading east on Interstate 80 from Route 351.  It has temporary plates.

Congressman to speak at IVCC graduation

Graduations are a time for looking toward the future and listening to speeches.  Students graduating from Illinois Valley Community College this spring will hear a message from Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

Sophomore graduate Megan Winkler of Toluca will also read an essay titled, “How IVCC Has Changed My Life.”

About 200 students are taking part in the commencement ceremony Saturday, May 18.  It starts at 2:30 p.m in the gymnasium.

Princeton Teen Busted For Meth

Two men from Bureau County face meth charges in neighboring Henry County.

According to “Quad Cities Online”, Brent Davis of Buda and David Lally of Princeton are charged with the class X felony of aggravated meth manufacturing and a felony meth-related child endangerment charge.  Four other people from Geneseo were picked up on the same charges.

Bond is 100 thousand dollars for Davis and 25 thousand dollars for Lally.  They will be in court next Monday.

Peru plans to work with homeowners to prevent more sewer backups.

The filthy, watery mess that backed up into your basement almost three weeks ago hasn’t been forgotten in Peru.  After developing an action plan, Peru officials have two ideas for preventing more backups.

Mike Perry with Chamlin and Associates says after that after televising the sewer lines where the problems occurred they found blockages and places where water was getting in. He says they have a program to remove the blockages and eliminate the extra water getting into the sanitary sewers.

They’ve also created a program to work with homeowners to modify their basement plumbing to create separate sewers for footing tile ground water and sanitary sewer flow.

Illinois GOP Leader Steps Down

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady says he’s stepping down for personal reasons and not because of rifts within the party.

Brady announced his resignation this morning in a letter to the state party’s central committee.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Brady says his wife has been battling “very serious” cancer for two years and he wants to focus on her and their four children.

He declined to discuss divisions within the party since its poor showing in last year’s elections, but said persistent calls for him to step down had nothing to do with his decision.

Social conservatives have called for Brady’s removal, in part because he took a stand in favor of gay marriage earlier this year. They also cite Republicans’ poor results in the 2012 election.

Scott Harl Begins Second Term As Peru Mayor

The people in Peru voted for change in April and now they have it.

Two new aldermen were sworn in Monday night.  Becky Mueller is an alderman in the First Ward.  She fills the opening created by redistricting which placed Mike Radtke into Ward 2.   Gone from the council is Second Ward Alderwoman Sherry Mayszak.

Mike Sapienza was sworn in as the new Third Ward alderman replacing Bob Ankiewicz.  Ankiewicz had been on the council for well over a decade.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the man in charge of Peru.  Mayor Scott Harl kicked off another four-year term after winning re-election last month.