Man accused of leaving his credit card in a Jeep he broke into

Some criminals like to leave a “calling card” behind as a clue.  In Marseilles, police say a man left behind his credit card after busting out a window on a park Jeep.

Police were called to Illini State Park Sunday morning.  While looking at the Jeep officers found a credit card belonging to Roberto Molina of Morton Grove inside.

Molina was soon arrested for burglary to motor vehicle, a felony and lesser marijuana related charges.   Molina spent the rest of his three-day weekend at the La Salle County Jail.

Music Festival And Holiday Keep Putnam County Deputies Busy

The annual Summer Camp Festival in Chillicothe is over meaning the end of Putnam County’s busiest travel weekend.

Sheriff Kevin Doyle says they did extra patrols Friday and Saturday on Routes 18, 29 and 89.  He says they handed out a variety of traffic tickets but the major drug arrests were handled thru TRIDENT.  TRIDENT has yet to send out information about weekend drug arrests.

Doyle says a majority of people arrested or ticketed were from out of the Illinois Valley area.

Late Night River Rescue In The Vermilion River

High water on the Vermilion River made navigation difficult even for trained rescuers.  Seven people were pulled from the river near Mathiessen Park early Tuesday morning.  Problems started Monday evening when four people who rented a raft from a local business had their raft overturn and became hung up on a snag on the river.

Conservation Police Officer Robert Frazier says two employees from the rafting company tried to help the group but couldn’t when one of the employees had their kayak capsize.

Frazier says that’s when his office was called.  Members of Ottawa River Rescue went to the river but even their motorboat capsized, leaving a total of seven people stuck in the water.  Finally, rescuers were able to use a rope to repel down.  Everyone was out of the river by 1am Tuesday.  They were taken to area hospitals to be looked at for hypothermia.  Two members of the Ottawa River Rescue also had to be treated for injuries.

Frazier says no one was arrested.

Severe Weather Possible Today

Things could get stormy today.  The entire listening area is under a slight risk of severe weather according to the National Storm Prediction Center.

The best chance of severe weather will come late afternoon towards evening according to the latest Hazardous Weather Outlook.  Storms could bring gusty winds and heavy downpours and large hail.

There’s a chance of thunderstorms the rest of the week.

Ottawa Teen Competes In National Spelling Bee

The bright lights are shining on Ram Koganti of Ottawa today.

The 13-year old is competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.  Koganti won the La Salle County Spelling Bee and then the Grand Finals in Peoria in March to advance to the national bee.  He’s representing Wallace Grade School.

As part of Koganti’s spelling bee profile, he says to relax he snacks on puppy chow which is in his words a “delicious mix of chocolate, powdered sugar and Chex cereal”.

Weekend Rain Has Illinois River Rising

The Illinois River is back on the rise.

The stream is expected to once again go above flood stage in the La Salle-Peru area so a Flood Warning is in effect from Wednesday afternoon until Saturday morning.

The Illinois this morning sits at just under 18.5 feet, flood stage is 20 feet.  The river’s expected to rise above flood stage tomorrow night.

As of right now the Illinois isn’t expected to go up anymore than a foot above flood stage.