I-39 exit ramp at La Salle to be closed for work

You won’t be able to take Interstate 39 to get from Oglesby to La Salle Wednesday and Thursday.  The northbound I-39 ramp to Rt 6 will be closed early Wednesday morning so crews can fix a pavement failure over the old cement conveyor tunnel.

IDOT expects the ramp to reopen Friday.  A detour will not be posted.

The repair is part of a $772,336 contract the state has with G.M. Sipes Construction of Rushville.

Casey’s to build new store in Peru

The Quonset hut along Route 6 in Peru is being replaced with a Casey’s General Store.  The company has plans to build a new store several blocks west of their store in Peru.

The Peru City Council approved several zoning variances and waivers for the new store Monday night.  The city council will likely annex the land next month.

The plan is to remove the underground tanks and canopy at the current store and sell the building.  The new store would be larger according the Ryan Swanson, a representative for the store.  He says it would be similar to the store in Spring Valley and include room for a kitchen.

The Casey’s already open in Peru used to be a different gas station and doesn’t include a kitchen for making donuts and pizza.

Former Farm Bureau President donates to IVCC

          A member of the IVCC-LPO Hall of Fame is also a donor to the Illinois Valley Community College Peter Miller Community Technology Center Capital Campaign.

          Malcolm Whipple of Waltham Township recently gave $1,000 to the fund.

Whipple is the former President of the La Salle County Farm Bureau. He made the donation in honor of his late wife Doris Ann and their children.

Fire damages Ottawa home

          A south side fire in Ottawa is being called accidental.

          Firefighters got a call just before 4am Sunday about a deck fire at a home on Windsor Drive.  Ottawa Fire Chief Jeff Newberry says a passerby saw flames and awoke the homeowner Ryan Lowery before calling 911.

          There was damage to Lowery’s deck, swimming pool and some siding to his house.  No one was hurt. 

Missing Teen Found Alive Near Closed Oglesby Cement Plant

A missing persons search has ended on a positive note at Matthiessen State Park.

Around 7am Monday, a dispatch went out that a 17-year old boy from Dwight was found in or near the Buzzi Unicem property in Oglesby.  He’d been reported missing since early last evening.

Conservation Police Sgt. Hank Frazier says the teen was hiking with relatives at Matthiessen State Park Sunday night when they split up.  They were supposed to meet at the park parking lot but the teen never showed up.

Crews spent much of late Sunday night and early Monday morning looking for the boy before he was found alive.

Heat Has Schools Dismissing Early

Did you get an automated call from your child’s school superintendent over the weekend?

Schools like L-P and Waltham Elementary are working on a “heat schedule” early this week because of excessive heat.  This means L-P and others are dismissing an hour early.

High temperatures everyday this are expected to reach at least 90 with Tuesday being the worst of all.

For a list of school dismissals, go to WLPO AM and FM.com.

Skydiving Record Set At Ottawa

Skydive Chicago is making headlines again but not for a daredevil jumping out of a plane in a coffin.

Two state records were set above the skies of Ottawa this past weekend with the largest women’s formation skydive and the largest women’s sequential formation jump.  The skydivers ranged in age from 18 to 70.

Nearly 40 women made the jumps.

Another Parole Hearing For Chester Weger

Could this be the year that Chester Weger is paroled?  The 74-year old convicted in the infamous “Starved Rock Murders” has a parole hearing Wednesday.

Last year Weger had his 17^th parole hearing and the vote to let him out of prison was the closest it’s ever been with an 8 to 7 vote to keep him behind bars for life.  He’s been in prison since 1961 when he was convicted of murdering Lillian Oetting at Starved Rock State Park.  Two other women were murdered but Weger wasn’t charged with their deaths.

La Salle County State’s Attorney Brian Towne has fought each year to keep Weger in prison and will do so again this year.

Weger’s being held at Pickneyville Correctional Center.

Roth’s Replacement Taking Over Monday Night

MORRIS, Ill. (AP) – Voters in eastern La Salle County will officially get a new representative in Springfield later today.

John Anthony was chosen by Republican officials to replace resigning state Rep. Pam Roth of Morris in the 75th District which covers towns like Seneca and Sheridan. The 37-year-old Anthony is a Kendall County sheriff’s deputy. He’ll be the first black Republican lawmaker in the state Legislature since the early 1980s.  The swearing in is set for 6 tonight at the Grundy County Courthouse.

Roth says she’s moving to Texas where her husband’s job was transferred.