Volunteers needed for Peru and Ottawa homeless shelters

          Remember a difficult time in your life and think of the people who helped you.  You can do that for someone else by volunteering at Illinois Valley PADS.  The shelters in Peru and Ottawa open for the season Sunday night.

          Carol Alcorn is the Executive Director of PADS and has spent many nights volunteering and says they could use more people now through next May.

          If you can’t volunteer at the shelter, you can donate money or supplies like paper plates, milk, bread and coffee.  Shopping at their secondhand store, Lily Pads is another way to support the shelter.  The store also takes clothing and household donations.

          You can learn more about the shelter and how to volunteer by visiting their web site and listening to an interview at the WLPO AM and FM news page.

Circuit Judge Shore to not seek retention

A judge in Putnam County plans to hang up his robe.  Circuit Judge Scott Shore says he will be returning to private practice at the end of his current term in November 2014 and will not seek retention. 

Shore became a circuit judge in 1990.  He says he’s grateful to the voters, lawyers, court staff and fellow judges who have made his judicial career the experience of a lifetime.

Shore says he looks forward to practicing law from the other side of the bench and would like to be involved in mediation of civil cases.  He also plans to travel and volunteer.

IVCC instructor to speak at a geology convention

A man they have taught you at Illinois Valley Community College will be speaking at the 125^th Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America.  Mike Phillips teaches geology and is traveling to Denver in late October. Geologists from across the country will be at the meeting.  

Phillips will talk about his old geology professor, Dr. Dale Ritter and how Ritter has influenced his career.  Phillips teaches natural disasters and environmental and physical geology at IVCC.

TRIDENT officers make two arrests Monday

While FBI agents were busy in Peru Monday, drug officers with TRIDENT were at work in Oglesby and La Salle.

Steven Rambaud Jr. of Oglesby allegedly had 95 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia when officers went to his apartment on Florence Street.  Rambaud was arrested for unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and was taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Across the river, Andrew Strandell of La Salle was arrested for heroin and cocaine.  Police say they found both of the drugs plus things used for packaging them.  He was arrested for two possession with intent to deliver charges and was taken to the county jail.

Flood Repairs Continue At Marseilles School

Repairs continue at the flood damaged Marseilles Elementary School.

The school board this week awarded nearly 500 thousand dollars in repair work split between Vissering Construction of Streator, Halm Electric of Ottawa and Hayes Mechanical in Chicago.  Vissering is replacing the gym floor while Halm is rewiring flood damaged sections of the school.

Hayes Mechanical is installing a new heating and air conditioning system.

Dalzell Fire Department And Village Board Come To An Understanding

Is there a communication problem between the Dalzell Village Board and the village’s fire department?

Firefighters had a meeting last night with the Dalzell Water Committee.  According to the fire department, village officials requested the meeting after becoming concerned about the firefighter’s use of water during training exercises.  There were also issues about the fire department having enough insurance coverage to do training on school property.

According to the Dalzell Fire Department’s Facebook page, last night’s meeting ended with firefighters agreeing to tell the village board of any training exercises in the future especially ones using the village water supply.