Fire destroys a rural Tonica building

          If you’re going to have burn pile, make sure it’s away from buildings.  Tonica Firefighters think a fire that destroyed an out building Thursday afternoon may have been started from embers from a nearby brush pile fire.

The out-building west of town was completely on fire when they arrived.  Tonica with the help of the Lostant Fire Department had the fire under control in about 25 minutes. 

The fire is under investigation.

Spring Valley squad car invovled in a crash on the curves

Sometimes the flashing red and blue lights aren’t in your rear-view mirror but instead are ahead of you.  A man and a child were taken to the hospital after hitting a parked Spring Valley Police car on the Route 6 curves.

It happened at 12:30pm Thursday as a Spring Valley officer was removing items from the highway.  Police say the squad car’s emergency lights were on when it was hit by Ryan Husemann of Spring Valley.

Husemann and a child were taken to St. Margaret’s Hospital.  The officer wasn’t hurt.

The Bureau County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the crash.

I-80 pavement patching included in capital construction program

          Interstate 80 through La Salle County is a bumpy a ride but money from the recent state capital construction program will be spent to a least patch some of the rough spots.

The state is paying D Construction of Coal City nearly $497,000 to patch the pavement along I-80 from the Bureau County line to the Marseilles interchange.

The money is included in Governor Pat Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! Program.  Quinn’s office announced the funding Thursday.

La Salle grade school evacuated due to garbage can fire

          There’s something about boys restrooms that make them prone to small fires.  Northwest School in La Salle was evacuated late Thursday morning after a fire started in a boys’ restroom garbage can.  The La Salle Fire Department was called but a school employee put the fire out using an extinguisher before firefighters arrived.

          School officials are investigating.

Kinzinger Says Yes To Military Action In Syria

Your congressman backs military action in Syria.

Republican Adam Kinzinger says he’s wary of war but saving people of Syria from chemical attacks is the right thing to do.  During his speech yesterday in Washington, Kinzinger held up a picture of children from Syria and talked about deadly effects of exposure to chemical weapons.

While backing President Barack Obama’s push to attack Syria, Kinzinger does say he disapproves of Obama’s overall handling of Middle East issues.

Earlville Drive-In Facing Costly Digital Changeover

Only three days remain to help “save” the Earlville Drive-In.

Honda is running a contest where you can vote once a day for the Earlville Drive-In to be one of five remaining drive-ins across the country to get digital projectors.  Many drive-ins and older theaters like the Majestic in Streator face the possibility of closing unless they can raise 80 thousand dollars or more to switch from projector to digital film.

The closest drive-in movie theater besides Earlville is in Sterling.  Illinois only has a dozen drive-ins left.

To vote, go to http://projectdrivein.com/

Minneapolis Mayor Wants To Lure Gay Couples To His City

CHICAGO (AP) – Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has a message for Illinois’ same-sex couples: Come north to get married.

He’s launching a “Marry Me in Minneapolis” campaign in Chicago that he hopes will prompt gay and lesbian couples who may be tired of waiting for Illinois to legalize gay marriage to marry in his city instea.

There are thousands of same-sex couples in Illinois. Rybak says if a fraction of them took him up on his offer, it could mean millions of dollars to his city as Minneapolis businesses profit on everything from hotel rooms to wedding cakes.