Teenage Girls Accused Of Crashing Stolen Car in Oglesby

A couple teenage girls from the Illinois Valley are in big trouble.

Oglesby Police got a call Tuesday afternoon about a crash on North Columbia Avenue.  When officers arrived, they say they saw two girls running away.  The police ran the plates of their car and found it was reported stolen out of Dixon.

Just before midnight Tuesday, arrested a 16 year old girl from Oglesby and a 15 year old girl from Marseilles for possession of a stolen vehicle.  The 15 year old was also ticketed for driving without a valid license.

Both girls were taken to the La Salle County Detention Home.

Freeze Warning Issued

If you live without having a garage to park in, may want to have the scraper handy Friday morning.

A freeze warning is in effect for the Illinois Valley thru mid-Friday morning.  Lows are expected to dip down into the mid or upper 20s.

There will be some relief this weekend with daytime temps back in the 50s.

Salvation Army Gearing Up For Red Kettle Campaign

The Salvation Army bells don’t ring themselves.  Your help is needed.

The Ottawa Salvation Army is looking for volunteers to stand beside red kettles between this Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Your help is appreciated even if it’s just for an hour.  You can also get a group together to ring the bell for several hours.

If you can be a bell ringer, call the Ottawa Salvation Army.

Princeton Rotarians Team Up With Bill Gates To Fight Polio

What do the Princeton Rotary and Bill Gates have in common?  They’re both trying to end polio in the world.

The rotary finished up a fundraising campaign in which they raised over 35 hundred dollars.  The Gates Foundation matched every dollar with two of its own bringing the total for the End Polio Now campaign to over 10 thousand dollars in Princeton.

Rotary President Phil Kaufman says they chose to raise money to fight polio because rotary member John Weborg is a  polio survivor.

Weborg contracted polio in 1952 when he was 15 years old.  He was initially paralyzed from the waist down.  Through vigorous physical therapy, Weborg is able to walk on his own now.

Today by the way is World Polio Day.

Food For Fines Returns To Illinois Valley Libraries

If you have overdue books here is a way to get out of paying the fines.  Donate food for food pantries in the Illinois Valley.

Libraries in Peru, La Salle, Oglesby, Spring Valley, Mendota and Putnam County are again doing a “Food for Fines” amnesty program to benefit the food pantries.  Between November 11th thru the 23rd, the libraries will accept food donations.  Each donated piece of food pays one dollar of a fine.  The maximum fine you can pay off with a food donation is 25 dollars.

Donations cannot be used for lost or damaged books.  Suggested foods include canned vegetables, fruits, cereal, and pasta mixes.

This is the fourth year for the “Food for Fines” program.

Second Rock Island Clean Line Forum In Mendota

If you couldn’t get your two cents in at last month’s forum about the proposed Rock Island Clean Line, you have another chance.

The Illinois Commerce Commission is hosting a second public forum about the proposed transmission lines to go from Iowa to Morris while passing by towns like LaMoille and Mendota along the way.  An overflow crowd turned out for last month’s forum at Mendota High School.

Next Monday night’s forum starts at 7 inside the Mendota High School gym.  A company out of Texas is proposing the high-voltage line promising to power more than a million homes in the Midwest with clean renewable energy.  A very vocal opposition group called “Block RICL” says a lot of good farmland will be taken away by the transmission line.