Suicide Prevention Walk In Peru Helps Illinois Get National Award

The Out of the Darkness Walk in Peru is helping Illinois get national recognition.

The Illinois Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention won Chapter of the Year at the national conference.  Illinois’ 20 suicide prevention walks including last year’s at Baker Lake raised over $800,000, far more than any other state.

Last year’s La Salle County walk raised over $6500.  This year’s walk is set for October 19th.

Mendota Firefighters Respond To House Fire

Smoke could be seen miles away Friday morning because of a house fire in Compton.

Mendota and Troy Grove firefighters were among many responding to the fire at 320 West Chestnut Street, just east of Route 251.  The call for mutual aid went out around 9:15.

Many departments brought in water tenders because getting water to fight the fire was an issue.

Aurora Teen Sang In Controversial Coke Super Bowl Ad

AURORA, Ill. (AP) – A teenager from Aurora who sang in part of a Super Bowl commercial is fending off criticism about the Coke ad.

The spot features people singing “America the Beautiful” in various languages. Metea Valley High School sophomore Sushmitha Suresh sang a portion of the song in Hindi. She says she supports the ad’s message.

But the commercial upset some people, who say the song should only have been featured in English. Suresh says she has “respect” for their opinions, but added: “I am proud of what I’ve done to promote diversity. I am still an American.”

Annual Wine Walk Returns In Utica

Have a wine connoisseur in your household?  If so, a visit to Utica should be on your weekend schedule.

The annual Utica Wine Walk is Saturday from 11 until 5.  You’ll start at the Utica Village Hall where you’ll be given your wine glass and tasting tickets.  A free shuttle then takes you to 12 Utica destinations including wineries, pubs and cafes.

Wine Walk tickets are 20 dollars a person.

Skydivers From Across The Globe Headed To Ottawa

Sochi, Russia doesn’t have anything on Ottawa, Illinois.

Skydive Chicago has been awarded the 2016 World Championships of Skydiving.  Rook Nelson and other members of Skydive Chicago traveled to Vienna to officially bid for the world championships.

The United States hasn’t hosted the skydiving world championships since 1994.

Latest Snowstorm Not Expected To Pack Big Punch

It’s supposed to snow again Saturday, but don’t let it ruin your weekend plans.

The National Weather Service says expect 1 to 3 inches of snow  with lesser amounts heading south of La Salle County.  The snow could start Saturday-morning.

A week ago some TV meteorologists were calling for a foot or more snow this weekend which prompted the weather service to put out a video explaining why they don’t put out snow predictions that far in advance because most times it’ll be wrong.