Ottawa deals with frozen water lines

The deep freeze is over but some water lines remain frozen in Ottawa.  Just as in La Salle, dozens of homeowners have been without running water because their lines froze somewhere between their house and the road.

Public Property Commissioner Dan Aussem says city employees and four contractors have been trying a variety of methods to thaw the lines.  As of Tuesday workers had made it half way through their list and still had 35 homes to go according to Aussem.

He says it’s been challenging because workers have also had other responsibilities like water main breaks.  He says they will continue to work on the frozen lines.

Construction causing delays on I-80

It was a frustrating ride on Interstate 80 for the hundreds of people trying to head west through La Salle County. 

Westbound traffic was crawling most of Monday afternoon due to accidents and construction.  IDOT has construction zones in both east and west bound lanes and it was affecting traffic from Peru to Ottawa.  Westbound traffic seemed to be the most affected. 

To avoid the delays use Route 6, Route 52 or Route 34 instead.

Illinois lawmakers to form heroin task force

     CHICAGO (AP) – Illinois lawmakers are forming a task force to address what they say is a growing epidemic of heroin use.

      State Rep. Lou Lang announced today that House Speaker Michael Madigan has appointed him to lead the new panel.

      Lang says the task force will hold four public hearings in Chicago and its suburbs during the spring legislative session.

      Lang says the heroin crisis is plaguing Illinois, particularly families in Chicago and the suburbs. The Skokie Democrat is calling for “bold” legislative action.

      He says “What we’re doing now is failing.”

      DuPage County reported a record 46 heroin-related deaths in 2013. Elected officials from the suburban Chicago county said last week they plan to propose several pieces of legislation they hope will prevent substance abuse.

ComEd Outage Cancels School For Some In Mendota

It wasn’t a widespread outage, but a handful of ComEd customers in Mendota were without power Tuesday morning.  One of those customers was the Mendota Elementary School District.

Classes were canceled for Mendota Elementary  because of the power issue.  ComEd says the power outage was due to an “equipment problem”.

Power was restored around 8:30am.

Heating Assistance Money Still Available

If you need a helping hand paying for heating bills, you can still apply for assistance.

The state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP is available for anyone who meets certain income requirements.  A single person qualifies for assistance if monthly income is under $1400.  A family of four qualifies for LIHEAP is the monthly income is under $3,000. The energy funds go thru June or until they run out.

The Tri-County Opportunities Council in Rock Falls is the local LIHEAP office.

Voter Registration Deadline Arrives For Primary Election

Before you know it, the March Primary Election will be here.

Tuesday is the last day to register to vote or change your address to be able to cast a ballot on March 18th.  Monday, March 3rd is the first day you can cast an early vote in your county clerk’s office.  Absentee voting by mail is underway.

The last day to vote absentee in the clerk’s office is the day before the election.

Demolition Approved For Old Mendota Grocery Store

An old downtown grocery store in Mendota has a date with a wrecking ball.

According to the NewsTribune, the Mendota City Council has agreed to pay Otterbach Excavating of Mendota $64,000 to demolish the old Mendota Food Center building on Illinois Avenue.  The bid also includes removing asbestos and filling and leveling the site after demolition.

The old grocery store has housed other businesses but has sat empty for awhile and been a target for vandals.