Pope does “selfies” on Palm Sunday

       How are you living your life? It’s a question that Pope Francis wants people to ask themselves, during this Holy Week for the Roman Catholic Church.

      Marking Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square today, the pontiff put aside his prepared homily and spoke entirely off-the-cuff.

     Later, he hopped off his popemobile to pose for “selfies” with young people in the crowd.

Police reconstructing Wenona area fatal

    An accident reconstructionist will determine why a red Buick entered northbound I-39 Saturday evening hitting 2 other cars south of Wenona before stopping. The driver of that Buick was pronounced dead at the scene by the Marshall County Coroner.

    District 8 State Police say it happeneded 6 miles south of Route 17 when a red Buick crossed the median and entered the southbound lanes striking a silver Pontiac and a Black Chevrolet. A black Ford SUV avoided the other cars but rolled in the median. The driver of that silver Pontiac was lifeflighted to OSF Peoria, while the passenger went by ambulance.

    Each of the remaining vehicles had 2 occupants who received lesser injuries and went to St. Mary’s in Streator. District 8 State police are not releasing the names of those involved at this time.

 

Firemen at work this weekend

     Firemen go where the fires are. And, area departments weren’t idle this weekend.

     Someone’s garden fire at 500 Canal in Ottawa Friday evening got into the I & M canal before firemen put it out. Fire made a small single story Magnolia home unlivable Saturday afternoon despite the efforts of 5 departments. Dave VanLaar of the Magnolia department said firemen fought wind and the home’s 2 ceilings before getting the upper hand . The 1 occupant got out.

    About the same time Saturday there was a “tug of war” – sort of – between Seneca Fire Chief, Jerry Sears and some area farmers 3 miles east of the High School. 1 field fire burned a 3/4 mile stretch of the canal. Sears told “Classic Hits 103-9 WLPO”, his men were still on site around 4:30 Saturday because, quote, “they – meaning the farmers – kept lighting ‘em in their fields.”

 

Flood watch at Ottawa in effect

      1 – 2 inch heavy rains are expected today and will likely cause streams and rivers to rise.

     For that reason, the National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch along the Illinois River at Ottawa. In Ottawa, the river was just shy of 460 ft late this morning. Flood stage is 463. Minor flooding is possible. The watch will be in effect till 7am Friday.

 

     An accident reconstructionist will determine why a red Buick entered northbound I-39 yesterday evening  hitting 2 other cars south of Wenona before stopping.

   The driver of that Buick was pronounced dead at the scene by the Marshall County Coroner.

   District 8 State Police say it happeneded 6 miles south of Route 17 when a red Buick crossed the median and entered the southbound lanes striking a silver Pontiac and a Black Chevrolet. A black Ford SUV avoided the other cars but rolled in the median. The driver of that silver Pontiac was lifeflighted to OSF Peoria, while the passenger went by ambulance. Each of the remaining vehicles had 2 occupants each who received lesser injuries and went to St. Mary’s in Streator.

 District 8 State police are not releasing the names of those involved at this time.

 

Chicago violence claims lives and wounded

     Shootings across Chicago have left two people dead and at least 14 others wounded over the past 24 hours.

     Among the dead was a 17-year-old girl hit multiple times in the upper body during a shooting Friday afternoon that also wounded two men in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that no one was in custody in any of the shootings.

CASA fundraiser is today

   Hundreds of children get caught up in legal cases. When this happens in LaSalle County,  a court appointed special advocate is there to represent the child’s best interest in court.  You can help make sure LaSalle County CASA can continue to train these volunteers during their big annual fundraiser today. 

   “Nothing’s Sweeter than a Child” Chocolate Festival and Silent Auction is 1 – 4pm at Celebrations 150.  Tickets are $10 dollars for adults and $5 dollars for children five and younger.

 

$1100 thefts yield two arrests

      Eleven hundred dollars in merchandise left Kohl’s illegally Saturday afternoon.

       Two people are in the county jail after attempting to steal merchandise from the retailer in a four hour period. 26-year old Ibet Gutierrez of Ottawa was charged with retail theft for attempting to take $500 in merchandise.

      Then, about 6:30pm, 25-year old Jasha Wagner of Mendota was arrested for trying to leave without paying for $600 dollars in store items.

 

Wrong way incident becomes fatal

     District 8 State police are not releasing names after a fatal accident involving 4 vehicles Saturday evening on I-39, south of Wenona.

     The driver of a red Buick was pronounced dead at the scene by the Marshall County Coroner. The driver of a silver Pontiac was life-flighted to OSF Peoria. The passenger, not hurt as bad went by ambulance. 2 other vehicles, each with 1 passenger went to St. Mary’s Hospital in Streator with less serious injuries.

    State police say that about 8:40pm, a red Buick was southbound on I-39, six miles south of Wenona when it crossed the median and struck a northbound silver Pontiac head-on. The red Buick continued south in the northbound lanes striking a black Chevrolet. The driver of a  black Ford SUV took evasive action, but could not avoid rolling over in the median. That stretch of I-39 was closed for a time.