Car cruise rolls into Marseilles Saturday

Downtown Marseilles will be filled with classic cars, trucks and whatever else decides to drive in.

The Marseilles Firefighters Association is hosting a Cruise Night from 5-9pm Saturday. There will be dash plaques to the first 200 entries and four trophies given out. It’s $10 per entry. There will also be a 50/50 drawing and door prizes.

Rob Edwards from 96.5 the Wolf will broadcast from the Cruise Night starting at 5pm.

Celebration planned at the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge

Before it was a cornfield, a large area along the Illinois River south of Hennepin was originally a backwater lake. That area, now known as the Sue and Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge has been restored into a wetland and destination for birds and nature lovers.

The restoration was done by the Wetlands Initiative. They are celebrating their progress over the past 10 years with food, music and hiking Saturday, July 26. Suzanne Wagner is with Wetlands Initiative.

She’s says not only are they celebrating what they’ve done, they are also kicking off restoration of an oak savanna and an expanded trail system.  The refuge already includes Hennepin and Hoppers Lakes and is open to the public. Wagner says it’s a popular place for bird watching.

Tickets to the celebration are $25 a person and include food, canoeing, nature walks and activities for children. You can learn more about it and how to get tickets by listening to an interview that’s available at the WLPO AM and FM news page.

Broken water line in Oglesby could cause issues all weekend

Water issues Friday in Oglesby. City Clerk Becky Clinard says there’s a major water main break in the area of Memorial Park. Crews won’t be able to repair the broken line until Monday. Anyone living north of Porter Avenue and east of School Avenue may experience low water pressure this weekend. There is no boil order in place.

Judge denies request to lower bond for dispatcher accused of child porn

It looks like a former Streator 911 dispatcher will stay in jail for awhile after his motion to reduce bond was tossed out.

Judge Cynthia Raccuglia said no Thursday to cutting Jeffrey Clayton’s bond in half, down to $250,000. Clayton’s attorney Darrell Seigler argued for the lower bond based on Clayton having no criminal history and not being a flight risk.

Clayton was indicted this week on three counts child pornography and one count of aggravated sexual abuse. He was arrested last month and has since been let go by the Streator Police Department.

30th anniversary of DePue Boat Races arrives

A week from now you’ll be hearing the roar of boats on Lake DePue.

The 30th annual Lake DePue Pro National Championship Boat Races start next Friday and continue thru next Sunday. As usual, there’s plenty of stuff going on around the lake besides just boat racing.

The DePue Men’s Club food stand opens Saturday while more vendors arrive next Wednesday along with live music and a beer garden. There will also be kids games next week around the lake plus a 5K Walk/Run next Saturday morning.

It’s three dollars to view the races but the nightly live music is free.