La Salle hires companies for street and sidewalk projects

Don’t give up hope that your bumpy street will be resurfaced.   Stretches of streets and alleys are scheduled to be redone in La Salle.

Universal Asphalt was hired Tuesday for $300,000 to resurface streets and alleys.   Cruz Concrete was hired to replace sidewalks for $146,000.   The price is likely to go down if city employees are able to remove the old sidewalks.

City Engineer Brian Brown says the stamped concrete costs more this season but says the color should come mixed in with the cement, instead of a coating that will chip off.

Woman in critical condition following motorcycle crash

Three days after a crash in Putnam County, a woman from Magnolia remains in critical condition. Kathleen Dilbeck was flown to St. Francis Medical Center Sunday afternoon.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department says Dilbeck was riding a motorcycle tricycle Sunday afternoon on Route 89 when it crashed with Damodara Karkera of Streator.

James Dilbeck of Magnolia was treated at Illinois Valley Community Hospital. Karkera was ticketed for failure to yield turning left.

Crash snarls traffic on Illinois River bridge in Peru

Rear-end accidents continue to be a problem in a construction zone on Route 251. Two people were taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital after a crash Wednesday morning on the Route 251 bridge in Peru.

Police say Kiersten Hedgepeth of Wyanet didn’t realize traffic was stopped and hit Michael Harlow of Oglesby. Hedgepeth was ticketed.

A few hours later a couple of cars needed to be towed after another accident in the same construction zone.

Resurfacing work will continue into next week. You can avoid the construction by taking Route 351 instead.

Man behind “Starved Rock Murders” is trying for parole again

Will this be the year Chester Weger is granted parole? Testimony begins Wednesday in his 19th try at getting released from prison after being convicted in the “Starved Rock Murders”.

The parole board last year tied 7 to 7 which meant Weger was closer than ever before to walking out of prison.
La Salle County States Attorney Brian Towne will once again plead his case that Weger should spend his life in prison.

Weger was convicted in 1961 of killing Lillian Oetting at Starved Rock. Two other women were murdered but Weger wasn’t charged in their deaths.

He’s being held at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center.

House destroyed and pets killed in a Marseilles fire

Two dogs and a cat were killed but a family is fine after a house fire in Marseilles.

Rob Cavalear and his two children weren’t home when their house on Broadway Street caught fire Monday night. Marseilles and Seneca firefighters fought the blaze for about two hours. The family is staying at a friends house.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.