Well known coach dies

The former high school basketball coach considered the “Dean of Illinois 2 class basketball – Chuck Rolinski has died. The Peoria Journal Star says Rolinski passed away, at age 82, in OSF St. Francis in Peoria Tuesday afternoon. The Toluca High School basketball player and valedictorian went on to become the school’s basketball coach.

Over 34 years, he built a record of 649 wins and 262 losses. In 1972, Rolinski successfully lobbied the IHSA to split high school basketball into 2 classes based on enrollment. Rolinski, however, never got one of his teams to the quarterfinals in Champaign. Rolinski had been hospitalized since Labor Day due to a fall.

State awards $300k to IVCC for cyber cafe and other projects

Ever wish there was a large gathering place to mingle at Illinois Valley Community College?

Tuesday, the college got word that the state is giving them $300,000 to help pay for a cyber cafe and student meeting space. IVCC trustees plan on spending a million dollars to build the student center and cyber cafe on campus.

The plan is for the cafe to open in the main lobby and the student center to open in the old counseling area within two years. The work will include a new elevator, removing asbestos and putting in new lighting and wiring.

Fire guts home outside Princeton

A couple lost their home in a fire outside of Princeton.

According to the NewsTribune, fire departments from across Bureau County responded just before three Tuesday afternoon to a home fully engulfed near Hornbaker Gardens. The home is lost and an attached garage was also damaged.

Ernie Parr owns the home but wasn’t around at the time of the fire. Nobody was hurt.

The state fire marshal’s office has been called to investigate what caused the fire.

Who took the mums in La Salle?

Route 351 or Joliet Street through La Salle just got more appealing to the eyes.

City workers and volunteers last week sat out 150 planters filled with mums along the road. Mayor Jeff Grove says he saw what other towns are doing to go green and figured something could also be done in La Salle.

The problem they’ve run into though is that some people have assumed the plants on 351 are there for the taking. Grove says over a dozen of the planters and mums have disappeared.

Teenage girl facing two felony charges after alleged brawl near Ottawa High

Fights at school have been happening for years but Ottawa Police say a brawl got way out of hand.

Investigators started looking into a fight a couple weeks ago that happened on the Riverwalk near Ottawa High School. Samantha Jo Meglan of Ottawa has been arrested for aggravated battery and mob action, both felonies. Several others who are underage were arrested and given juvenile court referrals.

Meglan was taken to the La Salle County Jail with bond at $10,000.

Illinois politicians spending plenty of cash on election ads

CHICAGO (AP) – Does it seem like political ads are worse than ever before? Illinois has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of TV ads this election compared to four years ago.

The non-partisan Center for Public Integrity review says more than 34,000 political ads have aired between January 2013 and September 8th of this year. That’s up from 26,000 ads during roughly the same time frame in 2010.

Illinois politicians have spent over $26 million on TV ads since January of last year, $6 million more than what was spent for the 2010 election.