Man and woman arrested for sex crimes in Ottawa

A child is scarred while two adults face serious charges after sex crime arrests made in Ottawa.

A domestic violence call in late July led police to investigate further. On Monday they arrested David Wheeler of Ottawa for the class X felony of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. He’s facing two counts.

Also arrested Monday was Julie Love of Ottawa for two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and a single count of permitting sexual abuse of a child. Love is accused of having sex with Wheeler in front of a child under the age of 13 on more than one occasion along with allowing Wheeler to sexually abuse the same child.

Wheeler was taken to the La Salle County Jail with bond of $750,000. Love is being held in jail on $75,000 bond.

Streator family has the nation’s biggest pumpkin

STREATOR, Ill. (AP) – One of the world’s biggest pumpkins is right here in the Illinois Valley. The McMullen family in Streator has grown a pumpkin so big that the only way to move it is by forklift.

At 1,692 pounds, the pumpkin-tracking website http://www.bigpumpkins.com says the McMullen pumpkin is so big that right now only one known pumpkin in the world is bigger. That’s a pumpkin in Belgium weighing 1,840 pounds.
Sandy McMullen says the family doesn’t use plant food or any other kind of growth aid. Instead they grow big pumpkins every year and pick the most promising seeds to try again the following year.

The McMullens started growing giant pumpkins about 12 years ago.

Run/Walk will raise awareness to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Thanks to modern medicine and education, babies have a strong chance of survival, but Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, continues to end young lives.

Ashley and Andrew Lamps lost their son, Aden, to SIDS in 2013. Now they’ve created the Aden Lamps Foundation for raise awareness. They’re holding a run-walk at 9:30am Saturday at Hall High School. Registration is from 7:30-9:30am. Registration is $25 for adults and $20 for children. A children’s fun run will follow the race.

Learn more about the Aden Lamps Foundation by listening to an interview that’s available at the Classic Hits 103.9 WLPO news page.

First fall freeze could be around the corner

Did you go from having the fan or air on Monday afternoon to bundling up Monday night? Temperatures in the Illinois Valley plummeted about 20 degrees in a matter of hours.

While its not cold by any means, the National Weather Service says the average first fall freeze for the Illinois Valley is the first week of October. However the temperature isn’t expected to fall into the 30s for at least the next week.

Tuesday will be a one day cool down with a high expected around 65. Tomorrow and Thursday though will be warmer with highs back in the mid-70s before another cool down Friday.

Rita Crundwell dealt another blow in court

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) – A federal judge has denied Rita Crundwell’s request for a public defender as she fights to keep $90,000 in pension funds.

The judge asked for more information on several motions Monday. He will decide whether Crundwell’s pension should be part of her restitution for swindling Dixon out of $54 million when she was city comptroller. Crundwell is arguing her pension should be exempt from money she must repay.

Crundwell was convicted of stealing the money from the city over 22 years, and was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison.