Oglesby and DePue voters say “yes” to referendums

Your city may need more money. Voters said “yes” in two referendums Tuesday. The people of Oglesby said yes by a 62% to 38% margin.

In DePue, voters supported the village issuing bonds to buy a fire truck and equipment. It passed 53 to 46%.

Voters in Cedar Point turned down their tax question 65% to 34%.  52% of voters in Spring Valley said no to a sales tax increase.

Waltham voters say no to new sand mines

The people of Waltham Township have spoken and they do not want any new sand mines. An advisory referendum asking if future requests for sand mines should be permitted failed with 84 percent of voters voting no.

The push for the referendum came after the Utica Village Board gave permission to a mining company to open a mine north of the Love’s Travel Stop.

Classic Hits 103.9 WLPO brings election night coverage

The polls are closed and the votes are being counted across Illinois tonight.  Classic Hits 103.9 WLPO Election Night coverage goes until approximately 11pm.  Live up dates will air around the top and bottom of each hour.

You’ll also hear from some of the candidates.

La Salle adds more liquor licenses so video gamblers can have a drink

Whether its bars, truck stops or stand alone buildings, video gaming machines are popping up everywhere. A divided La Salle City Council is doing what it can to accommodate the growth of video gaming.

The Council voted 5 to 4 Monday night with Mayor Jeff Grove breaking a tie to double the number of Class B liquor licenses from 10 to 20. Places like Becks and Shell want to put in gaming machines and hope to be able to offer up alcohol in cans or bottles to gamblers.

La Salle already has ten Class B liquor licenses spoken for so they need more for Becks and Shell and for any other business that may want to serve alcohol to video gamers.

Alderman Jim Bacidore was against adding liquor licenses wondering if it was time to cap the number of video gaming locations. He says there’s only so much money to go around and wonders how many businesses will even make money with video gambling.

Peru approves sand loading facility

All of the sand that’s mined in La Salle County has to be moved and usually that involves trucks and trains. Plans for a sand loading business on the north end of Peru received the green light from the Peru City Council.

EOG Resources plans to put in a facility for trucks to dump into railcars on the Peru rail spur north of Interstate 80. Mining won’t be allowed on the 95-acre site. All sand will have to be stored in an enclosure. A storm water runoff plan will be reviewed by the city engineer and the Illinois EPA.

The city council approved a special use Monday night.

Dispensary request doesn’t receive city council support

You won’t be driving to 21^st Street in Peru to pick up a medical marijuana prescription. A request to change the zoning rules for a medical marijuana dispensary was shot down by the Peru City Council Monday night without a vote.

Before the topic came up, several people with houses or property near the proposed site explained why they were against the location. Realtor Barb Kuzma thought it would make the neighborhood unsafe. She and builder Dick Fay thought it would hurt property values. Another woman, Jennifer Ebner, said it would ruin her plans to open a childcare center on Marquette Road.

City council members agreed it wasn’t a good location for a dispensary. Alderman Mike Radtke reminded everyone that the site is zoned for office space and not retail, which is largely why the Zoning Board of Appeals didn’t recommend a change.

When it came time to vote on the request the council didn’t. Nobody made a motion and the request died.