Med helicopters needed twice Saturday

Medical helicopters were sent to two accidents in two counties Saturday. A rollover accident on Union Road near Route 26, north of Ohio, at the Bureau and Lee County line left at least two people injured.

Then, Lifeflight helicopters from Peoria and Rockford were needed north of Peru around 3:30pm. A La Salle County sheriff’s officer told Classic Hits 103.9 WLPO that two cars collided near the Lighthouse Baptist Church. Route 251 was closed while crews were at the crash.
You will hear more as it is made available.

15-year old shot in Chicago

A 15-year-old boy has been shot and killed in Chicago.   Police say a gunman in a dark-colored minivan opened fire Friday night, striking the boy in the stomach. He died later at Comer Children’s Hospital.

Authorities identified the boy as Deon Gilbert.  His mother, Ida Hall, tells the Chicago Sun-Times that Gilbert was walking to a gas station on the Far South Side when he was shot.

Serious rollover crash in Bureau County has medical choppers called to the scene

Two medical helicopters were called after a vehicle rolled near the Bureau and Lee County line.

A 911 call came in around 9am Saturday about a rollover crash on Union Road near Route 26. Ohio and Princeton firefighters and Walnut Ambulance crews were all sent to the scene as two adults were hurt and a baby had cuts and scrapes. The first officers on the scene said the adults were thrown from their vehicle but the baby was still in the car strapped into a car seat. The vehicle ended up on its top.

Police set up a landing zone for the choppers in a cut bean field about 300 yards away from the overturned vehicle.

Peru Elementary District may issue bonds to pay school construction bill

There’s a chance taxpayers may have to help pay to move Washington Elementary students into an expanded Northview Elementary School in Peru.

Bids were awarded in August to add on to Northview and the estimated cost of the entire project was about $400,000 above the board’s estimated project budget. Plumbing and heating costs both came in more than expected.

The Peru Elementary School Board’s Finance Committee will meet at 5pm Tuesday and discuss issuing bonds to pay for the completion of the Northview project. Superintendent Mark Cross said when bids were announced he didn’t think they could cut anything out of the renovation so they may add a few cents to the tax levy to cover all the costs.

A state construction grant is paying for most of the Northview project.

No winner declared yet in 76th District State Representative race

The wait continues in naming a winner between State Representative Frank Mautino and Republican challenger Jerry Long.

Mautino led Long by about 340 votes after Election night but both candidates agree that all absentee and provisional ballots should be given time to be counted. La Salle County Clerk JoAnne Caretto says her county alone won’t be enough to change the election outcome.

At most Caretto thinks just under 300 ballots could be added to the vote total by time they officially canvass the election results. By state law if an absentee ballot is postmarked the day before the election, you have to give it two weeks to arrive before discounting the ballot.

Even if La Salle County’s remaining votes don’t help Long to overtake Mautino, he still has votes to be counted in Bureau, Putnam and parts of Livingston County.

Typhoon expected to bring cold and maybe snow to the Illinois Valley

A super typhoon and not the dreaded polar vortex is to blame for an expected cold snap in the Illinois Valley.

The National Weather Service says remnants of Super Typhoon Nuri will send the Illinois Valley into a cold snap next week with highs only in the 30s and nighttime lows falling into the upper teens or low-20s. There’s also a chance of accumulating snow Monday night into Tuesday but forecasters say right now most of the precipitation will fall along and north of the Illinois/Wisconsin border.

Despite what you may see on Chicago weather sites, the weather service says its far too early to predict snow totals.