Morris and Joliet also targets of fake workers

Peru isn’t the only town where someone claimed to be a worker to get inside of an elderly woman’s house. A woman in Morris was also a victim of what is known as a rouse burglary.

Morris Police Chief Brent Dite says a man in a construction coat came to the home of an elderly woman saying he was there to inspect her water pipes. When he left, some of the woman’s jewelry was missing.

Dite says he can’t stress enough that you shouldn’t let people into your home that you don’t know.

A similar situation occurred in Peru Tuesday afternoon although nothing was missing from the home.  The Joliet Police Department is also warning people about a similar burglary that happened this week.

If you suspect this is happening to you or a neighbor, call your police department.

Woman in critical condition after crash in northern La Salle County

A mom from Earlville is in critical condition and her daughter is hospitalized after a crash south of Leland.

Linda Davis is being treated at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove after the car she was riding in yesterday morning collided with a semi. Her eight-month-old daughter is being treated at St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. A hospital spokeswoman didn’t give out her condition.

According to the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office, the mother and daughter were hurt after their driver Jesse Treadway of Earlville crashed into a semi driven by Charles Jensen of Ottawa on Route 23.

Treadway was ticketed for failing to yield at an intersection.

Garage catches fire on northeast side of Oglesby

Nobody was hurt after an attached garage caught fire in Oglesby.

Firefighters went to the home at 800 Morris Avenue Wednesday night just after 8. Oglesby Fire Chief Ron Popurella says an attached garage was on fire and they put the blaze out quickly. The garage had fire damage along one wall and the house had some smoke damage.

Philamena Tomsa owns the home which is just across the street from Lincoln Elementary School. Popurella says the cause of the fire is electrical.

Salvation Army could use help ringing the charity bells

If you have an hour or two to spare, the Salvation Army could use your bell ringing skills.

The charity group’s Red Kettle Campaign continues through Christmas Eve. They’re looking for bell ringers to help raise money outside stores in Peru, Ottawa and Streator. You can volunteer for an hour or longer. Just call the Salvation Army office in Ottawa if interested.

Between Peru, Ottawa and Streator, the Salvation Army hopes to raise over $200,000 during this year’s Red Kettle Campaign.

Boy taken from DCFS custody in Ottawa found safe in Indiana

If you’ve been following the story of a two-year-old being taken by his mom from state custody in Ottawa, the child has been found safe.

Cortez White was found unharmed Wednesday in Portage, Indiana. Ottawa Police put out an alert Tuesday for White after they say his mom Shalane Stevens took White from custody of the Department of Child and Family Services.

The young boy will be put back into the custody of DCFS. His mom may face charges.

Sand proecessing facility meeting draws a crowd from outside of Peru

You don’t have to live in Peru or Bureau County to protest the building of a sand processing plant and loading facility planned for land west of Plank Road. Most of the land is in Bureau County.

Northern White Sands owns the sand mine on Route 6 in Utica that has upset many landowners. Some of the more outspoken people at a Peru Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission meeting Wednesday night were from Utica and Waltham Townships.

The drying operation would store sand in 100-foot high silos. All sand would be enclosed to prevent sand from blowing offsite. The area would also have a berm.

Several people questioned how they could promise blowing sand wouldn’t be problem and how much truck traffic would be added to Plank Road and Interstate 80. People living near the area and roads with railroad crossings were concerned about trains stopping traffic and leaving people near Ladd stuck.

Illinois Rail wants to buy Peru Rail to proceed with their end of the project- an area for transferring sand from trucks to railcars.

Both of the companies and the audience had time to explain their plans, ask questions and make statements but in the end the ZBA and Planning Commission decided to delay their decisions until next week. The meeting will resume next Wednesday at 6pm.