St. Bede team to compete at science and engineering sectional

Basketball isn’t the only high school activity with a sectional competition. The St. Bede Academy World Youth in Science and Engineering team will be at Illinois Central College Thursday to compete at the sectionals.

They were the highest scoring team at the regional competition last month at Illinois Valley Community College.

Mix of rain, sleet and snow predicted for Tuesday

Be prepared for a mix of rain, snow and ice. The National Weather Service is predicting that a wintery mix will start falling on the Illinois Valley before sunrise Tuesday morning.

Most of Illinois is included in a Winter Weather Advisory from 3am through 12pm Tuesday.  Not a lot of accumulation is expected but it will still affect driving conditions.

Bureau County official to begin involvment with regional emergency dispatch center

Call 911 in Bureau County and you’ll be connected to a dispatcher with BuEComm, the agency that fields all emergency calls in Bureau County.

The board members of BuEComm are closely watching the development of a dispatch center that would handle all emergency calls for La Salle, Peru and Oglesby.

The board decided last week to have four members on the Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center planning committee according to BuEComm Director Diana Stiles. She says the board is exploring the option of the regional dispatch center because the state is trying to consolidate services.

As for now, BuEComm will continue to handle all of Bureau County’s 911 calls.

Alleged heroin dealers stopped in Peru make initial court appearance

A man and woman picked up for allegedly dealing heroin in Peru have to come up with big cash to get out of jail.

Wilfredo Candelaria of Peru and Nora Toovey of DePue were both in court Sunday being charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Their bond was set at $1 million each. Both are due back in court Thursday.

Candelaria and Toovey were pulled over Friday night at 6th and Fulton Streets in Peru. With the help of a drug dog, Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei says officers found over 100 separate packages of heroin and a small amount of crack cocaine and paraphernalia.

Long break before spring break for much of L-P

How does a five-day weekend sound right before spring break? It’s what some students are getting at L-P High School.

Monday is Casimir Pulaski Day which has L-P closed. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday, only juniors will go to school for testing. Freshmen, sophomores and seniors won’t be back in class until Thursday. All L-P students then get a full week off starting March 30th for spring break.

Pulaski Day is an optional school holiday. Many schools are in session today.

Students and staff at Seneca High help fight childhood cancer

Students at Seneca High School have gotten the St. Baldrick’s fundraiser off to a good start in La Salle County.

Thirteen people went under the razor Friday at the high school to benefit childhood cancer research. Donations for the Seneca event are near $2,000.

Nearly 50 people have signed up so far to have their heads shaved at the annual St. Baldrick’s event at Jeremiah Joe’s in downtown Ottawa. That fundraiser is on Saturday, March 21st.

Ottawa home invasion trial gets underway

Jury selection is scheduled to start  in a trial involving a man accused of robbing an elderly Ottawa woman after tying her to her bed.

Richard Felton of Chicago who also at one point had a Tonica address faces a home invasion charge. He’s accused of going to a 92-year-old woman’s house in Ottawa on August of 2013 and binding her to her bed in order to rob her.

An alleged accomplice, Jimmy Members of Chicago has already been sentenced for the home invasion to 35 years in prison. Another alleged accomplice, Jeremy Wade agreed to testify against Felton and received a 10-year sentence.

Felton will also eventually go on trial for allegedly shooting Wade on the Sandy Ford Bridge just over a week after the home invasion in Ottawa.

Oglesby pair facing animal cruelty charges

Two people in Oglesby are accused of leaving a couple critters out in the cold with nothing to drink.

Jacob Rexroad and Amanda Peavler were arrested Saturday afternoon for cruelty to animals. They allegedly left a dog and a cat in a trailer for several days without heat or water.

Both were released with court dates.