Chicago man killed in Thursday’s boating accident near Seneca

The man who died after his boat capsized in La Salle Lake was from Chicago.

66-year-old Phillip Thomasbey was pronounced dead Thursday afternoon after being pulled out of the lake near the Exelon nuclear plant in Seneca. Conservation Police Sgt. Hank Frazier says Thomasbey and the two other men with him did have life jackets on.

Frazier thinks their boat started taking on water because their boat’s engine failed and gusty winds kicked up choppy water. The other two men in the boat are from Chicago and are okay. Frazier says they won’t be charged with anything.

The official cause of death for Thomasbey is still under investigation.

Mixed results for Mail Carrier’s collection

Mail carriers from Ottawa to Princeton carried mail …and food from mailboxes Saturday. The carrier’s annual collection helped Princeton’s pantry to its biggest haul of anyone “Classic Hits 103-9 WLPO” checked Saturday.  Vanessa Hoffeditz of Bureau County Food Pantry said Princeton and rural areas donated 15,605 pounds. Roy Peters at Ottawa Community Food Basket and Donna Hess of Illinois Valley Food Pantry said, when all non-perishables were unpacked – they expected 7000 pounds.

Hoffeditz said this collection surpassed last year’s by 2600 pounds, thanks, partly, to carriers leaving bags out ahead of time. Meanwhile, Donna Hess said totals for the carrier collections in LaSalle, Peru and Oglesby have fallen to about half of the 2010 totals. Hess believes less income has pinched families hard leaving little to donate.

Mautino says “no” to Governor’s proposal

A proposal for “right to work zones” in Illinois will come to a vote Wednesday in the Illinois House. And, your local Representative Frank Mautino told “Classic Hits 103-9 WLPO he will vote “no.”  Although he doesn’t know how others will vote, Mautino doesn’t expect Governor Rauner’s idea to pass. Mautino says, “Creating a patchwork of differing laws and standards throughout Illinois should not be done.

The Spring Valley Democrat says the budget is the top priority since the Illinois Supreme Court has thrown out the pension reform plan passed last year: Mautino said Rauner’s budget depended on $2.2 billion in savings from changing pensions in the legislation passed last year.  But, now with the Court’s ruling, that’s not going to happen.

Peru police chief warns of a scam that involves his department’s phone number

The latest telephone scam involves using the actual phone line of the Peru Police Department.

Police Chief Doug Bernabei says someone in Peru got a call Friday from a scammer claiming to be an IRS agent. The scammer told the intended victim that he owed $39,000 in back taxes. After hanging up, the scammer called back and the caller ID showed 223-2151, the phone number to the Peru Police Department. The scammer claimed to be an Officer Harris and that a warrant had been issued for tax fraud.

Bernabei says the police department has no Officer Harris and they won’t have you take of a warrant over the phone. He says the scammers “spoofed” the police department’s number to try and commit fraud.

Sue Rezin reacts to the pension decision

Instead of dwelling on it, State Senator Sue Rezin sees the pension ruling as a way to move forward in a positive way.

Rezin says regardless of what you think of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the 2013 pension overhaul, it was important for lawmakers to get a law in front of the court so they could “be given a roadmap on how to solve our pension crisis in a constitutional way”.

Rezin says she looks forward to working with the governor and lawmakers on both sides to pass pension reform legislation that’s constitutional.

State police get approval to begin using drones

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois State Police have received approval to use drones to photograph crash and crime scenes. But the agency is avoiding term “drones.”

The police agency says that the Federal Aviation Administration has authorized what it calls its Unmanned Aircraft System program. The ISP says aerial photographs taken from drones will cut down on the time highways are closed during investigations of major traffic crashes.

State troopers say they’re avoiding the word “drone” because “it carries the perception of pre-programmed or automatic flight patterns, and random, indiscriminate collection of images and information.”