Pay for jury duty is going up

If you cringe at the thought of getting a jury summons, maybe this will change your outlook. The pay for being a juror is going up thanks to a new state law.

The La Salle County Board passed a resolution raising the pay from $10 to $25 for the first day of jury duty. Any day after, the pay goes up from $15.50 to $50. One downside though is that the county is no longer obligated to pay you mileage for jury duty.

County Board member Randy Freeman says he’s fine with paying jurors but he’s tired of the state mandating the county pay more money while at the same time cutting their funding. Fellow board member Lou Anne Caretto says the county won’t really pay any more money because the higher jury pay is negated by not having to pay mileage.

Alleged sexual predator busted in Ottawa

A man who traveled a long ways to Ottawa was allegedly intending to have sex with a teenage boy.

Twenty-eight-year-old  Shane Meyers of Gillette, Wyoming was arrested Tuesday at an Ottawa hotel. He’s accused of showing up there to have sex with a 14-year-old boy whom he sent sexually explicit material to on the internet. Members of the Ottawa PD, state police and FBI Child Exploitation Task Force were all waiting for Meyers in Ottawa.

He was arrested for indecent solicitation of a child and travelling to meet a minor. Both are felony charges.

Meyers was taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Bridge work could snarl traffic in Utica

Getting in and out of Utica using the Illinois River Bridge could be a little slow going.

Lane closures are planned through Thursday on the bridge because of an inspection. Construction flaggers will help direct traffic.

Replacing the Route 178 bridge is in the long-term plans of the state.

Victim of train accident is from La Salle

The man killed when he was hit by a train in Mendota is from La Salle.

The La Salle County Coroner’s Office says 69-year-old Everett Engelhaupt of La Salle was pronounced dead just after 11:30 Monday morning at a crossing on First Avenue on the east side of town. Investigators think he intentionally stepped out in front of a freight train.

The crossing was closed and emergency personnel and the coroner were on the scene for over four hours after the crash.

Arrest made in Streator pharmacy armed robbery

Streator Police have arrested the man who robbed Streator Drugs at knifepoint in February.

Michael Davis of Streator is charged with armed robbery stemming from the February 22nd incident where he took an undetermined amount of cash from the store after displaying a knife to the cashier. He was arrested this morning at the Streator police department.

Davis was taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Cemetery tombstones and monuments damaged by out of control driver in Peru

A house, tree and tombstones were all hit by an alleged drunken driver in Peru.

Peru Police think Peggy Waranka of Princeton was southbound on Plank Road Monday night just before 10 when she drove into Veteran’s Park Cemetery and hit several tombstones and monuments next to the flag pole. She continued on through the backyard of a house on Schuyler Drive where she damaged landscaping and hit a tree. Waranka finally stopped when she hit a home.

She was arrested for DUI and taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru.