July 3rd fireworks display in Peru officially cancelled

For the second straight year, there will be no fireworks along Water Street in Peru on the July 4th weekend.

The Peru Parks & Recreation Board has voted to cancel the planned fireworks after Peru Fire Chief Jeff King said the launch area will still be underwater based on river level projections. Committee member Janice Grabowski said the fireworks are “not rescheduled at this time” but they will talk with the fireworks company next month about open dates later this year.

Grabowski says they haven’t looked at alternate sites to shoot the fireworks but it’s something they need to do for future years. She called the decision to cancel the July 3rd fireworks “extremely disappointing”.

Ottawa man arrested on child porn charges

An Ottawa man has been arrested after being charged with possession of child porn.

The Ottawa Police Department, Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office executed a search warrant at the home of 25-year-old Jonathan Scurti of Ottawa Thursday. As a result of the search, Scurti was arrested and charged with six counts of Child Pornography, three being class X felonies and the other three being class 1 felonies.

Scurti was taken to the La Salle County Jail and is awaiting a bond hearing.

Storm cleanup continues in Mendota

More than two days after a series of storms ripped past Mendota, the city continues clean-up efforts.

Luckily no significant building damage occurred, although there were several windows blown out of downtown businesses. Mendota Police say “a lot” of trees were knocked down and branches and limbs are scattered all over the city as well.

The Fire and Police Departments are in the process of cleaning up the fallen trees and branches. Mendota Police said that should take at least another week.
If you have branches and limbs in your yard, you can put them in a pile on the curb for the city to pick up.

The city burn pit is also open until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday until further notice. The burn pit is for grass and tree branches only.

Illinois Valley jobless rates hold fairly steady in May

The unemployment picture for the Illinois Valley hasn’t changed much from April to May.

La Salle County’s May jobless rate is at 6 percent, up from 5.9 percent in April. Bureau County’s May unemployment rate is 5.3 percent, up from 5.1 percent in April while Putnam County’s latest jobless rate is the same as it was in April at 5.3 percent.

On the positive side, La Salle, Bureau and Putnam County’s jobless rates are all at least a percentage point lower than a year ago.

Man accused of a counterfeit money scheme in Streator

A Streator man is accused of making counterfeit cash.

Members of the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office, Streator Police Department, and La Salle County States Attorney’s Office all went to Damone Chandler’s house Wednesday night. He was arrested for the felony charge of forgery after police allegedly found evidence that he was manufacturing counterfeit money.

Chandler was taken to the La Salle County Jail awaiting a bond hearing. Just in the past couple years Chandler has also been arrested in La Salle County for underage drinking, DUI of drugs, and unlawful delivery of heroin and marijuana.

Old Hall High School coming down in Spring Valley

Demolition has begun on the old Hall High School.

Brandenburg Demolition out of Chicago is doing the job of tearing the building down which opened up as a vocational school just over a hundred years ago. The new school is directly north of the old building and should be ready for teachers to start moving in by early-August. The new main school parking lot will be finished in the fall.

A $32 million dollar referendum was passed in April of 2013 to help pay for the new Hall High School.

Parking restrictions announced for this weekend at Starved Rock

If you plan on heading out to Starved Rock State Park this Saturday, allow extra time to find parking.

Because of flooding, parking lots at the lodge Saturday will only be open to people staying at the lodge, people using the main dining room or lounge, or people who are at the lodge for a wedding. If you have a room booked in the lodge you’ll be emailed a parking pass while wedding guests will be asked to show their invite before parking.

If you want to just go hiking at Starved Rock, you’ll be directed to different parking lots. If those lots get full Saturday, park-goers will be asked to instead visit Buffalo Rock or Matthiessen State Parks.