Gunplay in Streator home

Streator police have their own incident of gun play at a domestic residence. At midnight, this morning, police were summoned to the 1200 block of North Park after a 34 year old man said he was shot at during a family dispute.

Sgt. Nathan Guest is with Streator police. Guest said his officers discovered 34-year old Christopher Williams had fired a gun in the direction of the victim while the victim was leaving. There were no injuries or property damage. Williams is in the county jail for aggravated assault and Unlawful discharge of a firearm.

5 Iowa residents rescued on Vermillion

Would you go rafting in these kind of river conditions? 5 people from the Quad Cities tried the Vermillion Sunday afternoon  and found trouble. Sgt. Hank Frazier is with Conservation Police. Frazier said all were safely rescued by the MABAS 25 rescue team including Tonica, Streator and Oglesby.

    Frazier did not have their names, but said they hit something in the river around 12:45pm and overturned. One person was rescued on a far bank and the others off a small island in the river. No citations will be issued and alcohol was not involved. All are over age 21.

Spring Valley woman targeted

    Police say a Spring Valley woman was targeted by a gunman who fired two shots at her Saturday morning. The woman called 9-1-1 from her home in the 300 block of West Erie. Spring Valley Police chief Kevin Sangston say she was outside when an unknown black man appeared along side of her house and fired two shots at her. The man never entered the home. He then fled the scene on foot . There were no injuries.

   The man was dressed in dark shirt, hat and pants with a bandana covering his face. Sangston says this was not a random act. Bureau County Sheriff and Illinois State Crime Scene services are helping on this case.

National Weather Service says no less than 12 tornadoes touched down Monday night

After a few days to assess the damage, the National Weather Service now says at least a dozen tornadoes touched down in northern Illinois this past Monday.

The Woodhaven Lakes twister had peak winds of 130 miles per hour and was on the ground almost eight miles. The half mile wide tornado is blamed for seven injuries. The weather service says the Woodhaven Lakes tornado was the strongest twister in Lee County since 1993.

Far less powerful were tornadoes in Mendota, north of Ottawa and one north of Seneca. The Mendota twister had a peak wind gust of 105 miles per hour. It stayed on the ground for a mile and a half and caused no injuries.

The twister north of Ottawa, near Wedron had top winds of 90 miles per hour and was on the ground for six miles. Nobody was hurt near Ottawa or Wedron.

A tornado that headed between Seneca and Morris also had a peak wind gust of 90 miles per hour and was on the ground for over seven miles. This storm stayed together eventually leading to the strongest tornado on Monday, the one that hit Coal City.

Report of shots fired not far from downtown Spring Valley

Police across the Illinois Valley are looking for a man accused in an apparent home invasion with shots fired in Spring Valley.

The initial 9-1-1 call came in at 10:30 Saturday morning about shots fired in the 300 block of West Erie Street. Officers are looking for a black man, about six feet tall with a medium build. He was said to be wearing a dark hat, dark shirt and dark pants with a maroon and white checkered bandana.

The suspect allegedly fired two shots at a woman and then fled westbound on foot.

Prime viewing spots for fireworks unavailable in Ottawa due to flooding

The flooded Illinois River is limiting the places you can watch Ottawa’s fireworks display.

Allen Park and the Riverwalk along the Fox River between the Main Street Bridge and Veteran’s Memorial Bridge won’t be open for the July 4th fireworks. The areas will stay closed until the water is down and all debris is removed.

Fireworks in Ottawa will once again be shot off near the Ottawa High School football field.

Woodhaven Lakes reopens to property owners

The damage assessment for property owners at Woodhaven Lakes can begin.

Lee County Sheriff John Simonton says enough progress has been made removing debris that most property owners can start filing back into the tornado-damaged campground. Only property owners will be allowed in and property owners are being asked to leave the contractors behind and debris moving equipment like bobcats and trailers at home so cleanup crews have room to operate. Woodhaven Association Executive Director Karen Roche calls this the “assessment weekend”.

If you have property in sections 22, 23, 25 you’re asked to meet at the family center to be bused back to look at your property. These are the hardest hit parts of Woodhaven Lakes and access is still being limited.

Woodhaven Association General Manager Jeff Hickey says the Red Cross will be around this weekend making gloves and tarps available for property owners. Hickey says though that they’re not ready for any other outside help.

There is a fire ban for the entire campground and a curfew will be established for the hardest hit sections. Property owners can and are urged to bring insurance assessors with them this weekend when looking at what needs to be repaired or replaced.

Housing market slows in the Illinois Valley

Home sales so far this year are a mixed bag for the Illinois Valley.

Through May, 357 homes went off the market in La Salle County which is a 17 percent drop from a year ago. In Bureau County, 118 homes had been closed on through May, the same number as last year. For Putnam County, 26 homes have been sold through May, a 13 percent increase from a year ago.

When it comes to median sale prices of homes, all three county’s have seen an increase. The median sale price of a home so far this year in La Salle County is $89,000, a 12 percent increase. Homes sold in Bureau County are going for a median price of $83,000, a 14 percent jump from last year. In Putnam County the median sale price this year for a sold home is $72,000, just a four percent jump.