Illinois Valley Representative Strongly Opposes President’s Executive Order

At least one Illinois Valley lawmaker is voicing his displeasure with President Barack Obama’s executive order on firearms.

In a statement issued this afternoon, 76^th District Representative Andy Skoog said he is ready to work with everyone, regardless of political affiliation, to protect the gun rights of Illinoisans.

Skoog called the president’s order “misguided” and added “imposing this anti-gun doctrine of the president and his White House lawyers on my constituents is wrong.”

The state representative said he is a strong supporter of gun rights in an area with a strong cultural connection to hunting so he “could not be more opposed” to the Executive Order.

Governor Rauner Adds 11 Counties to Flooding Disaster Declaration

Nearly one-quarter of Illinois’ counties are now under the state disaster declaration issued by Governor Bruce Rauner as a result of the widespread flooding.

Tuesday morning, Governor Rauner added 11 more counties to the proclamation which makes a variety of state resources available to help communities respond to and recover from flooding. Those resources include sandbags, pumps, trucks, and other things that can help ensure public safety.

The Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency says it could still be a few weeks before the total impact of the flooding is known, because some counties are still dealing with high water.

The total number of counties covered by the declaration is currently 23. For more information on the current situation visit the Ready Illinois website at www.ready.illinois.gov.

Heroin bust made in Streator

While on probation for dealing drugs, a Streator woman is accused of dealing yet again.

Members of the drug group TRIDENT arrested Brittany Rios-Lester for allegedly dealing heroin on Monday. She was arrested for dealing heroin in July in Peru.

Arrested Monday alongside Rios-Lester was her roommate Jason Mueler. They allegedly sold heroin to an undercover informant and were both arrested for the felony charge unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.

Bond for both Mueler and Rios-Lester was set at $500,000.

One person killed in west side Princeton house fire

It may be awhile before you find out who was killed in a crash and subsequent house fire in Princeton.

Bureau County Coroner Janice Wamhoff says the victim was burnt beyond recognition. The victim was burnt so bad Wamhoff couldn’t tell if she’s dealing with a man or a woman. Extensive testing besides an autopsy will be done.

Just before 9 o’clock Monday night, a 9-1-1 call went out about a house fire at the intersection of 1800 East Street and Route 6. Princeton firefighters immediately called for mutual aid. When they got to the scene, they found a home fully engulfed in flames.

Once they knocked the flames down they found a car had come through the north side of the home and was torched in the fire. A victim was found still inside the burnt car.

The fire is officially blamed on the car accident. The accident is still under investigation.
Firefighters were at the scene for over five hours.

License plate sticker renewals trending down statewide

(AP) – Have you checked to see if your license plate sticker isn’t out of date? The Secretary of State’s Office says fewer drivers renewed their license plate stickers in November and December, after the state announced it would stop mailing out reminders to save money.

License plate sticker renewals fell 19 percent in November compared with November 2014. Roughly 302,000 stickers were renewed in December as of Dec. 28, as opposed to about 475,000 for all of December 2014.

Keep in mind you have to pay a $20 fee to renew past the due date to go on top of the $101 renewal fee plus possible traffic tickets for having an expired sticker.

Senior living center closing down in La Salle

There will soon be one less choice for seniors to call home in the Illinois Valley.

Heritage Health in La Salle will close Monday, April 4th. President and CEO of the parent company Heritage Enterprises blames the closure on things like unreliability of Medicaid payments and the inefficiencies of having two homes so close. Heritage Health of Peru is not closing.

A closure notification has been sent by mail to the state along with people living at the home and their families. Heritage Health reps are making themselves available this week at the nursing home to answer questions or concerns.

The home near Baker Lake has been called Heritage Health of La Salle since 2011 but has been a nursing home since the 70s.

Developing La Salle to get new signage showing how to get to points of interest

When visiting a new town, do you find those signs pointing you to places like the hospital or shopping district helpful?

The La Salle City Council is moving ahead with spending about $30,000 to put up 40 new “wayfinding signs” all over town. The signs will have arrows pointing you to spots like city hall, the police department or dining options. The new signage will go up later this year and be at heavier travelled spots like along Route 351 and Route 6.

Designs and Signs by Anderson out of Ottawa is getting paid to make and install the signs.

Security measures will delay state income tax refunds

If you rely on tax return money to pay bills or buy new stuff, keep in mind your state return won’t show up in your bank account until March.

The Illinois Department of Revenue is intentionally delaying returns so they can try and fight tax return fraud and identity theft. The director of the DOR says “by delaying tax refunds by just a few weeks, we’ll be able to better detect attempts at identity theft and ensure refunds don’t fall needlessly into the hands of criminals”.

If you file your tax return electronically before March 1st, you can expect your state return within two to three weeks after March 1st. Despite what you may assume, the state budget impasse does not impact state tax returns.