Costly repairs in Spring Valley due to clogged pipes

All it takes is one person to flush the wrong thing down the toilet and next thing you know, sewers are clogged.

According to the NewsTribune, the Spring Valley City Council may spend over $9,000 to fix a sewer pump near the new waste water treatment plant. Three pumps in the city have been knocked out recently because of debris clogging the machines.

Mayor Walt Marini is asking you to be more cautious of what you flush into sewers. No-no’s include: diapers; grease; baby wipes; napkins; and dental floss.

Streator firefighters ask for the public’s help in stopping suspicious fires

Be vigilant, that’s the message from the Streator Fire Department to everyone with a Streator address after a string of suspicious fires.

Several vacant homes have caught fire in the last six months. The fire department asks that owners of vacant properties try to make it look like the homes are being lived in. Ways to do this include picking up newspapers and the mail, having lights on and putting away garbage cans.

If you see anything suspicious or know information about a fire, call the Streator Police Department, Streator Fire Department or Streator Crime Stoppers.

LED billboard creates debate with the La Salle City Council

Where do you stand on LED billboards? Do you think they’re effective advertising or tacky?

A divided La Salle City Council approved a sign permit to Jim Grant with Up in Lites Advertising of Peru. Grant wants to put up an LED sign that he’ll sell advertisements on across from Ancare Veterinary Hospital at the corner of Chartres Street and Wenzel Road.

Alderman Diz Demes voted against the permit saying he wishes La Salle didn’t have any of these bright signs. Alderman Jerry Bacidore also voted against the permit thinking more businesses will ask for similar signs. He said he didn’t want La Salle to turn into a Spring Valley situation where it was like driving through Las Vegas.

Grant says the sign won’t be like the ones in Spring Valley and it’ll actually dim at night. He agreed to do a one year agreement with the city.

The top of the sign will be about 20 feet off the ground.

Dangerous wind chills descend on the Illinois Valley

Just how cold did it get where you live?

According to the National Weather Service, it felt like 24 below just before 7 Monday morning in Streator. At about the same time the wind chill in Sandwich was 23 below, 22 below in Marseilles and 21 below in Ottawa. A few suburbs saw a wind chill of 28 below this morning.

You’ll be waking up to a chill in the air again Tuesday with wind chill values of 10 to 15 below.

Spring Valley driver hospitalized after swerving to miss a deer

The saying “don’t veer for deer” is easier said than done.

Baltasar Alonso of Spring Valley swerved to avoid a deer Sunday night on Route 6 just east of the curves. He drove into a guardrail and rolled his car, landing in a wooded area.

Alonso was taken to St. Margaret’s Hospital.

Mendota High the site of a substance abuse and depression talk

Do you know what signs to look for if your child is suffering from depression or substance abuse?

A discussion about these tough topics called “Hidden in Plain Sight” will happen Wednesday night starting at 6 inside Mendota High School. Members of CPASA, or Community Partners Against Substance Abuse want to talk about local trends and signs of depression or drug use with not only concerned parents but also kids.

For more information about CPASA and what they do, click Community Partners Against Substance Abuse

Sign ups underway for 99.3 WAJK Rock Star Competition

Sing your way to cash with the annual 99.3 WAJK Rock Star competition at Starved Rock Lodge.

Signs up to compete for cash winnings are underway with only the first 15 acts that sign up guaranteed to perform. You can sing by yourself or with a friend.

The first of four rounds of Rock Star is Thursday, February 18th. The field will be trimmed down each Thursday after that until the winner is named Thursday, March 10th.

To sign up and learn more about the prizes with Rock Star, click Rock Star sign up

Ryan Cocking of Peru won last year’s Rock Star.

Not all schools in the Illinois Valley taking the holiday off

Today is a national holiday but not all holiday’s are treated the same.

While students at L-P and Ottawa High School have no school because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, students at Peru Elementary are in class. In the case of Peru Elementary, expanding Northview School delayed the start of the school year so to make up time, they’re in session today. Peru Elementary Superintendent Mark Cross says another reason his district is in session is they just came off winter break.

Every school has a chance to apply for waivers with the state to make their own decision on whether to take days off for holidays. Pulaski Day in March is a state holiday that sees a big divide between schools that take the day off or not.

L-P is one of the few schools in the Illinois Valley that will take Pulaski Day off this year.

Teenage girl in critical condition after rollover near Sandwich

A teenage girl from Sandwich is fighting for her life after a weekend rollover crash.

Haley King was on West Sandwich Road Sunday evening when she lost control, drove into a ditch and flipped her car onto its roof. King was partially thrown from her car in the rollover.

She was initially flown to Rockford before getting air lifted to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in critical condition.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash. Deputies think speed played a role but alcohol did not.

Recap of wild weekend for Streator firefighters

If you thought you had a busy weekend, try being a member of the Streator Fire Department. Firefighters fought three separate structure fires in about 20 hours.

They were first called around 5 o’clock Saturday morning to a garage fire in the 400 block of West Grant Street. The unattached garage was damaged along with a car, shed and neighboring house.

About five hours later, firefighters got called to a vacant house on fire in the 400 block of Ralph Plumb Street. The home had just minor smoke and fire damage.

Then just before 1:30 Sunday morning, a vacant house at the corner of Grant and Wasson was on fire. The house was pretty well gutted.

Thankfully no one was hurt in any of the fires. All three fires are under investigation by the Streator Police Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.