Lake Holiday man killed in overnight crash

A man from Lake Holiday is dead after rolling his car.

Deputies say 51-year-old John Young was driving a Honda Accord Friday night on Somonauk Road outside of DeKalb when he went off the road and rolled the car several times. The car ended up landing on its roof.

Young was found dead at the crash scene. A stretch of Somonauk Road was closed for nearly three hours after the crash.

Coyote decoys return to Peru’s Baker Lake

With winter over with, coyotes have returned to Baker Lake in Peru.

Last October, Peru put out nearly 20 coyote silhouettes around the lake to scare off geese. Walkers complained to the city about the geese and their droppings.

Police chief and Administrative Services manager Doug Bernabei says the coyotes have worked great. Each fake coyote cost the city $50.

AT&T moving ahead with service upgrade in Peru

If you live in Peru and use AT&T for your cell provider you can expect to see some better service by the end of June.

The company is in the process of putting in new tower equipment in Washington Park. Jeff Adducci is the Director of External Affairs for AT&T. He says this upgrade will be a lasting improvement to Peru’s 4G network:

“That’ll be good for a while, and we’re putting additional capacity there as well,” Adducci said, “As more customers get on our network, we look at that and develop a plan to increase capacity there.”

Adducci said anyone who uses the network can download their “Mark the Spot” app. The app is used to mark areas of weak service, and the company takes that feedback into account when making future upgrades.

Medical condition blamed in crash outside of Utica

A medical condition can hit at anytime. A crash near Utica Friday afternoon is blamed on an elderly woman suffering a medical emergency.

La Salle County deputies say 81-year-old Shirley Pasakarnis of Varna was driving east on Route 6 when because of a medical problem, she left the road and hit two parked cars. Pasakarnis was taken to OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa.

Nobody else was hurt.

Victim life flighted after apartment fire in Peru

An apartment in Peru was gutted by fire.

A 9-1-1 call came in just after two Saturday morning about an apartment fire in the 1300 block of Maple Drive which is just north of Shooting Park Road. Peru and La Salle firefighters responded to the scene and rescued one person from the burning apartment and pulled another person out of the adjoining apartment. One of the injured was eventually flown out of town for medical treatment.

The state fire marshal’s office was contacted to look into the cause but firefighters aren’t thinking its anything suspicious.

Horman Sentenced to 40 Years for Murder of Ottawa Truck Wash Owner, Burning Body

A man who beat an Ottawa truck wash owner to death last year and tried to cover-up the crime many not live to see his release date.

Friday afternoon, Judge H Chris Ryan sentenced 49-year old William Horman to 40 years in jail for murdering Robert Dowd, burning his body, and throwing the remains in the Fox River. Horman showed little remorse for the crime, saying it was a case of “wrong place, wrong time.”

Horman will not be eligible for “good behavior” on the 35-year murder sentence. He could have some time taken off of the additional 5 years he was given after also being convicted of Concealing a Homicide. The prosecution had been hoping for a 50-year sentence, while defense lawyers argued in favor of 30 years at most.

States’ Attorney Brian Towne said he respects the court’s decision, remarking that Horman would be in his mid-80’s at the earliest when he is released. He seemed skeptical the release day would ever come, saying “given his rough life, this is potentially a life sentence.”

Ottawa Man Arrested After Allegedly Setting Coworker on Fire

It’s not uncommon to dislike a coworker, but setting them on fire is beyond okay.

Twenty-four-year-old Spencer Archer of Ottawa was arrested Friday on a warrant for aggravated battery. Back on Monday he is accused of spraying a coworker with a flammable liquid and igniting it. It happened at Jiffy Lube in Ottawa.

Archer was taken to the county jail where his bond was set at $25,000. Ottawa Police haven’t said anything about the victim.

Bidding underway for St. Bede Auction prizes

How does a trip to the Caribbean or Italy sound? Those trips and more are up for grabs at the 33rd annual St. Bede Auction.

The auction is St. Bede’s largest fundraiser of the year is happening tomorrow at the academy. Proceeds help offset the cost of tuition for St. Bede students. Over $200,000 was raised at last year’s auction.

Unfortunately tickets to the auction are sold out but you can still bid on auction items using your phone or computer. For more on the auction click St. Bede Auction

Exelon sends out evacuation plan mailers to neighbors

If you live within 10 miles of the Exelon nuclear plant, you should’ve gotten a brochure in the mail this week from the company.

By law Exelon has to have emergency response and evacuation plans in place in case of a disaster. Those plans were mailed to neighbors in a brochure.

If for whatever reason you didn’t get a brochure from Exelon, click Exelon Emergency Mailings

Cheapest gas shifts to east side of La Salle County

Filling up in Ottawa instead of La Salle or Peru could save you over 20 cents a gallon.

According to GasBuddy.com, you can get unleaded in Ottawa for $1.96 to $1.98 a gallon. A handful of stations in Streator are charging $2.05 a gallon while gas is going for $2.12 to $2.19 a gallon in La Salle, Peru, Princeton, Spring Valley, Mendota and Oglesby.

The average price of unleaded statewide is $2.34 a gallon, 30 cents cheaper than last year.