Northern Illinois battered by winds Saturday

Reports of wind speed and damage have been collected by the National Weather Service at Romeoville Saturday. A trained spotter reported medium sizes tree branches blown down near Leland about 12:20pm along with power outages.  A wind gust of 59 mph was clocked at Peru about 11:35am.  Pontiac was slightly better at 60mph. also at 11:35am.

Heavy snowfall in 44mph. winds was witnessed just before 2pm at O’Hare airport.  More heavy snow fell at the Romeoville Weather Service office around 3pm.

 

 

Windy Weather Means Walleye Tournament to be Sunday Only.

The fish in Spring Valley can rest easy, for one day anyway. Due to expected windy weather, the Illinois River Walleye Classic will be this Sunday only.

The tournament, put on by the Spring Valley Walleye Club, was originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. A kids fishing seminar will also be held after the final weigh-in.

The Spring Valley Walleye Club says profits from Sunday’s tournament will go back into a number of river projects. The duo who catches the most fish on Sunday, by the way, could share a prize of at least $6,000.

Ottawa and Princeton businesses push staying local on Friday night

If you’re going out tonight, why not keep it local.

Some stores in Ottawa are marking the first Friday of the month by staying open until 8 which is later than usual. The idea to spur downtown shopping is called “Doin’ the local thing!”

In Princeton, the downtown district will be alive tonight with wine tasting, sales, live music and food vendors. The “Night out on the town” in Princeton is held the first Friday of each month.

Bridge construction will limit how to get in and out of Oglesby

If you’ve been listening to Classic Hits 103.9 WLPO news, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Starting April 18th, the Ed Hand Bridge over the Vermillion River will be closed for replacement. There will be no access to the river from the north side of the bridge during construction. Public river access will only be from the launch behind Lehigh Park.

The bridge replacement could take a year to finish.

Gas prices in the Illinois Valley just below the state average

If you’re hitting the road this weekend, Ottawa is the place to fill up.

According to GasBuddy.com, you can get unleaded in Ottawa for $1.78 a gallon. That’s down about 20 cents from a week ago. Elsewhere in the Illinois Valley you’ll pay $1.91 to $1.99 a gallon.

The statewide average for unleaded is $2.06, which is about 60 cents cheaper than a year ago.

Name released of teenager killed in La Salle County crash

If you’ve been following the story of a teenage driver killed in a crash near Serena, that driver’s name has been released.

Seventeen-year-old Austin Crabbe of Sandwich died Wednesday at OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa. He was rushed there after his car collided with an SUV driven by 66-year-old Sarah Coleman of Mendota. Deputies think Crabbe was on a county road and ran a stop sign along Route 52.

Coleman by the way was treated and released at the Ottawa hospital.