Utility companies chase outages Saturday

There’s no shortage of electrical outages under Saturday’s windy conditions. Since early afternoon, utility companies have been chasing outages across north central Illinois. As of 5:30pm, Ameren IP showed 71 outages in Bureau County and 618 in LaSalle County.  Com Ed had 279 outages south of Tonica,  523 in the Streator area and 1315 around Minonk.

Late morning, south of Wenona, the winds blew a semi over on I-39.  Nobody was injured in the accident.

 

 

 

 

Kinzinger Holding Off on Endorsing One of the Three GOP Candidates Left

After throwing his support to a couple different candidates, an Illinois Valley Congressman is just watching the presidential primaries play out.

U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger had initially backed Jeb Bush when the Republican Primaries first began. Once Bush bowed out, Kinzinger shifted his support to Senator Marco Rubio.

With the race down to three, he told Classic Hits 103.9 WLPO he plans to sit back for now. He said he’s hoping for a nominee who’s “not divisive, angry, or excludes Americans.”

Firefighters Fighting to Raise the Most Money for Cancer Research

A friendly competition never hurt anyone.

Firefighters in the Illinois Valley are challenging each other to raise the most money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.  Over 30 shavees have signed up for the annual fundraiser tomorrow starting at 1 inside Senica’s Oak Ridge in La Salle.

Firefighters from Utica, La Salle, Peru, Oglesby and Ladd have signed up to get a haircut for childhood cancer research.  The fundraising goal is $15,000.

If you’d like you can click here to donate to the cause.

LaSalle and Bureau Counties in Top 10 Statewide for Traffic Deaths Through March

When you think of places in Illinois with the most traffic deaths, you probably think more about Chicago than the Illinois Valley. But so far this year LaSalle and Bureau Counties are near the top of the list.

While there were 14 crash-related deaths in LaSalle for all of 2015, there have already been 8 this year. Bureau County has had 5 deaths from crashes through the end of March. Two years ago, there were only 4 traffic deaths in the county for the year.

The state as a whole has seen 236 traffic deaths. That’s 35% more, or 62 more deaths, than the first three months of last year.

Ticket Sales Starting for Dustin Lynch at Bureau County Fair

Today’s the day to score tickets to see Dustin Lynch at the Bureau County Fair.

The up and coming country star will play at the fairgrounds in Princeton Thursday, August 25^th.  Something different from previous years, tickets won’t be sold at the fair office but only online.

Prices range from $20 to $50.  You can click here for show and ticket information.