Interstate Crash Kills One and Injures Two North of Pontiac

A Plainfield woman has died following a brutal crash north of Pontiac.

State Police say 20-year old Ashley Borja was going south on Interstate 55 Thursday afternoon when her car crossed the median and hit a car driven by 63-year old Rose Tenuta from Peoria. Borja was thrown from her car during the accident. She was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.

Tenuta and her passenger were taken to OSF St. Francis in Peoria. Nobody has been ticketed in the incident which, police say, is still under investigation.

Police Investigate Switch Tampering after “Minor Derailment” near Marseilles

Police are looking for whoever has been messing with railroad switches after a small accident earlier this week.

The LaSalle County Sheriff’s Office was told by police working with CSX that several switches had been tampered with. As a result, that caused a slow moving train car to roll off the tracks in an area east of Marseilles.

Police are calling the accident a “minor derailment” while they continue to look for those responsible. If you have any information they’re asking you to contact the LaSalle County Sheriff’s Office or CSX Police.

Heroin dealing arrest made in Ladd

There’s been another heroin arrest made in the Illinois Valley.

Drug agents with Tri-Dent visited 23-year-old Cynthia Waltz Thursday morning at her home in Ladd. She was arrested for unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. Waltz is accused of dealing heroin several times in Ladd and DePue.

She was taken to the jail in Princeton with her bond set at $50,000.

Broken water pipe causes a scare in Peru home

A 9-1-1 call about a house explosion turned out to be a broken water pipe.

The Peru Fire Department rushed to the 1400 block of Plain Street Friday morning at 9 o’clock about an explosion in the home’s basement with smoke showing. There was no actual fire but the pipe released steam in the house.

Nobody was injured according to the Peru Fire Department.

Circuit Clerk clears up questions about charging for cell phone pictures

Cell phones allow you to do a lot of things. One thing you can’t do with your cell is take pictures of documents for free in the La Salle County Circuit Clerk’s Office.

After taking a look at the state statute, Circuit Clerk Jim Olson says you can take pictures of documents from his office but you’ll be charged the same amount as you word for making actual copies. Copies in La Salle County are $2 for the first page and $.50 apiece for the next 19 pages. Any pictures or copies beyond 20 cost $.25 apiece.

Olson says you can take notes on your cellphone while in his office but don’t talk on your phone because it can be distracting.

Annual bridge washing will cause delays on Route 18 in Henry

If you drive over the Route 18 bridge in Henry on a daily basis, get ready for some delays.

Starting Monday, state crews will be washing the bridge. The bridge washing is an annual maintenance job that will have one lane closed Monday morning through Friday afternoon.

The lane closures will only be during the day.

Republicans continue pressing Frank Mautino for campaign spending answers

A group of Republican lawmakers are again calling on Democrat Auditor General Frank Mautino to answer questions about campaign spending during his time representing the Illinois Valley.

Nearly 20 lawmakers signed off on a letter to Mautino wanting answers to reports that he spent thousands of dollars for gas, auto repairs and loan repayments to Spring Valley businesses before closing out his campaign fund for state representative.

Republican Grant Wehrli of Naperville led a press conference yesterday demanding Mautino end his silence. Wehrli says it’s hard to trust Mautino handling the state’s audits if he can’t answer questions surrounding his own spending.

Mautino has hired a public relations firm to handle his responses which to this point have been that Mautino continues to work with advisers to address the issues and questions. The state board of elections will have a hearing later this month about the Mautino spending controversy.

The price at pumps in the Illinois Valley now above two dollars a gallon

The calendar changing to May has meant the end of below two dollar gas prices in the Illinois Valley.

According to GasBuddy.com, the cheapest gas around is $2.07 a gallon in Peru. You can find unleaded for as low as $2.09 a gallon in Utica and La Salle while gas in Ottawa, Oglesby, Streator, Mendota and Princeton ranges from $2.13 to $2.19 a gallon.

The average price of unleaded statewide is $2.33 a gallon, 38 cents cheaper than last year.

Rauner and Kirk among top Republicans not backing Trump

CHICAGO (AP) – A member of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration says the Republican governor will not endorse Donald Trump in the November election.

Rauner’s aide says the governor won’t attend the July Republican Convention in Cleveland. Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican whose re-election effort is being challenged by Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, says he is also skipping the convention.

Rauner declined to back a candidate during the GOP nomination process and wasn’t happy with Trump’s rhetoric.