Fire to Blame for Brief Power Outages in Peru, Firefighters to Thank for Quick Power Restoration

You don’t have to have stormy weather to lose power, as you likely found out if you were in Peru Friday afternoon.

Shortly after 12:30 emergency dispatchers reported outages affecting parts of the city including Shooting Park Road, the area around the Peru Police Department, and the Peru side of L-P High School.

The cause of the outages was a main power feed that had caught fire near Water Street. Fire crews quickly put the fire out and crews began restoring power to a main line.

The line was repaired before 1:00. The Peru Fire Department took to Facebook after in the incident, saying they were able to have power restored in just 23 minutes.

IVCC hopes social media push can up enrollment

Whether it’s running a business or a community college, you have to be active in social media to keep up with the competition.

Leaders at Illinois Valley Community College have put together an enrollment marketing plan for the next school year. The plan includes a “re-do” of the college’s website, implementing a messaging strategy and creating a social media network. Trustees paid a marketing firm out of Wisconsin to help with the marketing plan.

Associated V.P. for Student Services Mark Grzybowski says “competition for students is only going to intensify and IVCC needs to stand out.” The college among other things plans to promote success stories more often on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram along with changing their website to include more pictures, persuasive language and videos.

Iowa man killed in Bureau County crash

Speed may have been the reason a 39-year-old man is dead after crashing in Sheffield.

Jim Jeppesen of Rhodes, Iowa was pronounced dead just before 2 Wednesday morning after a crash on West Railroad Street in Sheffield. Jeppesen left the road and hit a tree.

Bureau County Coroner Janice Wamhoff suspects Jeppesen crashed while speeding.

Arrests made after rash of car burglaries in Streator

If you’ve had your car broken into recently in Streator, give the police department a call.

Two young boys have been arrested for multiple counts of burglary to motor vehicles. The Streator PD is asking anyone who has had things stolen out of their car to call them since they’ve recovered stolen property after making the two arrests.

If you were a victim of a car break-in but didn’t report it to the police, give them a call at 672-6267.

Illinois Valley school superintendents making a state budget push

Your kids have already spent a year in school without a state budget. If you’re concerned about the impact the budget impasse will have heading into the next school year, some administrators in the Illinois Valley want to address those fears.

Superintendents from the valley are having a news conference at Illinois Valley Community College on Monday to explain the impacts to local schools if a state budget is not in place by the fall. They say their goal is to provide accurate information to the community about what is at stake with the budget.

Members of the Regional Offices of Education as well as local legislators will be on-hand in addition to the superintendents.

Gas prices hold fairly steady in the Illinois Valley

Heading out of town for the weekend? There isn’t much difference in what you’ll pay at the pump across the Illinois Valley.

According to GasBuddy.com, the cheapest gas can be found in Streator at $2.03 a gallon. You can find gas for $2.04 a gallon in Peru while Spring Valley, La Salle, Oglesby, Ottawa and Utica all have unleaded for $2.09.

The average price of gas statewide is $2.33 a gallon, about a penny higher than last week.

Concert to raise money and bring awareness to sexual assaults returning to Cedar Point

Rock out to live music, feast on some of the best food in the Illinois Valley, and take your chances on raffles all the while supporting victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2nd Annual Rock Out Against Rape or R.O.A.R. benefit at the Gunsmoke Bar and Grill in Cedar Point on June 11th. There will be live music, raffles, and food with proceeds going to help survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Among the performers will be Gina Venier who was a contestant on season 14 of American Idol.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. To buy your tickets, click R.O.A.R. Tickets

Post office looking to once again “Stamp out Hunger”

All you have to do Saturday to help “stamp out” hunger is leave non-perishable near your mailbox.

The food will be picked up along with your mail as part of the Postal Service’s 24th Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Cheryl Quaka is the Acting Postmaster for the City of La Salle says the drive goes a long way to helping out local pantries, which are often short on donations around this time of year.

Last year around 7,000 pounds of food was collected for pantries in Ottawa and La Salle while Princeton brought in more than 15,000 pounds for the Bureau County Food Pantry.

Construction causing interstate ramp closure in Princeton

A heads up if you’re driving from La Salle-Peru to Princeton, today’s the day the westbound Interstate 80 ramp to Route 26 is completely closed to traffic.

The closure runs from 8 this morning until 4 this afternoon. Interstate 180 south to Route 6 is the suggested detour from the state.

Advanced Asphalt out of Princeton is being paid nearly $6 million to rebuild Route 26 on the north end of Princeton along with widening and resurfacing the I-80 westbound exit ramp.