Sunny day in the park means thousands of dollars for the Special Olympics

You couldn’t ask for better weather as the Mendota Police Department hosted a “Lunch in the Park.”

Officers say over $2,000 was raised Friday afternoon at Veteran’s Park for the Special Olympics of Illinois. Everyone was invited to enjoy a lunch and live music from the Mendota High School band in the park.

The Mendota Police Department has raised thousands of dollars just this year for the Special Olympics.

Habitual thief sent away to prison

A woman with a history of stealing from stores will be taking a trip to prison for a couple years.

Thirty-six year old Sarah Little pled guilty Friday to trying to steal about $500 worth of video games from the Peru Target back in January. At the time of her arrest, the Peoria woman was also considered a suspect in some other thefts in the area including at least one at Peru’s Game Stop. When Judge H. Chris Ryan asked about her criminal history, he found out she had “6 or 7” prior convictions on her record for theft.

Ryan sentenced Little to 30 months in prison, but she received credit for the almost 5 months she had already spent in the Ottawa jail.

Huge crowds expected at Starved Rock State Park

How is the traffic so far in Utica?

After around 100,000 people showed up over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, state crews are ready for huge crowds again this weekend at Starved Rock State Park. The crowds during Memorial Day weekend filled up parking lots which caused a temporary closure of Starved Rock. This could happen again this weekend.

You can keep track of crowds and closure updates by following the DNR on Twitter or Facebook or Starved Rock State Park. Park officials sent out a tweet Friday reminding visitors that parking at the Starved Rock Lodge is only for lodge, restaurant, trolley and wedding guests. Everyone else is asked to park at the visitor’s center.

“Grace period” proposed for expired license plate stickers

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – If you forget or maybe just choose to ignore that your license plate sticker has expired, state lawmakers are giving you a break.

The House voted unanimously Thursday to require a 30-day grace period after expiration if a driver was not notified of the impending deadline by mail. The Senate voted 59-0 on the legislation in May. The governor still needs to sign off.

Secretary of State Jesse White stopped mailing notices of license expirations last fall to save $450,000 in monthly postage. The state collected more than $9 million in fines on more than 475,000 late registrations – more than double the total a year earlier.

Your input sought in what to do with old Washington School property

If you could make the decision, what would you want done with the old Washington School property in Peru?

The city is hosting a town forum Wednesday night at 6 at city hall to talk about the property. Demolition of the elementary school was finished this spring and the Peru Elementary School District is almost ready to hand the deed for the property over to the city.

Little league officials have already approached the city about a bigger baseball diamond on the old school site. Of course there’s also the idea of a splash pad or new swimming pool.