Trial to Start Monday for Man Accused of Bow-and-Arrow Killing

More than a year after a man was supposedly killed with a bow-and-arrow, the man accused of being the killer is set to stand trial.

Twenty-two year old Bradley French of Varna appeared in court Thursday for his final pretrial hearing. French is accused of killing 38-year-old Joshua Scaman of Oglesby on Father’s Day of last year.  Scaman was found dead in a parking lot of Illinois Valley Community College, after prosecutors say French shot him with a bow and arrow.

French’s trial will begin next week with jury selection to start on Monday, August 1st. He’s currently in the La Salle County Jail on two million dollars bond.

Bourbonnais Woman Killed in Early Morning Rollover near La Salle

The woman killed in a rollover accident Thursday morning near La Salle wasn’t from the Illinois Valley.

According to the LaSalle County Coroner’s Office, the victim was 37-year old Jaime Leech from Bourbonnais. State Police say Leech was eastbound on Interstate 80 when she reportedly crossed over into the westbound lanes before rolling multiple times. Her car ended up going off the interstate into a ditch.

Leech was the only person involved in the crash.

Crash involves a motorcycle and a dog near Jonesville

A motorcycle wreck near Jonesville is being blamed on a dog.

Fifty-three-year-old Timothy Kenny of Oglesby was on a county road Wednesday evening when he says he lost control of his motorcycle after hitting a dog on the road.  No one else was on the motorcycle.

Kenny was taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru where he is listed in good condition as of Thursday morning.

Mendota man hurt in rollover crash

Not far from where two fatal wrecks have happened this month, a Mendota man rolled his vehicle Thursday morning.

Twenty-two-year old Alex Mancilla was driving south on East 8th Road about a mile south of Route 52 near Troy Grove when he drove into a ditch and rolled over. Mancilla was taken to OSF St. Paul Medical Center in Mendota.

No one else was involved in the crash.

No more boiling water in Dalzell

The boil order for Dalzell has finally been lifted.

Water restrictions have been lifted after the boil order first went into effect Monday night. Crews have been doing some work to the village reservoir.

The work took longer than expected.

Semi collision near Utica claims a life

If you’ve been following the story about a fatal crash involving two semis, the victim is from Quebec, Canada.

According to the state police in La Salle, 62-year-old Dusko Zivkovic of New Jersey was eastbound on Interstate 80 near Utica when he slowed down for construction congestion. He was rear ended by 57-year-old Jocelyn Lalancette of Canada who didn’t slow down fast enough.

Lalancette died from injuries in the crash while his 53-year-old passenger Rachel Bassard also of Canada is listed in stable condition today in Peoria. The other semi driver wasn’t hurt.

Eastbound traffic was shut down for a few hours after the crash happened just before 5 Wednesday afternoon.

Tax referendum talk still going on at Waltham

Despite failing in a big way the first time, a tax referendum question is likely coming back to ballots in the Waltham Elementary School District.

According to the NewsTribune, Waltham Superintendent Kristi Eager says Waltham taxpayers probably won’t be asked in November to approve bonds for expanding Waltham North. But in order to close Waltham South and expand the north school, millions of dollars of financing will be needed.

A seven million dollar tax question was turned down by 71 percent of the voters in the April 2016 election. After the results, Eager thought the lopsided result was due in some part to an “ill-informed electorate.”

Mendota using Facebook to find bad guys and girls

Do you follow your town’s police and fire departments on Facebook? If you live in Mendota, you’ve probably seen the “Wanted” pictures posted by the department.

The department started posting the pictures as a way to help catch criminals in the city, and according to Mendota Police Chief Tom Smith, it’s been effective. However, the department has had to stop posting the pictures in recent weeks.

Smith says the department plans continue putting pictures up in the future, but for right now they’ve just been too busy. On a positive note, Smith also said there isn’t really a “top person” wanted by the department; although he said there are always people they’re looking for.