Public hearing planned for distillery proposal in Utica

Before a distillery opens in Utica, there are some hoops that the developer needs to go through.

The Utica Planning Commission meets Thursday night to vote on variances, a special use permit and a zoning amendment requested by Kenneth Haun of Mendota. The retired police officer wants to open a distillery on Route 178, north of Route 6 in Utica. The business would include a tasting area and retail store.

Haun initially approached the city of Mendota but became frustrated with the lengthy approval process.

Semi driver blamed for causing horrific crash near Ottawa

The names of everyone involved in Monday’s tragic crash on Interstate 80 near Ottawa could come out at any time.

State troopers are saying that autopsies on the three victims were finished Tuesday and next of kin have been contacted. Dental exams of the victims have slowed the release of names.

What troopers have said is that a semi driver hauling gravel and rock couldn’t slow down in time to prevent his truck from hitting a passenger vehicle that was slowed down for construction on westbound I-80. Two people in the vehicle died along with one person in a truck hauling tires. A total of three semis, two trucks and the passenger vehicle were part of the crash.

Westbound I-80 traffic was stopped for nine hours around the crash scene.

A Massachusetts and New York Man Both Busted for Drugs in Bureau County

A couple of guys from east coast are getting to know a lot about the Bureau County Jail.

Twenty-six-year-old Shaun Dailey of Massachusetts was pulled over Monday on Interstate 80 west of Spring Valley. A drug dog showed up and allegedly led drug officers to find pot, ecstasy, LSD and other illegal pills.

Dailey was arrested for unlawful possession of marijuana. A passenger, 26-year-old Christopher Burden of New York was arrested for unlawful possession of a controlled substance dealing with the ecstasy. He could face more charges pending results from lab tests.

Both Dailey and Burden were taken to jail in Princeton. A second passenger, 22-year-old Ashley Abbott of Maine was let off without any charges.

Cherry driver facing wrongful death lawsuit

The daughter of an elderly Mendota couple killed in a wreck last month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Paula Hallock of Tonica filed the lawsuit Thursday against 53-year-old John Goldone of Cherry. Goldone has been ticketed with failing to reduce speed and disobeying a stop sign during a July 11th crash north of Utica that killed 81-year-old Betty Fassig and 79-year-old John Fassig of Mendota.

Goldone is due in court August 29th.

Possible overnight stabbing being investigated in La Salle County

Deputies are looking into a possible stabbing in Harding.

The La Salle County Sheriff’s Office was called just before 10:30 Monday night to a home in Harding about a domestic and possible stabbing.

Deputies say they’ll release more information after the investigation is finished.

Bureau and La Salle County surpass last year’s fatal crash totals

Even before the horrific crash near Ottawa, La Salle County had more fatal crashes than all of last year.

Through July, 14 crashes left 17 people dead on La Salle County roads. In all of 2015, 14 people were killed in 13 crashes. Only seven counties have seen more fatal crashes so far in 2016 then La Salle County.

There is no better news in Bureau County where nine people have been killed in nine crashes. That’s more than all of last year when eight people died in eight crashes.
So far in Putnam County, one person has been killed in a crash, the same number as all of last year.