Parents who have Lost Children to Walk at Baker Lake Sunday

An Illinois Valley group is holding an event this weekend to help those dealing with the incredible pain of losing a child.

The River Valley chapter of a group called “Compassionate Friends” is holding their third annual Memory Walk and Balloon Release at Baker Lake in Peru on Sunday. Walkers will be able to write a message to their child on the balloon which will be let go in a ceremony after the walk.

Rita Studzinski has been involved with the walk every year. She says the event’s growth is bittersweet.

If you’d like to participate in Sunday’s walk, the cost is $10. In addition to the walk, the group meets the fourth Thursday of every month.

You can find a registration form and more information on the group’s website here.

Fire Department, Power Crews Work to Repair Broken Pole Tuesday Morning

It doesn’t take a strong storm to knock out your power and keep it out for several hours.

The Utica Fire Department was called shortly after midnight Tuesday morning about power lines that were down near Interstate 80 and Route 6. Crews arrived to find 4 power wires down due to a broken pole and crossing in the area, according to an Ameren spokeswoman. A couple hundred people in Utica and La Salle reported not having power through the morning.

Crews worked into the morning to get the situation resolved and, according to Ameren, power was restored to everyone around 10:00 Tuesday morning.

Patching work slows down traffic on Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge

Did you run into construction on the Interstate 39 bridge over the Illinois River near Oglesby? Crews are patching up rough spots.

Construction workers started patching Monday north of Mendota and will go all the way down to the southern edge of La Salle County. They plan on working on both sides of I-39 so you may run into lane closures going north or south.

The project is expected to last about a month.

La Salle agrees to foot the bill with Peru for an electronics drop off

It doesn’t happen a lot but neighbors La Salle and Peru are sharing the bill for an electronics recycling drop off.

The La Salle City Council agreed Monday night to split the $15,000 cost for the electronics drop off on Saturday, October 22nd at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport in Peru. You’ll be able to drop off up to three TVs and a total of 8 pieces of electronics total. City workers will check your I-D to make sure you live in Peru or La Salle.

The electronics drop off will start at 10 in the morning.

Shelves pretty bare at Illinois Valley Food Pantry

The Illinois Valley Food Pantry could really use your help right about now.

Pantry workers put out a message Monday that the “pantry really needs some help right now.” One reason is because government commodities or help to the pantry has fallen off.

The pantry in downtown La Salle could especially use canned goods like green beans, corn, soup and “SpaghettiO’s.” The pantry is open from 9 until noon Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from 11 until 6 on Wednesdays.

King and queen announced for L-P’s homecoming

Royalty has been crowned for another year at L-P High School.

Kicking off homecoming week Monday night was the school’s annual variety show. After all the votes were tallied, Max Uranich was picked as L-P’s homecoming king with Lexi Marx picked as the queen.

Homecoming week will also include the Powderpuff football game Wednesday night, the parade Thursday afternoon, football game Friday night against Ottawa and the Cavs 5K Walk/Run and dance on Saturday.

Gusty winds fan the flames for field fires

It was a long afternoon for many firefighters in the Illinois Valley.

Problems started around 3 Monday afternoon for a field fire near Lostant. The field fire quickly spread to a couple of farm buildings and also involved a combine.

About two hours later, many of the same fire departments were called to a field fire near Moews Seed Company on Route 89 in Standard. This fire also involved a combine.

Nobody was hurt in either of the fires.