Recycling event at airport in Peru shuts down in less than an hour

It took less than an hour for the 40,000 ton limit of recyclables to be reached Saturday morning in Peru.

Lines were long on Plank Road well before the drop off event started at 10 o’clock. All along city officials had said they would go until they took 40,000 tons of electronics such as televisions and computers. Only folks living in Peru and La Salle were allowed to drop off electronics.

Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei says Peru and La Salle plan to do more in the future.

Suicide prevention walk moves from Peru to Ottawa

Grieving the death of a family member or a close friend is a tough emotional process. If they die from suicide you may be left overcoming the stigma that comes with it.

You can get emotional support Sunday by taking part in the annual suicide prevention walk called “Out of the Darkness.” Check in starts at 1 with the actual walk beginning at 2 at the Jordan Block in Ottawa. Before this year the “Out of the Darkness” walk happened at Baker Lake in Peru.

Money raised will support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

1 injured in Mendota house fire Saturday

Have you ever seen a neighbor’s house burn?  Maybe even seen the neighbor taken to a hospital?  It happened in Mendota Saturday afternoon as 4 departments worked a house fire at 1201 Second Street,  a few blocks from the Mendota fire station.

Firemen arrived before 1pm and put out a fire in the living room in 15 minutes.  But, while searching the structure, a secondary blaze was found crawling its way toward the attic and that was extinguished.

The only resident of the home, an unidentified man, was taken to OSF St. Paul with unknown injuries. His condition is not known.  Mendota fireman Lonnie Isenberg told “Classic Hits 103-9 WLPO” the cause is still under investigation.  A damage estimate was not available.

Home values jump up in the Illinois Valley

If home sale prices are any indication, the value of your home may be on the rise.

The median sales price of homes in LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam Counties all went up last month. In LaSalle County, the median price of a home was $112,500 compared with $95,500 in September of last year.

Bureau County had the smallest increase, from $83,000 at this time last year to $85,000 last month. Putnam County homes closed at a median price of over $106,000, a big jump from the $60,000 price tag in September of 2015.

While the prices of homes went up, the number of homes sold in the Illinois Valley also increased in September compared to this time last year.

Nobody hurt in messy crash near Troy Grove

There was a traffic mess about a mile north of the Troy Grove exit on Interstate 39.

A semi and an SUV pulling a camper were involved in a crash just before 11 Friday morning on southbound I-39. Southbound traffic was at a standstill for over an hour while northbound traffic never stopped moving. Stuff inside the camper spilled all over the interstate.

An officer on the scene reported that everyone involved in the crash were refusing medical attention.