Route 71 crash kills driver from Sheridan

A Sheridan man was killed after he crossed into the path of a semi on Route 71 in Newark.

Sixty-two-year-old Phillip Suman was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash Saturday afternoon. The coroner’s office in Kendall County believes Suman for an unknown reason crossed into the path of a semi driven by 53-year-old James West of Sandwich. His van was then hit by a second semi driven by 49-year-old Allen Woodraska of Leland.

The state police are investigating the crash.

Transmission line fire knocks out power in Peru

If you are a Packer fan living in Peru, chances are you missed some of your team’s game on Monday night.

At around 7:45, a large chunk of the city lost power. Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei says there was a fire on a main transmission line, causing the outage. He’s not sure what caused the fire.

Power was back on in the city after about a half hour. The Peru City Council continued their meeting in the dark.

Craft distillery coming to former Westclox building

For the first time in more than a century, Peru will be home to a distillery.

The city council Monday night approved a craft distiller license for Star Union Spirits.  The distillery will make brandy and whiskey inside the Westclox building.  One of the business partners, Bob Windy grew up in Peru and says he always wanted to reinvest in his hometown.  He says his grandfather worked at Westclox for over 40 years and his group chose Peru over Chicago.

The distillery will include a tasting room and be located just off the main entrance to the factory.  It’s expected to create 7 to 12 jobs over the first six years of business.

Windy says the timeline is to sign a lease and order equipment next month and hopefully open next summer.

LaSalle County Board to Honor Outgoing Elected Officials at Tuesday’s Meeting

Does your workplace do anything special for employees who are ending their tenure at their job? The LaSalle County Board on Tuesday afternoon will be honoring some civil servants who were not re-elected earlier this month.

Two of those officials failed to win their respective campaigns, while one retired. Current LaSalle County States’ Attorney Brian Towne will be honored by the board for his 16 years serving in that office.

They also plan to honor LaSalle County Circuit Clerk Jim Olson. Olson’s tenure was decidedly shorter, having been appointed less than a year ago to replace State Representative Andy Skoog. Skoog vacated the office when he was tapped to fill the office vacated by Auditor General Frank Mautino.

Also among the honorees is Recorder of Deeds Tom Lyons. He’d held that office for nearly two decades, before deciding not to seek re-election this year. Republican Karen Friestad Miller was elected to take over for Lyons.

The newly elected officials will officially be taking office on Thursday.

Highway Improvement Program Approved for 2017

While construction season is coming to a close for this year, the LaSalle County Highway Department is already looking ahead to 2017.

The LaSalle County Board voted to adopt next year’s Highway Improvement Program at their last meeting. The 13 road, bridge, culvert, and drainage projects are expected to cost more than $11.5 million. However, nearly $6.7 million of that is planned to come from grants and other funds.

The biggest project slated for next year cost-wise is the Ed Hand Bridge replacement at a little less than $3.7 million. That’s followed by a widening and resurfacing of a stretch of Terra Cotta Road, near Ottawa, that runs from Route 6 to Intestate 80. That project will cost just short of $3 million.

Also planned is the first phase of the project to relocate Dee Bennett Road. The project is estimated at $711,000, but almost 80% of that will be paid by a federal program known as a FLAP grant.

The County Highway Department says more than 23 miles of road is expected to be under construction next year.

Report of Gunfire Lands La Salle Man in Jail

If you live in a city neighborhood you can’t just go firing a gun.

La Salle Police went out to 37-year old Jeremy Gorisek’s home Saturday on Tonti Street on a complaint about a person shooting a pistol. Gorisek was arrested for reckless discharge of a firearm after allegedly shooting the gun outside his home.

He was taken to the county jail in Ottawa.

Spring Valley Police looking for hit and run driver

Somebody drove off after doing damage to the landscaping outside Subway in Spring Valley.

Spring Valley Police are investigating a hit and run that left one tree completely leveled while another had a large branch taken off by the driver. Officers think it happened Saturday into Sunday.

They found pieces of black plastic but unfortunately didn’t find any numbers or letters.

State lawmakers return to work for veto session

State Senator Sue Rezin and State Representative Andy Skoog will be back in Springfield this week after the long holiday weekend.

Several committees will meet tomorrow in the House and Senate. It’s the last week of the fall veto session.

With video gambling being a big industry in the Illinois Valley, owners of establishments with gambling machines have to be paying close attention to the House Executive Committee. They will be talking about a proposed law that would enable owners of businesses with gaming machines to own them. Now the machines are owned by an outside company who gets a share of the gambling revenues.

Nobody hurt in latest Tonica crash

Despite the state’s best efforts, another crash happened at the Route 251 and North 20th Road intersection in Tonica.

Two drivers collided late Sunday morning on the north side of Tonica. Thankfully everyone involved was okay. One of the vehicles was towed.

Late last month signage was put up to make the troubled intersection an “all-way stop” intersection.

Three people hurt in south Peru crash

One of Peru’s most dangerous intersections was the sight of another crash.

Three people were hospitalized after a three-vehicle collision Friday night at the Route 251 and Ben Samek Road interchange south of the Illinois River. Seventeen-year-old Haley Zamin of Peru was ticketed for allegedly running a stop sign on Samek Road and crashing into 61-year-old Gary Plimmer of Tonica and 29-year-old Autumn Lemons of Peru who were both driving on Route 251.

Zamin and her 16-year-old passenger from Mendota along with Plimmer were all taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru. All three vehicles involved were towed.