Heating Help is Available as Brutal Cold Bears Down

Colder winter weather is here. If you need help heating your home, here’s something that could be of assistance.

If it’s a struggle to pay winter heating bills and you have children six years old or younger, you can now apply for heating assistance through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP. To qualify, a single person must make $1,485 a month or less. A family of four is eligible if your income is below $3,038 a month.

Applications for this help officially opened November 1^st. Besides families with young children, senior citizens and people with disabilities can also now apply for LIHEAP funds.

Beards Bring in the Bucks for Sixth Year in Peru

Are you a fan of beards? You only have a few more days to cast your vote in an annual best beard contest.

It’s the 6^th annual Beards for Christmas fundraiser at Maze Lumber. Spokesman for the event Chad Errio says they recently passed last year’s total, and they’re on track to hit their goal of $3,200.

If you want to have a say in whose beard is best, you have until Friday to cast your vote at Maze. Every vote cost a dollar which will go to the Illinois Valley Marine Corps League’s Christmas for Kids. If you just want to donate to the cause you can by checking out their  GoFundMe page.

The beard contest has raised over $11,000 in its first five years.

 

 

 

 

Plea Expected in Case of Man who Allegedly Brought Brass Knuckles to Rumble

The man accused of bringing brass knuckles to a brawl in Peru earlier this year may have reached an agreement with prosecutors.

Floyd Campbell was back in an Ottawa courtroom Friday. The 21-year old is accused of bringing brass knuckles to a fight, which took place at 28^th Street Park back in June.

Lawyers asked that the trial, which was set to begin Monday, be pushed back. The reason being they wanted to set a date for a possible guilty plea.  Campbell has been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, and mob action.

Another man, Mitchell Hampton, was arrested after allegedly firing a gun during that same brawl. Hampton pled guilty in November to reckless discharge of a firearm and an unrelated charge. He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.

Campbell, meanwhile, remains in custody, unable to come up with the $10,000 needed to be released. His next court date was set for January 6^th.

Oglesby skating rink opens up

Getting the itch to lace up the ice skates?

With frigid weather settling in, the Oglesby Parks Department has opened the city ice rink. The rink is on Walnut Street, just east of city hall.

It’s free to skate and you can play hockey on the rink as long as no ice skaters are around on Tuesday and Thursdays from 3 until 5. The rink stays open until 10 at night.

You need to provide your own skates.

Law enforcement from the Illinois Valley help children in need

Besides patrolling the streets, men and women in blue in the Illinois Valley have also been shopping for the less fortunate.

Organizers with both the Christmas 4 Kids program and Blue and Red Christmas for Kids put out messages on Facebook that they had successful shopping trips in the past week. The Christmas 4 Kids involved La Salle County deputies shopping for nearly 60 children while Blue and Red Christmas involved about 30 children and members of the Peru Police and Fire Departments.

Some of the children helped are involved with the Youth Service Bureau and DCFS.

Westclox developers getting helping hand from Peru City Council

The storefront or façade of a building can go a long ways in making a good impression. The Peru City Council is looking to offer more cash to its businesses wanting to improve their building’s appearance.

Alderman Dave Potthoff says in the future the city would like to double the amount of money they have available for façade improvements to businesses along Route 6 and Peoria Street. Right now the city’s façade improvement fund totals $50,000 a year.

As it stands right now, there is $33,000 left in that fund for the current year. The council is looking to give that money to the owners of the Westclox building so they can put in new windows and entry ways.

New fire station and rescue boat in the works for Ottawa

A new fire station could be in Ottawa’s future.

The Ottawa City Council met last night to discuss a few items, two pertaining to the city’s fire protection. Fire Chief Steve Haywood explained the south side fire station handles 35% of all calls for the city, and mentioned the need for a bigger station.

Commissioner Tom Ganiere then talked about the fire department’s need for a new rescue boat, as the old one is “dead.” He said the city would need to decide in the near future about whether to purchase another boat for more than $35,000, so it can be ready for next boating season.

No formal action was taken at last night’s meeting.