The incoming 76th District State Representative wants a defamation lawsuit by the outgoing state rep. tossed. A court filing earlier this month from Lance Yednock also wants Jerry Long to pay his legal fees. Long, through his attorney Julie Ajster, sued Yednock and his campaign for running a false television ad that he claims incorrectly…… Read more »
The Ottawa High School Board is sending the Fox River Levee improvement project out to bid. The board voted on it Monday. Supt. Mike Cushing says a Federal Emergency Management Agency Grant worth $1.1-million will pay for some of it. Bids are due at the end of January. Cushing says the board could approve one…… Read more »
21-year-old Ashanti Roberts, of Chicago, won’t go to trial for the death of 33-year-old Maria De La Torre, of Streator, Thursday after all. Roberts was set to have a trial-by-judge in front of Judge H. Chris Ryan. She hired Chicago attorney Zaid Abdallah who will need time to prepare ahead of a new hearing set…… Read more »
A second person in Grundy County is dead of an apparent heroin overdose within a week. Grundy County Coroner John Callahan says 34-year-old Christopher A. Deignan was found dead at his mother’s home in Morris on Monday. He says there is evidence that heroin is to blame. On Saturday, 26-year-old Kathleen A. Garcia, of Braidwood,…… Read more »
Former State’s Attorney Brian Towne wants a speedy trial over a year after being charged with misusing public funds. A court filing Monday from Towne’s lawyer Joe Navarro, another former state’s attorney, is asking for the speedy trial clock to start ticking. Illinois law says a trial needs to happen within 160 days after a…… Read more »
21-year-old Jordan Wilkinson, of Marseilles, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery Friday. As part of the plea deal he’ll serve five years with the Illinois Department of Corrections. Wilkinson was originally charged with aggravated battery against a child. He provided testimony in a separate involuntary manslaughter case against 43-year-old Mason Shannon, of Mason City, Iowa, who…… Read more »
The boat that gives tours of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at LaSalle is getting some regulatory relief. Canal Corridor Association President Ana Koval says the I&M canal is still considered to be a navigable waterway and subject to many strict regulations. Cong. Adam Kinzinger was able to help with a bill recently signed into…… Read more »
A 26-year-old Braidwood woman died over the weekend of a suspected drug overdose at a home in Minooka. A friend told police that Kathleen A. Garcia was using heroin and prescription drugs when she became unresponsive on Saturday. The friend used the overdose reversal drug Narcan on Garcia to no avail. Grundy County Coroner John…… Read more »
Wallace Grade School is the winner of this year’s overall 500-Pound Challenge. The tenth annual Freezin’ for a Reezin food drive was held Friday in the Handy Foods IGA parking lot. OSF Healthcare won in the category for businesses with over 500 members. South Prairie Pioneers 4H Club won in the schools under 100-member category.…… Read more »
The LaSalle County Health Department is now offering free Hepatitis C screenings. The test takes twenty minutes and doesn’t require a blood draw. Testing is by appointment only. Some people at risk of the virus-caused liver infection are people born between 1945 and 1965, injection drug users, healthcare workers, anyone who handles blood, HIV positive…… Read more »
