The Dickinson House Foundation will hold its annual fall pork chop dinner fundraiser Monday, Oct. 26, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Oglesby Elks. Meals are available for carry-out or through a drive-through. Each dinner includes an 8-ounce butterflied grilled pork chop, German potato salad, baked beans, applesauce and a pumpkin square. Tickets are $16 and can be bought at Oglesby City Hall or from any foundation board member. Money raised will go toward ongoing projects and improvements at the Dickinson House, which the public can use for receptions, birthday and anniversary parties, club meetings, exercise classes, card parties, family reunions and other gatherings. Anyone interested in booking the house for an event can contact Oglesby City Hall.
The La Salle-Peru Township High School Board on Wednesday approved a roughly $356,000 renovation of the school's Rob McNally pool. The job went to LCI, the lowest bidder and a contractor the district has not used before. The Building and Grounds Committee recommended the firm on Tuesday, noting it is state-approved and came with good references, and the board approved the bid by roll-call vote. The board also approved a change order for vacuum pump electrical work at the new Eureka Savings Bank Ag Center, listed at $2,439 with authorization up to $6,000. Gym door renovations are nearly finished except for hardware, punch-list work continues on the Dolan building, and the board's audit review was pushed to its November meeting.
Mendota city officials are leaning toward repairing the Mendota Community Pool rather than replacing it, though no final decision has been made. The pool was closed for the 2026 season. Repairs had been the expected route until Mayor David Boelk raised the idea of a new pool last month as repair estimates kept climbing. At Monday's City Council meeting, a presentation from pool renovation company RenoSys made officials more confident in fixing the existing pool, which City Clerk Emily McConville called the fastest and cheapest way to reopen. The city will keep looking at a full replacement at the same time, and officials plan to visit a site that used the same repair method. A formal repair estimate isn't ready yet, and Boelk's 45-day deadline to decide is getting close.
A Seneca man pleaded not guilty Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court to charges tied to an alcohol-related crash that killed a woman in July. Wesley Brewster, 42, is charged with aggravated DUI resulting in a death. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 25, with a motions hearing set for Jan. 14. According to court records, Tessa Kenny, 52, died from injuries suffered in a July 15 crash on Route 170 near Seneca, and the records allege Brewster tested positive for alcohol with a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit. If convicted, he could face up to 14 years in prison, with only a limited chance of probation. Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. is assigned to the case. Brewster is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
La Salle County's tentative property tax multiplier for 2026 taxes, which will be paid in 2027, is 1.0000, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue. That is the same as last year. The state uses the multiplier, also called the equalization factor, to keep assessments even across county lines, since some school, college and fire districts cover more than one county. The department found La Salle County property assessed at 33.14% of market value based on 2023-2025 sales, close to the one-third level state law requires. It says the multiplier by itself does not raise or lower tax bills; those depend on how much local taxing bodies request. The figure is tentative, and a public hearing will be held 20 to 30 days after it is published in a local newspaper.
Rotary clubs across the Illinois Valley will walk Saturday morning to raise money to eradicate polio, taking part in the World's Largest Polio Walk on World Polio Day. Members of the Illinois Valley Sunrise, La Salle and Peru Rotary clubs, along with Rotarians from Princeton, Marseilles and Ottawa, will start walking at 10 a.m. Walks begin at Rotary Park in La Salle, Washington Park in Ottawa, City Hall in Marseilles and the Apollo Theater in Princeton. There is no registration cost to walk in La Salle, Marseilles or Princeton, while the Ottawa walk carries a $20 registration fee. The money raised supports the worldwide effort to wipe out the disease, and the forecast for the morning looks good.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day returns this Saturday, with a local drop-off at the La Salle County Governmental Complex in Ottawa and another at the Princeton Police Department. Both sites take unwanted medicine from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event gives people a safe way to get rid of old prescriptions to help prevent misuse, accidental poisonings and environmental harm. Pills, tablets, patches and other solid medications are accepted. Needles and other sharps, illegal drugs, compressed gas cylinders and aerosol cans are not. The last nationwide collection, in April, gathered 321 tons of medicine.
The Streator Lions Club will sell small Kringles on Nov. 28 at the Holiday Market at Bruce Township, members heard at their Oct. 21 meeting at the Oakley Club. The club also reported that its fall Candy Days on Oct. 9 and 10 and its Oct. 11 rummage sale both went well. Its Christmas party is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the Pines, with a $20 gift exchange. Chartered in 1953, the club has started planning a 75th anniversary celebration for 2028. The next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Oakley Club, and anyone interested in joining is welcome.
The Ottawa City Council approved a deal Tuesday with Iron Circuit LLC to buy railroad monitoring equipment. Fire Chief Brian Bressner said the AI-powered cameras will track train speeds, car counts and how long crossings stay blocked. That information will feed into the city's mapping software so dispatchers can steer ambulances, fire trucks and squad cars to an open crossing. Bressner pointed to the tracks near U.S. Silica, on Boyce Memorial and on Champlain Street, where crossings get blocked several times a day. He said the system will need time to learn the traffic before it helps. It costs $7,000 a year and must be renewed annually.
A steel shed south of Marseilles was destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoon. Marseilles firefighters were called around 4:30 p.m. to the property on East 2425th Road and found the 10-by-30-foot building fully involved, according to Assistant Fire Chief Larry Cowie. A boat and a lawn mower were inside. Crews kept the flames contained to the shed, though a nearby house and garage took some heat damage, and it took about 40 minutes to put the fire out. Cowie said he suspects the fire started with a lawn mower that had just been used. No one was hurt.
Streator's City Council approved an ordinance Wednesday night that bans the sale of synthetic kratom in the city. The new rules set limits on how concentrated kratom's active compounds can be, require specific labeling and product information, and make retailers get a certificate of analysis showing what's in the products they sell. Natural, plant-based kratom, such as raw or dried leaf and minimally processed powder, can still be sold to people over 21, City Manager Yates McLaughlin said. The limits were reworked after an Oct. 6 draft had two conflicting caps. Streator joins other La Salle County communities that have already banned the synthetic form.
La Salle-Peru Township High School will hold a public grand opening for its new Eureka Savings Bank Ag Center on Thursday, Nov. 5, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The building sits on the east side of the L-P campus. School leaders, teachers and students will be on hand to talk about the new space and what it means for agriculture students, and FFA members will help lead tours. The event is open to the public, and anyone curious about the new building is welcome to stop by.
