WGFA NEWS for Monday, January 25, 2010 >
WX > Snow…high near 33. Breezy west to SW winds 15-20, gusts nearing 35 mph. Accumulation of around an inch. Snow likely tonight, accumulation less than an inch possible.
> Three family pets were killed in a Friday night house fire that destroyed a Manteno home. No other injuries were reported. Manteno Fire Chief Scott O’Brien said the fire appears to have started in the kitchen of the two-story house rented by the Ryan McGahan family on W. Adams Street. The family of seven, including McGahan’s wife and five boys were not home when the fire broke out. A preliminary investigation found two burners on the stove in the ON position. The Red Cross is assisting the family. Mutual aide was provided by several fire departments including Bradley, Bourbonnais, Momence, Grant Park, Aroma Park, Limestone, Peotone, Manhattan, Monee and Kankakee Township.
> A weekend accident killed two men in Danville when an SUV slammed into a tree. Coroners in Vermilion and Champaign counties have identified the two men killed late Friday morning. Vermilion County Coroner Peggy Johnson identified the passenger who died at the scene as 50-year-old Virgil Wilson of Danville. Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup said the driver, 54-year-old Irvin McNeal died in the emergency room at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. Another passenger was also injured and transferred to Carle after first being treated at Provena United Samaritans Medical Center in Danville.
The SUV was westbound on East Winter Avenue shortly before 11:30 a.m. Friday and tried to pass a pickup truck. As it crossed back over the center line, it clipped the pickup truck and Mr. McNeal lost control. He then ran off the street and into the tree.
> A Champaign woman faces arraigment today for a drunken driving charge after a Friday accident in which a woman crossing a busy Champaign street was killed by the alleged drunken and distracted driver. Susan Costello, 58, of Champaign died in the emergency room of Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana at 10:42 p.m. Mrs. Costello was struck by Amanda Ennis, 31, as she drove her car east on Kirby Avenue at 10:10 p.m.
Carlson said Ennis told police her cell phone rang, that she looked down at the phone and the next thing she knew, she had hit something. She was arrested for aggravated driving under the influence.
> Kyle Duits turned himself in Saturday to Iroquois County authorities to serve the first of 15 weekends in jail. He was convicted of Harboring a Runaway. Duits was arrested for hiding his then 15-year-old girlfriend last Spring while police and a private investigator searched for her. She was found a week later, hiding out at the Duits home in Crescent City. Duits was also charged with Criminal Sexual Abuse. That charge was dropped in exchange for the plea to Harboring a Runway.
“Your Illiana News Source” …. 94.1 FM, WGFA
