A Ford transit van carrying 14 passengers overturned, injuring two of the four adults and nine of the ten children inside near Troy Grove, Illinois this past Saturday, Sept. 23, just before 7:00 p.m. The rollover crash occurred in the southbound lanes of Interstate 39 in LaSalle County between milepost 67 and 68.

Calls reporting the single-vehicle crash started coming into both the Troy Grove and Mendota Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at around 6:53 p.m. Witnesses to the crash, including some of the uninjured vehicle occupants, reported that the van veered off the roadway into the adjacent low shoulder before overturning in the nearby ditch with the occupants inside. Illinois State Police are still investigating why the van’s operator suddenly departed the roadway leading up to the van rolling over.

If a loved one lost their life in a preventable accident caused by negligence, certain surviving family members (heirs) have the legal right to file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover damages. A personal representative of the deceased’s estate can represent a spouse or next of kin in holding the negligent party accountable for the fatal accident.

Before you begin the process of filing a wrongful death claim, you may be wondering: How long does a wrongful death lawsuit take? The timeframe for a wrongful death lawsuit is highly contingent upon the unique details of the case. Thus, it may take anywhere from a matter of months to several years. While some cases can be resolved within a year, most cases take longer to get to trial or reach a resolution – typically 2 to 4 years.

Erica Burgess, the Reading Interventionist for sixth – eighth^–grade students at Lincoln Jr. High School in La Salle, IL, is this year’s winner of the Q Hit Music Teacher of the Year award.

The winner was announced at the end-of-the-year luncheon for the LaSalle Elementary Schools last week. Our own Mike Krzak of Schweickert Ganassin Krzak Rundio, LLP was on hand to present Burgess with the award and accompanying $1,000 prize.

Illinois has 2,185 miles of interstate and multiple ports that receive and send international goods, making our state a major hub of commerce in the United States. While this is excellent for our local economy, it also forces drivers to share the road with a significant number of tractor-trailers from all around the country.

Data from the Illinois Department of Transportation shows that there were 11,741 semi-truck crashes in 2019. Of those, 100 were fatal and another 1,814 left victims with mild to moderate injuries. Another 311 caused incapacitating injuries, including broken limbs, chest and back injuries, head injuries, abdominal injuries, and more. If an injury prevents a victim from driving, walking, working, or otherwise engaging in activities they were capable of prior to the accident, it is considered an incapacitating injury.

Whether you visit a big city like Chicago or stay in Peru, Morris, or Ottawa here in North Central Illinois, crosswalks are almost everywhere. It’s commonplace to see them in downtown or residential areas and near religious institutions, recreational centers, and schools.

The main purpose of crosswalks is to ensure pedestrians make it from one side of the street to the other safely. However, many Illinois pedestrians and motorists aren’t clear about how to act when they encounter crosswalks. Knowing Illinois crosswalk laws can help keep you safe and can help prevent a crosswalk accident.

It’s a pleasure to share that our personal injury law firm, Schweickert Ganassin Krzak Rundio, LLP (SGKR), has again been nominated for the “Best of North Central Illinois” award for 2023. Our law firm, which has one office each in Ottawa, Peru, Chicago, and Morris, has previously won this annual “Best Of” recognition as a contender in the category of “Service: Personal Injury Attorney” for the past three years.

Winning is decided by votes from the community. Voting for our firm and this year’s other nominees kicked off today, Monday, February 20, at 12:01 a.m. and runs through Saturday, March 25, at 10:59 p.m. Studstill Media, the company that presents this regional award competition, will announce winners soon after the voting closes in late March.

An explosion occurred at a chemical manufacturing plant in LaSalle, IL early on Jan. 11, 2023, causing a massive fire and the release of at least one dangerous substance into the environment. Carus, a global supplier of products used for air purification, soil remediation, and the treatment of water and wastewater, says that the explosion occurred in a shipping container that was located at the facility. It is currently unclear what was inside the shipping container at the time of the explosion.

Nearby residents reported hearing multiple loud explosions as black smoke began to fill the air. Local authorities issued a shelter in place order, affecting people in their homes, at work, and at the nearby LaSalle-Peru Township High School.

One of the first things you learn about driving is how traffic lights work. This is an easy concept most of us are taught as children. Green means go, yellow means slow down, and red means stop. As we get older, we also learn that there are more nuances than that.

Green means go when it is safe to do so. When the traffic light is yellow, you should slow down and stop unless you are too close to the intersection to do so safely. You should always stop at a red light, although you are allowed to make a right turn on red in some cases.

If you regularly watch the news, you’ve probably seen many stories about elderly motorists running into other vehicles, stationary objects, and people. Issues like these aren’t anything new. Reports like these have been circulating for what seems like forever.

Many studies have launched over the years where researchers have sought to determine how a person’s age may affect their driving abilities. There have also been proposed initiatives that have come and gone without receiving majority support to restrict our aging relatives’ vehicle operation rights.

In 2021, it was reported by American Trucking Associations (ATA) that the trucking industry was roughly 80,000 drivers short of where it needed to be. That number was projected to pass 160,000 by 2030. The ATA estimated that one million new drivers will need to be recruited and hired over the next ten years to keep up with industry growth and replace drivers who will retire, resign, or be removed from duties for violating regulations.

If you’ve been to a grocery or retail store in recent months, chances are you have seen the effects of the truck driver shortage. As consumers, we experience the obvious effects of an employee shortage in an industry that is integral to over 70% of the nation’s economy – both price increases and lack of inventory.