East Peoria

Manufacturing business closes without notice

Hagel Metal Fabrication Inc.,  2001 E. Washington St., East Peoria, closed Dec. 4 and at least 90 employees are now out of work. The plant had been there for 31 years. There was no explanation from company officials. Some reports said the workers were given a one-day notice of the closure. There was no notice filed with the state either, as required by law for companies employing as many people as Hagel had, according to the city of  East Peoria. The company was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 2013 after an employee was killed by an automated laser-cutting machine.  OSHA subsequently placed the company on its  Severe Violator Enforcement Program, according to reports.  Prior to that accident, OSHA conducted seven inspections between 1989 and 2013, according to reports.

Pekin

Construction on Veterans Drive behind schedule

Construction of the five-lane Veterans Drive South is at least a few months behind, according to reports.  Real progress was made this fall on the section of Towerline Road to 14th Street according to the city, and the lanes closest to Towerline Road are completed. The city reports the area where the five lanes are down to two lanes will be striped and remain open for the winter.  Work will resume in the spring. However, the area from Commercial Drive to Illinois Route 29, which was scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1, is still being worked on. Weather has affected the project in terms of the striping used on the roads, and that has caused the delay on that section, according to the contractor R.A. Cullinan & Sons.  More than $30 million for the project came from state funds and the Illinois Department of Transportation will assume control of Veterans Drive South, to be renamed as Illinois Route 9, once the project is completed. Pekin takes ownership of Court Street and will get to keep any state money left over from the construction.

Resident arrested and charged for making meth

Scott Hiatt

Scott Hiatt, 30, of 811 N. Second St., was ordered held on $150,000 bond after being charged Dec. 6 with manufacturing methamphetamine in his home.  The arrest came after a Pekin police detective assigned to meth investigations arrived at the residence after hearing for a report of a fire at the address. A fire had happened at the residence a few times prior in the last month, according to reports.  Then with a search warrant, police found meth lab materials inside and outside the home along with 40 grams of marijuana, according to reports. Hiatt previously was sentenced in  2005 to five years in prison for meth manufacturing. The latest charge comes with a maximum 15-year prison term.

Peoria Heights

Resident guilty of taping girl in bathroom

Donald R. Pauli, III, 36, of 4221 N. Illinois St., pleaded guilty Dec. 7  to unauthorized videotaping after he  videotaped a preteen girl last year while she was changing in a bathroom. Pauli pleaded guilty in Peoria County Circuit Court after prosecutors agreed to drop two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. In exchange, Pauli’s punishment can be capped at probation, according to reports.  Pauli could do six months of jail time. He scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19. Pauli’s wife found the videos on his phone, according to the state’s attorney’s office. Pauli is currently free on bond.

Washington

New zoning for tattoo businesses

The City Council is debating to allow tattoo businesses a special use in zoned light industrial sections as part of an ordinance amendment. The proposed amendment, recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission for approval, came about from a resident’s request to do body art in a building in a light industrial area, according to reports. Thomas Coppenbarger applied to open a studio at 305 Zinser St., where he wants to do body artwork as well as canvas paintings, murals and sculptures. If the amendment is approved,  he will need to apply for a special-use permit to do body art work at that address.

Regional

Time to register for state annual goose hunt

Youth can register now for the annual Central Illinois Youth Goose Hunt, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, scheduled for Jan. 17-18.  To register for a drawing to participate in the hunt, youth hunters must phone in to the IDNR at (217) 785-8060 by the registration deadline of Thursday, Dec. 31.  The youth goose hunt will be held at private waterfowl hunting clubs in Peoria, Fulton and Knox counties.  A lottery drawing will be conducted on Jan. 4. The hunt is open to youth ages 10-15 at the time of the hunt. To register for the hunt or for more information, call (217) 785-8060.

–Tazewell County Area News Briefs–