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Jurors to hear never-charged domestic report at murder trial Judge OKs exception to past crimes rule
jury will hear about an allegation of domestic abuse brought by Kenneth’s wife, who died two years later in a suspicious drowning. Cusick appeared Thursday for a status hearing on his upcomBy Tom Collins ing murder trial. He would face NEWSTRIBUNE SENIOR REPORTER 20-60 years in prison if convicted of murder for allegedly drowning OTTAWA — Though a charge wife Tracy Lynn in a home toilet was never filed, Kenneth Cusick’s
in 2006. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Dec. 2. Thursday, prosecutors persuaded Cusick’s judge to hand down a potentially significant ruling. The state can call to the stand an Ottawa police officer who interviewed Kenneth after police were alerted to a domestic disturbance at the Cusick home on Feb. 29, 2004.
A charge was not filed and the report not disclosed. Prosecutors said Kenneth twice pushed Tracy Lynn out of the way trying to leave the house. Defense attorney Ryan Hamer painted a divergent picture, saying Tracy Lynn was blocking Kenneth’s way and he simply moved her in an attempt to de-escalate the dispute. Whatever occurred, Kenneth
Cusick spoke at some length to an Ottawa police officer. Now, prosecutors want that officer on the stand to repeat Cusick’s statement and show the troubled state of his marriage — a step toward showing Cusick had a motive to kill his wife. Ordinarily, evidence of past crimes is not admissible at trial; a See TRIAL Page A2
Best sales year ever?
Retailers are busting records, have big hopes for holiday sales By Tom Collins NEWSTRIBUNE SENIOR REPORTER
She’s had one slow month this year and she missed her target sales by such a tiny margin that it was easily made up the following month. Denna Leifheit owns Peaces of Fashion in La Salle’s resurgent downtown and 2019 is shaping up to be an exceptional year in business. “I do see customers spending and I do see a confidence in them,” Leifheit said. “I also think people aren’t running to the city to shop. I think they are slowy absorbing the message, ‘Shop local.’ More people are comfortable shopping small.” It isn’t just Leifheit and it isn’t just La Salle. The retail sales figures are in for the first half of 2019 — July and August totals have not been released yet — and the data suggest a robust economy. Several communities have numbers in hand that, if current trends hold, will have business owners clink-
NEWSTRIBUNE PHOTO/SCOTT ANDERSON
Online retailers such as Amazon may have hurt department stores, but local retailers such Amia Boutique in Spring Valley are busting sales records with decorative downtown stores and online sales options. Amia owner Christine Pellegrini enjoys brisk foot traffic at her stores in downtown Spring Valley and La Salle and has so boosted her online sales that she’s hired models to promote her inventory on her website. ing champagne glasses by year’s end: Ç Spring Valley is headed for its best-ever year, having set monthly records in four of the first six months and just missing toppling sales records in March and May.
Ç Ottawa is in hot pursuit of its best sales year, having also toppled four monthly records. Ç Oglesby is projected to finish just $10,000 short of tying its best year, and a strong Christmas shopping season could thrust 2019 atop the city’s annals.
Ç Peru is poised to have its second year above $600 million in sales and, as with Oglesby, could yet see 2019 with a record haul. Ç Mendota posted a 4% increase in retail sales in fiscal year 2018-19 from the previous fiscal year. Mendota had posted
comparable increases over each of the past five years. And Utica, Princeton and La Salle all are having strong years. Utica posted its best-ever June and has fingers crossed of a strong fall-colors season, as See SALES Page A2
Low 60. Weather A8
Train of storms drench football fans, fields and roadways
INDEX
Sheriff: Stay home
TONIGHT
Astrology B5 Classified B7 Comics B5 Lifestyle A8 Local A3
Lottery A2 Obituaries B6 Opinion A6 Sports B1
COMING MONDAY Established 1851 No. 190 © 2019 est. 1851
WRITE ON! Two longtime penpals finally meet
By Tom Collins and Craig Sterrett NEWSTRIBUNE STAFF
Friday turned out to be a good evening to hunker down with a movie and some microwave popcorn. Storm after storm passed through, causing the evacuation of high school football stadiums such as those in Spring Valley and La Salle-Peru, dropping hail on Bureau County and flooding roads and fields throughout the region. Sheriff Tom Templeton is-
sued a warning for motorists to stay home if they did not need to travel on Friday, with storm and flash-flood warnings in effect and after 4 inches of rain already had fallen in southern La Salle County in a 2½-hour span by lunchtime. Templeton cast a wary eye at Friday night’s forecast and was telling motorists to grab milk on the way home from work and then put the car in park. “Please don’t drive through standing water. Stalling out in standing water could be a real problem, you could get swept away,” Templeton said. “And it
may possibly be the worst rain is coming tonight.” His concerns came true, as a severe thunderstorm moving at about 35 mph and which had produced 60-mph gusts passed through Dalzell, La Salle-Peru and Spring Valley, causing the stoppage of high school football games (see Sports for details), knocking a tree down on U.S. 6 near Coal Hollow, causing a power line fire on Cleveland Street in Spring Valley and temporarily flooding some roadways. That storm dropped more than an inch of rain in an hour on Illinois Valley Regional Airport
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in Peru and flooding Orleans Street near L-P. At 7:40 p.m., La Salle County Sheriff’s Office had a list of flooded roads including U.S. 52 near Interstate 39 near Troy Grove, U.S. 52 near Prairie Center as well as U.S. 6 near E2625th Road near Marseilles. Earlier, on Friday afternoon, Templeton urged anyone who had to go out to temper their speeds, maintain safe following distances between cars and to turn around rather than attempt to drive through standing water. While waves of rain were passing through Friday afternoon, two See STORMS Page A4
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