Housing Market Stable In The Illinois Valley

Home sales in the Illinois Valley stayed pretty level from June into July.

In La Salle County, 113 homes were sold last month, the same number sold in June.  The median price of homes sold in La Salle did jump from 86 to 115 thousand dollars.

In Bureau County, 23 homes went off the market in July, down from 28 in June. The median price for homes sold in Bureau County went down from 95 to 88 thousand dollars.

Putnam County had six homes sold in July, up from 3 in June.  The median sale price was 104 thousand dollars, compared to 87 thousand in June.

Overdose Awareness Walk to be held Saturday

Drug overdoses are something people don’t like to talk about and that makes it hard for people grieving the loss of a loved one who died because of their drug problem.

Lori Brown of Cherry under stands this.  She lost her son Justin Pratt to a drug overdose in 2011.  Pratt was 26 years old.  After his death Brown found a support group and it’s all lead her to organizing Saturday’s Overdose Awareness Walk.

After the first walk last year, people told Brown that it was something the area really needed.

Brown expects to have more than 300 people walking Saturday including relatives and friends of people who have died and people who have kicked their addictions.

The walk is in Ottawa.  It begins at 10 at Washington Park and heads south to Allen Park.  She expects it to take about two hours.

Learn more about the walk by listening to an interview that available at the WLPO AM and FM news page.

 

Peru man arrested for heroin following traffic stop

How often to you get pulled over in front of your house?  Chad Pattelli of Peru was stopped Tuesday in front of his home on 13^th Street and now faces a felony drug charge.

Pattelli was arrested for unlawful possession of a controlled substance by a La Salle Police officer.  Police say he had heroin.  Pattelli was also given tickets for improper backing and not signaling and was taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Shooting Suspect Could Get Life In Prison

While wearing shackles on his wrists and ankles, Richard Felton of Tonica found out this morning he could get life in prison.

La Salle County State’s Attorney Brian Towne thinks Felton is eligible for “firearm enhancements” to his attempted murder charge which means instead of 6 to 30 years in prison if convicted, he faces 21 years to life.  Felton also is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm which carries a sentence range of 6 to 30 years.

Felton’s accused of shooting of 28-year old Jeremy Wade of Grand Ridge in the face late Sunday near the Sandy Ford Bridge east of Leonore.  Wade is recovering at St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Towne says Wade is expected to live but says it’s an “incredible miracle” that he survived.  Besides his facial injuries Wade also broke his hip while falling from the bridge into the Vermilion River.

Felton will go before a grand jury for indictment September 10^th and be arraigned September 13^th.  He’s being held at the La Salle County Jail on 3 million dollars bond.

Cross-Country Horse Rider Comes Thru Illinois Valley

Did you happen to drive past a guy recently being pulled in a carriage by a horse?

The guy is Alex McNeil of Bozeman, Montana.  He and his horse Pepper are on a 35 hundred mile journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.  He was in DePue yesterday and seen on the bottom road today between Spring Valley and Oglesby.

McNeil is calling his trip a land conservation awareness expedition.  He began his cross-country journey in March.

You can follow McNeil’s travels by clicking https://www.facebook.com/pages/America-on-Horseback-Sea-to-Sea-for-Land-Conservation/319517918150117

Rollover Claims Life Of Ransom Man

A Ransom man is dead after a rollover south of Seneca.

47-year old Mark Phelan driving on Route 170 headed to work yesterday afternoon when he left the road for an unknown reason and rolled his car.  He was thrown out of his car.

Phelan was rushed to Morris Community Hospital where he died in the ER about an hour after crashing.