Oglesby man found guilty in animal cruelty case

Guilty was the verdict for a man accused of abandoning a dog that was found seriously injured along a highway. Steven Bottoms of Oglesby was convicted Friday of cruel treatment to an animal, a misdemeanor charge.

Bottoms and his wife Tiffany Bottoms were arrested last May after an injured pitbull was found near Interstate 39 and Route 6. The dog had been hit by a car and required surgery.

The couple was accused of deserting the dog though Tiffany Bottoms told Classic Hits 103.9 WLPO last May that the dog had actually been given to a new owner a couple of weeks prior to being injured.

Steven Bottoms’ bench trial was heard by La Salle County Circuit Judge Cynthia Raccuglia. He’ll be sentenced on March 27. Tiffany Bottoms is scheduled to go to trial in March.

Man sent to Ottawa hospital after alleged wooden club attack

An argument escalated in a hurry in Ottawa.

Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson says when Robert Angell went to his on and off again girlfriend’s house Thursday night on Marquette Street, he found her with another man. Angell went out to his car and grabbed a wooden club, hitting the other man once in his head and leg.

The victim was treated and released at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa. Angell was arrested for aggravated battery and taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Illinois Valley gas prices stay fairly stagnant

If you can pay in cash, the cheapest place in the state to get gas is in Peru.

According to GasBuddy.com, Sapp Brothers is offering up unleaded for $1.99 a gallon if you pay in cash. Other stations in Peru have unleaded for $2.05 to $2.19 a gallon.

Gas is going for as low as $2.05 in La Salle, $2.14 in Streator, and $2.19 a gallon in both Mendota and Ottawa. Princeton’s cheapest gas is $2.25 a gallon.

The statewide average for unleaded right now is $2.43 a gallon, up four cents from a week ago.

La Salle County’s lead prosecutor upset at eaglet verdict

Can you be an animal lover and still disagree with the decision to find eagle handler Steve Patterson not guilty?

La Salle County State’s Attorney Brian Towne says he’s an animal lover but he also took an oath to uphold the law. While he respects the jury’s verdict, he says he’s deeply saddened and disappointed by how the trial played out.

Towne says the “necessity defense” argument that swayed the jury shouldn’t have even been in play because it applies to humans not animals. He’s also upset that testimony and evidence including random eagle pictures were allowed by Judge Dan Bute in the retrial after he said they were irrelevant during the first trial.

Towne thinks the jury acted on human emotion instead of following the law and believes the decision creates a slippery slope of allowing Patterson and others to decide what’s best for nature.