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Biggert, Foster clash over Keystone pipeline stock

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:16:29 -0600

Longtime U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert has been a vocal champion for the Keystone Oil pipeline that President Barack Obama has, at least for the moment, killed. Biggert, who represents parts of Aurora and Naperville, backs the pipeline to pump oil from Canada through Nebraska to Louisiana. “I support Keystone because it would create thousands of jobs and would benefit my constituents,” she said. But former U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, one of three Democrats running in the March primary to be Biggert’s opponent in the fall election, says the fact that Biggert’s husband owns between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock …

Crete man killed when bus he’s repairing rolls over him

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:45:40 -0600

A Crete man was killed Thursday afternoon when a bus he was repairing slipped off the jack and rolled over him in unincorporated Lynwood. Edward J. Randall, 47, of the 25100 block of South Sangamon Street in Crete, was under the bus in the 1800 block of Glenwood Dyer Road in unincorporated Lynwood, when it slipped off the jack and rolled over him, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:13 p.m. A Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman could not be reached for comment early Friday. …

Report: Illinois kids caught in state ‘budget crossfire’

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:12:23 -0600

Illinois children are caught in a “budget crossfire,” hit hard by state budget cuts and a recession that left one in five of them living in poverty and 33,000 students homeless in 2010, a children’s advocacy organization said in a report released Thursday. The Illinois Kids Count 2012 report says the state’s budget crisis is undermining gains made for young people, with cuts to investments in early childhood education and after-school programs. Some 18,000 state children have lost access to preschool since 2008 because of delayed payments and budget cuts, said Kathy Ryg, president of Voices for Illinois Children, which …

Hearing planned on mental health center closing

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:20:38 -0600

Although plans remain intact to close the Tinley Park Mental Health Center this summer, a bipartisan state commission plans to hold a hearing about the closing and its impact on mental health care in the region. Quinn recently announced plans to close the center by early July, after the state’s fiscal year ends June 30. Plans, however, remain “murky” on where its patients will go after the closing, state Rep. Al Riley (D-Hazel Crest) said. “When it was announced, they never gave the community and local folks a chance to have their say. This will be a formal hearing for …

Evergreen Park Flake Fest is Saturday

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:15:14 -0600

Evergreen Park hosts Mayor Sexton’s Annual Family Flake Fest on Saturday at Yukich Field, 89th Street and Kedzie Avenue. The village’s annual salute to winter will include a youth speed-skating competition for children in the first through eighth grades at the covered ice rink. Registration opens at noon, and racing starts at 1 p.m. Each racer must wear a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads. In the firehouse next to the ice rink, crafts, face painting, a bake sale and kettle corn will be available starting at 1 p.m. Little Company of Mary Hospital will have a teddy bear clinic …

Kadner: Health advocate wants voters to decide on sales tax

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:26:02 -0600

I’m a sucker for people fighting for a lost cause. Maybe I’ve watched “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” too many times or spent too many years cheering for Chicago sports teams that didn’t have a chance. No matter the reason, Tya Robinson-May is fighting a battle she has no chance of winning, and I can’t resist spreading the word. Robinson-May is launching a petition drive to place a referendum measure on the November election ballot to reinstate a half-cent sales tax increase in Cook County. She wants the money to be used to reopen Oak Forest Hospital and provide additional …

Summit Hill 161 hopes to reduce teacher raises

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:12:55 -0600

Summit Hill School District 161 board members hope teachers will consider a reduction in next year’s scheduled pay hike. Teachers are in line for a 5 percent raise in Year 4 of their five-year deal. The issue was raised during a recent school board work session, and teachers union president Scott Smalter said he would discuss it with union officers. “Even just a 1 percent reduction in salaries would be a significant amount of money to put toward the (district’s anticipated $2.5 million) deficit,” board member Sean Doyle said after Wednesday’s school board meeting. The board has met numerous times …

Lawyers contend Gacy had help in some killings

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:32:02 -0600

Did the “Killer Clown” act alone? Two Chicago lawyers have re-examined the circumstances surrounding the disappearances of three victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy and concluded that he probably had one or more accomplices. Defense attorneys Robert Stephenson and Steven Becker took a fresh look at victims Russell Nelson, of Minneapolis, and Robert Gilroy and John Mowery, both of Chicago. The three young men disappeared in 1977 and were among 29 victims found in 1978 on Gacy’s property in unincorporated Norwood Park Township. Four other victims were found in the Des Plaines River. Gacy, a building contractor who performed …

Palos business turning battle vs. PTSD into a real dogfight

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:07:05 -0600

When the nightmares come, Brad Schwarz is shaken from his sleep. Like many U.S. servicemen who have returned from war, the former Army sergeant suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. But when Schwarz sits up and sees his German shepherd Panzer unfazed — no shots have been fired, no bombs dropped — it is Schwarz’s assurance that he was only dreaming. “It’s very comforting to wake up and know that if I heard a noise, if there was actually something going on, he’d be on top of it before I even knew about it,” Schwarz said. That’s where dog-training facilities such …

Rev. Wright to speak Sunday in Aurora

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:27:21 -0600

AURORA — In honor of Black History Month, St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church will host guest preacher the Rev. Jeremiah Wright for its Sunday service. Wright is the past senior preacher of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, the church attended by the family of President Barack Obama. Wright is most widely known for controversial comments during the 2008 election season taken from his sermons. But he also is known as an influential black liberation theologian, preaching that the Bible serves as a model for combating injustice. “This is a really big issue for us,” the Rev. Cheryl …

Illinois to get $1B in mortgage deal

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:39:33 -0600

Illinois is expected to receive about $1 billion in a multi-state settlement with the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders, Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Thursday.

Riverdale man charged with beating 2 women in Naperville

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:46:47 -0600

A 24-year-old man from south suburban Riverdale faces trial following a bizarre incident on Naperville’s far south side, in which he allegedly beat two women in an apartment complex and then held police at bay for more than an hour before swallowing a household chemical. Members of the Naperville Police Department’s Special Response Team — similar to a SWAT team — cordoned off the area around the complex after the suspect, Corman L. Smith, “used a slang term that led us to believe” he was armed with a handgun, police Sgt. Gregg Bell said Thursday. No gun or other weapon …

Will County Board member Frank Stewart dead at 66

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:14:11 -0600

Will County Board member Frank Stewart of Joliet was found dead in his home Thursday morning, county officials said.

Powerball rolls over, jackpot now $310M

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:26:00 -0600

Don’t stop daydreaming just yet, Powerball players. The Powerball jackpot, which was $250 million for Wednesday night’s drawing, is now at an estimated $310 million, since no one matched all the numbers drawn last night. The winning numbers in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing were: 17 - 28 - 38 - 39 and 51, and the Power Ball number was 33. In Illinois, the closest anyone came to the grand prize were the four players who matched four of five numbers and the Power Ball, for a $10,000 prize. Another 111 players in Illinois matched four of five numbers without the …

Two pedestrians struck by vehicle on Southwest Side

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:46:00 -0600

Two pedestrians were injured, one critically, when they were struck by a vehicle on the Southwest Side Thursday morning. About 7:14 a.m., the two were struck by a vehicle at 63rd Street and Pulaski Road. Police did not immediately have any details on the incident other than one of the victims, a female, had an injury to her leg, and the other person was possibly pinned-in. Both were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where one was in fair to serious condition and the other was in serious to critical condition, according to Fire Media Affairs. The …

Lawsuit cost SD 227, charter school nearly $300K

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:59:38 -0600

During a lengthy legal battle pitting Rich Township High School District 227 against Southland College Prep Charter High School, the two sides spent nearly $300,000 in attorney fees, records show. But officials on both sides said the expenses were justified because they were fighting for their students’ educational futures. District 227 filed a lawsuit in June 2010 to prevent the charter school from opening, saying the school would siphon about $2 million per year from the district in state aid, adversely affecting student performance. After the Illinois Appellate Court in December upheld a Cook County judge’s ruling allowing the charter …