September 2008 Archives

These are the major flood-related road closures this morning, according to WGN-Radio's traffic desk:

The eastbound Borman Expressway (I-80/94) in northwest Indiana remains closed between the Illinois state line and State Road 51 in Lake County. Westbound I-80/94 is closed between State Road 49 in Porter County and the Illinois state line.

The off-duty Chicago police officer who shot and killed himself Monday after shooting his two children was identified this morning as Dannie Marchan, 29.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A prison watchdog group is criticizing the Illinois Prisoner Review Board as being too stingy in granting parole requests from the state's longest-serving inmates.

More than half of the schools that were closed Monday because of flooding are reopening today.

For the complete list of which schools are open and which are closed, visit WGN-Radio's emergency center, or check the list below:

A 40-year-old man was killed early Tuesday when his car crashed into a maintenance truck on the Chicago Skyway, police said.

 

 

Two men have been charged with throwing Molotov cocktails at a sport-utility vehicle in Carpentersville.

Engineers with their hands on regional flood gates had a choice last weekend: Allow widespread flooding in the Chicago area, or open the gates and risk contamination at Lake Michigan water intakes. As the rain kept falling,  gates opened one by one, letting more than 90 billion gallons of storm runoff burble into the lake.
FULL STORY

Motorists trying to get home to Riverside wound through the near western suburbs in an irritated procession Monday. Flooding turned them back on Roosevelt Road in Forest Park; a pond stopped them where 1st Avenue had been in Brookfield.

FULL STORY

 

Mark Thanos, 48, (left) and his father John Thanos, 74. (Family photos)

Four storm-related deaths were recorded over the weekend in the Chicago area.

No calls for carpenters went out from Brookfield Zoo to build an ark during the weekend's record-breaking storm, but all that rainwater did cause the zoo to close its gates to the public for the first time since it opened in 1934.

FULL STORY

The sound of gunfire came this time from a Chicago police officer's home where neighbors had seen what appeared to be a happy family. They knew of the doting father and had seen a young girl and boy playing happily with their grandmother in the yard.

FULL STORY

A former Aurora man who killed two young women in a 1998 hit-and-run crash and  spent eight years dodging arrest has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

FULL STORY

A 69-year-old Westchester woman died and two Westchester men were injured after the van they were traveling in rolled over Sunday night in northwest Wisconsin.

FULL STORY

 

Devin Hester's status for Sunday's home opener against Tampa Bay remains unclear, but one source said the Bears' kick returner should be recovered from the rib injury he suffered in Sunday's game at Carolina.

FULL STORY

Readers are helping us cover the Chicago area flooding by sending in photos. If you have seen something you want to share, upload it here: Your photos  |  Your video

The photo below was sent by dacheat2222 after heavy flooding hit Streamwood. See more photos from readers.

Firefighters rescued three men from the Salt Creek in Elmhurst near the intersection of Illinois Highway 83 and North Avenue Monday night, officials said.

Mariano Rivera moved into second place on the career saves list and the New York Yankees put a small crimp in Chicago's postseason plans, beating the White Sox 4-2 on Monday night.

FULL STORY

Chicago radio station WGN-AM is again coming under attack from the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama for offering airtime to a controversial author. Read more in The Swamp.

Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, the parent of hospitals in Evanston, Highland Park and Glenview, has changed its name to NorthShore University HealthSystem.

FULL STORY

After they dried out from last year's flood along the Des Plaines River, Carol and Grant Dace stayed in their home along scenic Big Bend Drive because they thought they wouldn't experience a similar deluge any time soon.

FULL STORY

CTA and Pace riders should expect "modest" fare increases to help make up for $190 million in unanticipated 2009 budget pressures, Regional Transportation Authority officials said Monday.

FULL STORY

In the Des Plaines River area of the northwest suburbs, Pace had nine routes that were detoured Monday because of high water.

Saying "I don't think I'm cuckoo," Gov. Rod Blagojevich defended himself Monday in his latest skirmish with Mayor Richard Daley over mass transit funding. More on Clout Street.

Bail was set Monday at $250,000 for a Park Ridge man charged with repeatedly stabbing his mother's boyfriend during a quarrel near their apartment, police said.

FULL STORY

Classes for 8,200 students in Huntley-area schools were canceled Monday after teachers went on strike.

FULL STORY

The store created to sell local local foodstuffs is set to open Oct.1 at 66 E. Randolph St. More on The Stew

A fire that investigators blamed on faulty electrical wiring ripped through an Evanston restaurant Sunday, causing $140,000 in damage to the kitchen and forcing four Northwestern University students living in apartments upstairs to evacuate, firefighters said.

Local police and the FBI were seeking a man who robbed a Tinley Park bank Monday afternoon after threatening bank employees with a razor knife, officials said.

The man accused of being the "Groucho Bandit" by federal authorities has been arrested in another bank robbery after leaving an in-patient center where he was receiving mental health treatment, court records show.

FULL STORY

 

After touring flooded areas via helicopter, Gov. Rod Blagojevich visited a American Red Cross shelter for flood victims Des Plaines and declared seven Illinois counties disaster areas.

Two Chicago men were charged Monday with robbing a Buffalo Grove bank at gunpoint over the weekend, authorities said.

The Cubs got another great pitching performance, this time from Ted Lilly, and home runs from Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto and Jim Edmonds to beat the Houston Astros 6-1 in Milwaukee. FULL STORY

The Chicago Streets & Sanitation Department has these stats on just what it's been doing since 12:01 a.m. Saturday:

In Naperville, city spokeswoman Nadja Lalvani says the DuPage River has crested and officials are waiting for it to recede. Emergency operations have been disbanded.

Authorities searched a New Lenox creek Monday for a man who may have been swept away in floodwaters Sunday.

Several south suburban communities started assessing flood damage this morning, but others were forced to wait for floodwaters to recede.

Hundreds of roadways remain closed across the metropolitan area because of flooding, but some of them are opening up again.

 A quick update on flooding, road closures and so on in the northwest suburbs:

Authorities declared Will County a disaster area as they surveyed flood damage this afternoon, officials said.

In Glenview, where officials said more than 9 inches of rain fell in 36 hours over the weekend, the village continued with cleanup efforts on Monday.

Two men pulled a 13-year-old boy from the swiftly moving Des Plaines River this morning near 765 S. River Rd., authorities said.

Mayor Richard Daley said Monday that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's claim the mayor and the CTA are misleading the public about transit funding problems is "cuckoo." More in Clout Street.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich will take an aerial tour this afternoon of the areas of Illinois hit hardest by flooding.

An area flood warning for the Des Plaines River that was to have expired this morning has been extended until late Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

In Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood this morning, a handful of residents watched floodwaters recede as they anxiously waited to return to their homes to assess the damage.

United Airlines has doubled its fee for a second checked bag to $50, citing volatile fuel prices.

Unfortunate people with flooded basements at least have the electric power they need to pump them out.

Commonwealth Edison Co. said today there were no significant electrical outages from the storm that overwise wreaked havoc across the metropolitan area.

Vandalism to a signal box is causing delays this morning on Metra's Rock Island Line.

Flooding and impassable roads forced dozens of schools to cancel classes today.

Here's the list--updated every 15 minutes--from WGN-Radio's emergency center, or find your school on the list below:

State Sen. James Meeks is scheduled to meet with Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday to discuss school funding. More in Clout Street.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A Southwest Airlines jet out of Midway Airport carrying more than 100 passengers made an emergency landing at the South Bend Regional Airport after the crew smelled smoke in the cockpit.

Airport spokesman Kyle Phillips says no injuries were reported.

Huntley-area teachers are on strike.

After more than 40 hours of weekend negotiations, talks broke down early this morning between the Huntley-area teachers union and the board of Consolidated School District 158.

Teachers had been working without a contract since June.

MILWAUKEE - Bernie Brewer didn't make the trip to Miller Park on Sunday night, and the famous racing sausages decided to sit this one out too.

FULL STORY

Chicago's monsoon season ended and the baseball season resumed Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field, with oars exchanged for bats

FULL STORY

Across a waterlogged Chicago region, the rain eased for the first time in more than two days on Sunday, and forecasters predicted several days of drier weather ahead.

FULL STORY

A Geneva man died Friday on a fishing trip in northwestern Wisconsin when the homemade musket he was firing exploded and a piece of shrapnel  tore through the left femoral artery in his thigh, a coroner said Sunday.

The Indiana Department of Transportation announced some highways in northern Indiana are closed due to high water.  INDOT crews and Indiana State Police are on the scene redirecting traffic, according to a press release.

Many Chicago-area schools will be closed due to flooding. Before you get the kids ready, check the full list or sign up to be notified by e-mail.

With anxious parents awaiting word on a threatened Monday strike, the Huntley-area teachers union and the board of Consolidated School District 158 met for more than 30 hours this weekend, continuing negotiations late into this evening in the hopes arriving at a new contract.

FULL STORY

Des Plaines police are advising commuters to avoid traveling through the flooded city.

As of about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, the only accessible roads running north and south through the town are Mt. Prospect Road, Elmhurst Road and Wolf Road, police said. Miner Street and Touhy Avenue are the only open east-west roads.

WGN-Ch. 9 newscaster Allison Payne said Sunday night she has returned from Minnesota's Mayo Clinic, and plans to co-anchor the scheduled Monday debut of her station's 5:30 p.m. newscast, as planned.

FULL STORY

 

North Park University on Chicago's North Side closed at least three residence halls Sunday after losing power to the buildings because of flooding.

The Christian college's Anderson and Burgh halls were closed Saturday and Sunday after power was lost, apparently because of the flooded Chicago River that borders the campus. Both halls were shuttered Saturday after the river began to cover electrical transformers that supply power to both halls.

A university operator said Sunday night that power was also out at Sohlberg Hall. The school's Seminary Apartments on Christiana and Foster avenues may also be out, according to the school's Web site.

Students were being relocated to Helwig Recreation Center or to the homes of friends and family.

The university has about 3,100 students, according to its Web site.

Sue Mongthaveephangsa waits for neighbors to help sandbag her property in the Albany Park neighborhood. (Tribune /  E. Jason Wambsgans)

Rain-swollen rivers and creeks forced hundreds of voluntary evacuations across the Chicago region today, damaged homes and at least one architectural landmark, left two Indiana men drowned in a drainage ditch, and triggered emergency declarations in half a dozen Illinois communities and all of Cook County.
 

CLTV is reporting that about 20 people living in basement apartments on River and Higgins roads in the Village of Rosemont were evacuated by firefighters.

Those residents are staying at a Rosemont motel.

While homeowners along the Fox River fretted over damage to their homes, architectural and historical experts worried about the fate of the Farnsworth House, a historic site in Plano considered an icon in modern architecture.

Some Amtrak service has been cancelled and some trains will be significantly delayed because of heavy rains in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Missouri, Amtrak announced this afternoon.

The Bears couldn't hang on to their halftime lead Sunday and lost to the Carolina Panthers 20-17 Sunday. The Bears fell to 1-1 for the season. Carolina is 2-0.

FULL STORY

About 7:45 a.m. today, a driver made a wrong turn on North McClurg Cour., tried to reverse direction and lost control of the car, Chicago Police Officer Daniel O'Brien said. There was minimal damage to the fountain, but the driver was cited with several traffic violations.

Reader-submitted photo by Swaliga

The White Sox and Tigers will try to play a doubleheader today, but it will not be "split" as originally planned.

Because rain was supposed to stop in late afternoon, a decision was made by MLB offices that the first would begin as soon as possible, perhaps 4-5 p.m., and the second game would follow a half-hour later. There would be no separate entry for the second game.

      

 

Roadway closings in the region

-- In Indiana, all lanes of I-80/94 are closed between Cline and Calumet Avenues because of high water. Westbound traffic is being detoured to Calumet Avenue north, Cline Avenue east, and back to I-80/94. Eastbound traffic is being directed to Cline Avenue west, Calumet Avenue south, and back to I-80/94. 

Residents in an 11-building apartment complex and two subdivisions along Salt Creek on the east side of west suburban Addison were advised to vacate Sunday morning, and firefighters planned to use boats to assist, according to village spokesman Don Weiss.

The heavy rains have caused flooding issues near some areas bordering the Chicago River on the Northwest Side, prompting the Department of Streets and Sanitation to relocate as many vehicles as possible to get them out of harm's way.

Relocated vehicles that were south of the river in the affected area were taken to 4958 N. Springfield. Vehicles relocated from North of the river were taken to the Northeastern Illinois University Parking Lot, Lot "L," according to a city news release.

 

The Cubs and Houston will play two of their hurricane-postponed games at 7:05 p.m. Sunday and 1:05 p.m. Monday at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Major League Baseball announced late Saturday night.

FULL STORY

 

UPDATED AT 9:16 p.m.

As of 9:15 p.m., weather-related delays at O'Hare were averaging one hour for flights in and out of the airport. More than 50 flights were canceled due to weather.

At Midway, some flights were delayed about 45 minutes, with flight cancellations to Houston,  according to an update from the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Traffic conditions on O'Hare's roadways continued to improve, but
O'Hare travelers should allow extra time to get to the airport, officials said. 

Earlier Saturday, flooding had shut down inbound traffic to O'Hare.

Passengers planning to travel by air are advised to contact their airline or use flight tracker to check the status of their flight and be advised of roadway conditions and closings.

FULL WEATHER STORY

Chicago police on Saturday were searching for the gunman or gunmen who killed a 56-year-old man in the West Englewood neighborhood.

 

The Illinois attorney general's office is investigating reports of possible gasoline price gouging, while one cabbie said gas in downtown Chicago was 70 cents per gallon higher than some suburban stations.

Divers on Saturday recovered the body of a 28-year-old Rolling Meadows man who tried to swim with a friend across a flooded retention pond near the intersection of Kirchoff Road and South New Wilke Road in Arlington Heights, authorities said.

 

UPDATED at 4:01 p.m.

Chicago Tribune report

The Edens Expressway was shut down in both directions at Pratt Avenue for several hours Saturday because of flooding from heavy rains falling throughout Chicago area.

As of 4 p.m., the Edens had reopened in both directions, according to state transportation officials.

A witness reported major flooding on the two right lanes on the inbound Edens just before the junction.

Flights at O'Hare International Airport are delayed an hour or more with more delays and cancellations expected throughout the day, aviation officials said.

 CTA Blue Line service has been temporarily shut down between the Rosemont and O'Hare stations, officials said.

All flights to and from Houston at both O'Hare and Midway Airport are cancelled because of Hurricane Ike.

FULL STORY

Chicago Tribune report

A Chicago police officer was taken to Stroger Hospital this afternoon after a vehicle crashed into a squad car at 18th Street and Racine Avenue on the West Side.

It was unclear whether the squad car was stopped at the time of the crash.

A police spokesman said the officer was reported to be alert and talking on his way to the hospital.

A Chicago Fire Department spokesman said a total of three people were taken to Stroger, but further information was not available

Chicago Tribune report

A person was struck and killed by an Amtrak train this morning on the far Northwest Side.

The incident happened before 8 a.m. at Metra's Edgebrook station, at Devon and Lehigh avenues. The train had left Milwaukee at 6:15 a.m.

It was unclear how the person ended up on the tracks, and the station is not a scheduled stop, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

The accident delayed Amtrak rail traffic. Metra trains were rerouted around the Milwaukee North line but were delayed up to 20 minutes, a Metra spokesman said.

The Amtrak train involved in the incident started back toward Chicago at about 10 a.m., a spokesman said.

A person was grazed by a bullet in the 5600 block of South Bishop Street Friday night, Chicago Police Officer David Banks said.

 

A Round Lake Beach couple was arrested after 27 dogs -- many of which appeared to be malnourished and injured and had been kenneled in their own feces -- were discovered by police in a single-car garage Thursday night, officials said.

A 30-year-old Harvey woman accused of having a sexual encounter with a friend's teenage daughter was ordered held in lieu of $250,000 bail Friday, officials said.

Three Chicago Public Schools employees were charged with scheming to issue more than $137,000 in bogus payroll checks in exchange for kickbacks from seven school employees, including two teachers, officials said Friday.

The former director of the Harvey Park District admitted in federal court Friday that he used a district credit card  for personal expenses as well as campaign materials used in a run for a school board post.

Gargantuan Ferris wheels are the new status symbol for big cities vying to grab more attention on the world stage, so Chicago is going for an upgrade at Navy Pier, planning to build one at least twice the size of the existing wheel there.

Less than a week after bringing Joe Biden to Chicago to help meet an aggressive set of fundraising goals, Barack Obama's presidential campaign is bringing Hillary Clinton to the area for more money raising this weekend. Read more on The Swamp blog.

Another high-ranking Chicago police official is retiring from the department, among a half-dozen to leave since Supt. Jody Weis took office in February.

 

A person was struck by a Blue Line train at the Washington station during Friday evening rush hour, CTA and police officials said.

An Aurora man convicted of his sixth DUI and a Cicero man who pleaded guilty to his eighth were sentenced to prison terms Friday.

A Worth woman faces carjacking charges Friday after she was accused of  brandishing a razor knife at a 29-year-old mother before stealing her sport-utility vehicle  from a Hickory Hills parking lot this week.

 

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones brought Democrats together in Chicago Friday, but he wasn't there to focus on the fate of a high-profile campaign finance reform bill.

He wanted to talk about campaign cash. Read more on Clout Street.

A  Des Plaines man has been charged with one count of bank robbery after he was accused of holding up a Fifth Third Bank branch in  Evanston this week, authorities said Friday.

ARBOR VITAE, Wis. --  Three men, including one from the Chicago area and two from the Milwaukee area, died when their single-engine plane crashed near the Lakeland Airport on a trip to the north woods for a weekend getaway, the Vilas County coroner said Friday.

A teenager was shot and wounded Friday afternoon near a CTA Red Line station on Chicago's South Side and police said they arrested two suspects near the scene.

A Ringwood man was charged Friday with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol after he hit a parked McHenry County sheriff's squad car in Wonder Lake, police said.

An 88-year-old carjack victim on his way to Midway Airport last week died Friday after he apparently was run over with his own car, authorities said, and prosecutors upgraded charges against a West Side man to first-degree murder in the victim's death.

A Worth woman faces carjacking charges for allegedly brandishing a razor knife at a 29-year-old mother before stealing her Infinity from a Hickory Hills parking lot this week.

The CTA announced that it will begin running Brown Lines trains Friday in which some seats have been removed on up to two cars of a train. (For later developments on this story, click here.)

 

Huntley-area teachers say they will strike Monday if a contract agreement isn't reached this weekend with the Consolidated School District 158 board.

 

A toddler found unconscious in a pool Thursday at a home in Northlake died several hours later, authorities said Friday.

 

Police are investigating the fatal shooting Thursday night of a 20-year-old man on the West Side.

Cubs fans hoping for a World Series title before they die at least can be buried in a place that looks like Wrigley Field when they do. 

A Chicago construction worker died Thursday morning after falling 6 feet from scaffolding and breaking his neck outside a home in Morton Grove, police said Friday.

Four people were shot on the street early Friday morning in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, but none of their wounds was believed life-threatening.

Two teenage girls have been charged with beating a female witness in the shooting deaths last month of an off-duty Chicago police detective and his female companion.

Eric Zorn wants to tell you about standings and number of combined victories and losses by rivals of the Cubs and White Sox that will allow the Chicago teams to finish ahead of their pursuers this season. Read more on Change of Subject.

A Bolingbrook elementary school health assistant was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly having sexual relations with three teen boys in 2006, officials said.

The family of a 13-year-old Muslim student who claims that a former teacher singled him out as a "terrorist" during a 6th grade history class in the spring called for the woman's firing after meeting with Chicago Public Schools officials and a federal mediator for several hours Thursday.

Tinley Park police are searching for  both a man in his 20s who exposed himself to a 16-year-old girl Thursday and  also a man in his 60s who offered to walk home several elementary school students  Wednesday, officials said.

A Chicago man who owns a Melrose Park slot machine business has been charged with possession of child pornography and evading taxes on his west suburban business.

A jewelry dealer from Florida was stabbed and robbed of jewelry and diamonds worth $1.5 million as he was about to check into a Schiller Park hotel  Thursday afternoon, police said.

The fate of high-profile ethics legislation is up in the air now that Senate President Emil Jones is waiting until after the Nov. 4 election to call senators back to Springfield, prompting charges he wants to kill the reforms. Read more on Clout Street.

A Waukegan woman was severely injured by two pit bulls Thursday when she walked by a house in the 2100 block of Waverly Place.

A seven car pile-up near Streamwood during rush hour late Thursday afternoon sent four people to hospitals with minor injuries, police said.

A Catholic priest on the University of Illinois campus has been suspended after being charged with selling cocaine from his church office and rectory.

It's celebration time for backers of a long-delayed, $2 billion refinery expansion in the Metro East.

Though Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert no longer spars over movies with fellow critics on TV, it turns out the 66-year-old reviewer whose speaking voice has been lost to the effects of cancer treatment still has to defend himself from other reviewers -- physically, if not verbally. Read more in Phil Rosenthal's story.

ST. LOUIS - Despite efforts by Houston owner Drayton McLane to have the Cubs and Astros play at Minute Maid Park, Friday and Saturday's games of the three-game series will be postponed because of the arrival of Hurricane Ike.

CTA Blue Line service through three Northwest Side stations will be shut down from 9 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Monday for slow-zone construction work, according to a statement by the agency Thursday.

In a show of unity and devotion to one of their most prominent leaders, thousands of Muslims gathered Thursday in Villa Park to pay final respects to Imam W. Deen Mohammed.

A Chicago police officer was bitten Thursday afternoon by a woman during a traffic stop in the West Pullman neighborhood, police said.

A court-appointed psychiatrist has found James Pender mentally fit to stand trial for allegedly bludgeoning his estranged wife to death with a hammer on a River Forest street.

Rapper Kanye West and his road manager were arrested this morning at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of vandalism after they confronted two paparazzi and smashed the men's cameras, authorities said.

The incident took place about 7:50 a.m. outside the passenger security screening area in Terminal 4, said LAX spokeswoman Nancy Castles.

Initial reports said the incident involved "a commercial photographer, 'paparazzi' " and a camera worth more than $10,000, according to Castles.

Airport police said the confrontation started when a videographer from TMZ, the celebrity gossip website, and a still photographer from a paparazzi agency approached West and his road manager, Don Crowley, on the curb outside the terminal. West and Crowley were arriving at the airport for a commercial flight to Honolulu, officials said.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Thursday moved to end a long-running court case against political hiring,