Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 2-3

3 CHICAGO TRIBUNE METRO SECTION2 An Elk Grove Village woman who was a motorcycle passenger died early Sunday in a crash with a taxi in downtown Chicago, police said. The collision occurred about 2:45 a.m. on Lower Wacker Drive near Dearborn Street, Officer John Henry said. The taxi, westbound on Lower Wacker, turned left in front of the motorcycle, which was headed in the opposite direction, police said. The motorcycle passenger was identified as Florence Nicioli, 44, of the 300 block of Tonne Road, said a spokesman for the Cook County medical office.

She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead about 5 a.m. The motorcycle driver, a man, was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. The taxi driver and a female passenger were treated fornon-life-threat- ening injuries, police said. The police major-accidents investigation unit is looking into the accident. No charges have been filed against the taxi driver.

CHICAGO Taxi, motorcycle collide; woman dies A Peotone boy died of multiple injuries Saturday after the all-terrain vehicle he was driving hit a telephone pole in unincorporated eastern Will County, police said Sunday. Tom Aguilar, 14, was driving along Egyptian Trail Road south of Beecher Road about 1 p.m. Saturday when he struck the Pat Barry, Will County spokesman. witness sees the young man stop at a stop sign, and the next hearing a crack and the ATV was up against the telephone Barry said. There was no indication that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, Barry said.

WILL COUNTY Peotone teenager killed after ATV strikes pole Associated Press The Loch Ness Monster not. But an unusual-looking snake spotted in a central Illinois lake has prompted excited speculation, as well as a search before the 4th of July holiday. A woman who lives near Lake Springfield took a photo in April of what appeared to be a large, yellow head above water and its body beneath it. Lake manager Michelle Nicol said the snake been seen since at the popular holiday destination for Springfield residents, but authorities are still keeping an eye out for it. She also appealed for help in finding the reptile, which may not be native to the area.

Some residents believe the reptile is an exotic python released by an unscrupulous pet owner. Others think it might be native to the region, possibly a northern water snake. Either way, some have gone so far as to dub the mysterious creature in homage to fabled Loch Ness Monster. SPRINGFIELD Snake charms residents, who nickname it Associated Press Mahogany interiors, five-course meals and personal butler service will be available on several Amtrak routes from Chicago and other cities starting this fall, as the national passenger railroad embarks on a new partnership with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys. The companies have teamed up to attach seven special GrandLuxe cars to regularly scheduled Amtrak trains.

More than 90 departures are scheduled from November to early January. The new servicewill be available between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay area; Chicago and Los Angeles; and Washington and Miami. Limited trips also are scheduled between Washington and Chicago, among other routes. CHICAGO Amtrak will add luxury rail cars to several routes Police were searching for leads in the fatal shooting of a 43-year-old man early Sunday in a bar. Details of the incident, which occurred about 1 a.m.

in an establishment at 1659 W. Cullerton are still unknown, said Chicago Police Officer John Henry. we know preliminarily is that someone walked into the bar and walked up to the victim and shot him multiple Henry said. Police do not know what led up to the shooting. According to a spokesman for the Cook County medical office, the man was identified as Juan Orozco of the 2100 block of West Cullerton.

He was pronounced dead at the scene about 1:50 a.m. CHICAGO Cops seek assailant who fatally shot man in bar METROPOLITAN DIGEST at the Kendall County main entrance at 9 a.m. for transportation. Plainfield Police Chief Donald Bennett said the department is working on the case, By Russell Working Tribune staff reporter A pancake breakfast in a small-town school cafeteria tends to be a place of easy camaraderie among old friends. But on Sunday an ominous cloud lingered over Jones Middle School in Plainfield.

Families forking down scrambled eggs and sausage read over fliers asking for volunteers to help search the woods for any sign of Lisa Stebic, a Plainfield mother of two who disappeared April 30. A large poster of the missing woman was hung on one wall, and her sisters circulated the room, talking with both friends and strangers who had dropped in to help raise money for a reward or, should it never be claimed, a college fund for children, ages 10 and 12. As they ate, members of the crowd mulled the dark possibilities of a disappearance that has united the village southwest of Chicago in shared worry for Stebic. Leigh Harris, a family friend who is coordinating events intended to keep a spotlight on the disappearance, said fundraisers and raised more than $60,000. want to keep her name out there so that this search does not Harris said.

refuse to let her become a Stebic, 37, was last seen by her husband, Craig, in the home. The couple were going through divorce proceedings when she vanished. The breakfast is the last fundraiser planned for the summer, but police are seeking volunteers to help search Silver Springs State Park, about 20 miles west of Plainfield, on Saturday. Partici- pants should wear boots and rough clothes to comb an area covered with marshland and poison oak, organizers said. Because of limited parking, volunteers are asked to meet but no arrests are imminent.

Police have ruled out the possibility that Stebic simply ran off. has he said. up the been two this look like a case in which she went away Wayne Haffey, a retired Chicago police officer who lives in Plainfield, has never met Steb- ic but showed up for the breakfast because like this affect Still, it was hard not to fear the worse. gut feeling is that met her Haffey said. got to keep hoping they get some kind of lead that puts some closure to it and helps out those kids.

I imagine what going sisters, Jamie Bouma of Grayslake and Debbie Ruttenberg of Hampshire, were constantly surrounded by sympathizers and well- wishers. They said they hoped the breakfast would serve a purpose beyond the money raised by keeping the story alive in the media. one person saw one thing and they been watching the news and suddenly they hear about this, maybe Ruttenberg said. For family members, the worry about her is a constant, gnawing presence. day and every night, we think about Bouma said.

very hard to Harris became involved in the case because she is friends with Ruttenberg. got a call in the middle of the night that Lisa went missing, and I heard the terror in her Harris said. Plainfield resident Darrell Zehner know Stebic, but he brought his two children, ages 4 and 5, to the breakfast. For all the anguish that the disappearance has brought, at least the community cares, he said. something ever happened to your own Zehner said, hope you could turn to the community and get this kind of Event keeps spotlight on search Tribune photo by Tom Van Dyke D.J.

Eckhorn, 3, makes his uncle, Corey Hendricks, smile at a pancake breakfast Sunday in Plainfield to raise funds to help with the search for their missing relative, Lisa Stebic. Fundraisers want missing fate to stay in public eye Stebic By Graydon Megan Special to the Tribune The attempted escape of a suspect who tried to climb through a ceiling in 2000 is evidence that the Elk Grove Village municipal complex built to accommodate a police station, officials said. The suspect was quickly recaptured when he fell through the suspended ceiling into another office, said Village Manager Raymond Rummel. But the layout of the police station has been a problem for years, Rummel said, and is a major reason the suburb invested $30million in a new building and reconfigured municipal complex. The current layout forces police to move prisoners through public areas and past gun cabinets.

Police Department has issues with the Rummel said. The municipal complex at Wellington Avenue and Bies- terfield Road is actually three buildings, anchored on the west by the administration center and the east by Fire Station 7. The middle building, which now includes the police station and other offices, will be replaced by a three-level facility. The new building will have space for the Police Department, community and social services and offices for elected officials and the village manager. The project is designed to improve efficiency and con- solidate operations, said Mayor Craig Johnson.

will be a nice one-stop shop for everyone in Elk Grove Johnson said. The village is selling bonds to finance the project, which is expected to be completed by February 2009, officials said. The new building also will house cable-access Channel 6, which will free up space in the administration center for the Engineering Department to move up to the ground floor. Fire Department administra- torswill move into the lower level. The new building will include underground parking, which will save time for officers who now must remove temperature-sensitive equipment from cars parked outside and eliminate warm-up time for cameras and computers in the cold, Police Chief Stephen Schmidt said.

He said the new building also will have a firing range large enough to pull in a car when needed for training drills. Elk Grove police aiming for safer station By Josh Noel Tribune staff reporter Northbound lanes of the Edens Expressway were closed for more than seven hours Sunday after a dump truck carrying greasy pig parts toppled and splattered its load across the highway. A sudden shift in the load caused the truck to fall onto its side about 7:30 a.m. while entering the Edens at Dempster Street, said Mike Claffey, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation. Pig ears, feet and grease covered all three northbound lanes of the Edens, he said.

is obviously something really hard to clean Claffey said. The outbound Edens was closed between the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago and Dempster in Skokie until about 3 p.m. The driver, Hassan Ware, 39, of the 0-100 block of Willow Courtin Bolingbrook, was cited with driving too fast for conditions and spilling a load on the highway, state police said. The trucker, who was not injured, was unavailable for comment. IDOT workers used sand to absorb the grease and were trucking with the pig the scene.

Foam usually used in hazardous-material cases was used to clean the road, Claffey said. IDOT cleaned the lanes twice, then sprinkled rock used during provide ex- tra traction. Electronic message boards above the highway warned drivers of potential slippery conditions. Trooper Jose Nevarez said northbound traffic was diverted onto the Kennedy or side streets, resulting in long delays. Southbound lanes of the Edens were unaffected.

The truck bears the name of Griffin Industries of Hammond, which says on its Web site that it collects and transports of pounds of waste byproducts daily from slaughterhouses, packing plants, butcher shops, supermarkets, hotels and A company spokesman did not return a call for comment Sunday. Tribune photo by Chuck Berman Sand covers the Edens Expressway on Sunday after a truck carrying pig parts overturned. Accident turns Edens into pigsty By Susan Kuczka Tribune staff reporter When Bill Scheurer ran as an independent in last race for the northwest suburban 8th Congressional District seat held by Barrington Democrat Melissa Bean, his wife, Randi, backed him every step of the way. But now it will be Randi Scheurer taking the lead when she makes a run at unseating Bean, the two-term incumbent, in the 2008 Democratic primary. running because I want to bring our troops home from Iraq said Scheurer, whose 29-year-old son recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with the National Guard.

consider this an illegal war, an immoral war and a war of Although shehas never run for office, Randi Scheurer got a firsthand look at how campaigns work when her husband ran under the Moderate Party banner. Bill Scheurer said likely to run again as the Moderate Party candidate in next election. He garnered more than 5 percent of the vote in 2006, guaranteeing the party a spot on the ballot. Married 35 years, the Scheurers said they do not expect their competing candidacies to drive a wedge between them because they both will be campaigning for an immediate troop withdrawal from the Middle East. be happy if either one of us got in because the issue is so said Randi Scheurer, an artist and mother of four who is a member of Military Families Speak Out.

believe our representative listening to the voices of our said Scheurer, who criticized Bean for supporting funding for the Iraq war. Brian Herman, a spokesman for Bean, said her voting record shows consistent support of the troops. continues to reach out and respond to her constituents, and looks forward to running on her Herman said. Long Grove businessman Steve Greenberg announced plans to seek the GOP nomination. Both Randi and Bill Scheurer said they would rely on donations to fund their individual campaigns.

Most important, they said, will be taking their campaign directly to residents of their Lindenhurst neighborhood and other 8th District towns. know how to walk the streets and go door to door, which I think will be the real Randi Scheurer said. Wife, husband might be rivals in U.S. House race Bill and Randi Scheurer of Lindenhurst might face off in Melissa 8th District. Product: CTMETRO PubDate: 07-02-2007 Zone: ALL Edition: HD Page: 2-3 User: gajohnson Time: Color:.