Chicago Tribune du lieu suivant : Chicago, Illinois • Page 2-6

6 CHICAGO TRIBUNE METRO SECTION2 By Matt Tribune staff reporter A federal judge has rebuffed a disgraced former high-ranking city official who is hoping to qualify for an alcohol treatment program that could bring a significant cut in his prison term. Donald Tomczak contended he had kept his alcohol abuse from court officials to avoid embarrassment for himself and relatives, including his son, Jeff, former Will County attorney. In a court filing he authored from a federal prison camp, Tomczak, 72, sought to have court records changed to show that he had become dependent on alcohol and been under a care for the problem since 2004. But U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayanshot down the request earlier this week.

If Tomczak successfully completed the alcohol treatment program, his nearly 4-year prison term could have been cut by up to 1 year, according to U.S. Bureau of Prisons policy. A Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman in Washington said the fact that a alleged alcohol abuse mentioned in a probation report mean he would necessarily be rejected from the treatment program. The approval process take a little Felicia Pon- cesaid Thursday. Tomczak, once the top deputy in the Water Management Department, pleaded guilty in 2005 to commanding a political army of patronage workers and taking almost $400,000 in payoffs from companies that wanted business from the corrupt Hired Truck Program.

He began serving his sentence in February at the federal prison camp in Oxford, Wis. In his filing, Tomczak said he works as an orderly in the prison camp library and described himself as a model inmate. Tomczak said he confide to probation officials about his alcohol abuse to avoid notoriety for his son, who he said was then seeking re-election for attorney. However, the son lost re-election in 2004, months before Tomczak pleaded guilty to racketeering and a probation report would have been prepared. The probation report is also kept sealed from public view, though certain of its details can be made public at sentencing.

In pleading guilty, Tomczak admitted he had used city workers in 2000 to campaign on behalf of his son when he successfully ran for Will County attorney. Jeff Tomczak lost office in 2004 amid allegations that the Chicago political machine had influenced his first election. sentence could have been substantially longer than 4 years, but he won a break because he cooperated with federal law enforcement. Last year he testified for the prosecution at the corruption trial of Mayor Richard former patronage chief and three other former city officials. Tomczak bid to cut prison term rejected Judge buy alcoholism excuse Tomczak began serving his 4-year sentence in February at the federal prison camp in Oxford, Wis.

By Mary Owen and Hal Dardick Tribune staff reporters The husband of a Plainfield woman missing since Monday said he believes an unknown person picked her up at the house. Plainfield police are searching for Lisa Stebic, 37, who lives in the 13200 block of Red Star Drive. Her husband, Craig Steb- ic, 41, said he was working in the back yard and their children, ages 10 and 12, were out buying candy about 6:30 p.m. Monday when his wife left. He said that she went to Plainfield North High School every night to work out, and that he believes someone picked her up.

She took only her purse and cell phone, he said. Plainfield Deputy Police Chief Mark Eiting said Craig Stebic reported his wife missing at 10 a.m. Tuesday. There is no evidence of foul play, he said. not sure exactly he said.

Lisa car remains in the garage, and her cell phone and credit cards been used since Monday, Eiting said. Eiting said he could not confirm whether anyone saw Lisa Stebic working out at the school or whether she was picked up at her house. uncharacteristic of her to leave her children, so the reason we are putting this investigation Eiting said. Knowing she often went on walks and runs, police have searched a nearby jogging path and around an adjacent retention pond and found nothing, Eiting said. Investigators were aware of an Internet posting she made on April 11 looking for friends to join her in exercise, he said.

She listed her as cardio, tone up, simply get out more, meet new people, just have am a parent and would like to include my children in my health she wrote in the posting, in which she said she was for partners to get out and enjoy Eiting said they looked into the posting and found no information useful to their search. Craig Stebic said he filed for divorce after 14 years of marriage in mid-January after his wife declared in October that she want to be married to me Since then, he said, lived separate lives in the same house. Eiting said police were called to the home in December, for a domestic trouble call, so it was a verbal altercation between Lisa and her husband. No arrests, no According to court records, Craig Stebic sought joint custody of the children, with her as custodial parent, and said neither spouse needed to support the other. She also sought joint custody, asking that the court award her support and maintenance payments, records show.

On April 17, their last court date, both agreed to complete the Will County parenting program at the University of St. Francis Solutions Resource Center. They are due back in court June 6. Craig Stebic said he be sure where his wife went or with whom in the last several months. talked five words for the last five he said.

He said he is worried because he believe his wife would leave suddenly. see her leaving her he said. a good mother. do anything for her Lisa Stebic worked in the lunchroom at Lincoln Elementary in Plainfield. She did not show up for work on Tuesday, her husband said.

She has brown hair and hazel eyes, is 5 foot 2 and 120 pounds, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Plainfield Police Department at 815267-7217. Police seek clues on missing woman Husband says she was last seen Monday Stebic By Alexa Aguilar Tribune staff reporter The two toboggan slides in the Dan Ryan Woods are now choked with bramble, surrounded on all sides by a barbed-wire fence. But Marge Polo remembers the excitement of a snowy winter day, when bundled-up children from all over the Beverly neighborhood on South Side would tromp to the woods, toboggans in tow, to see who was brave enough to hurtle down the long wooden chute. those days, life was simpler, so this was a really exciting said Polo, who grew up in Beverly in the 1960s.

was so tall, so big. It was terrifying, really. I the bravest person, so it took a lot of gumption to do For the last seven winters, to- bogganers have been barred from whizzing down the chutes, but children were warned to stay away long before the offi- cial closure. Now, the wooden slides are in such disrepair and the hills so thick with shrubs that county officials decided this week to tear it down altogether. an said Steve Mayberryof the Cook County Forest Preserve District.

But nostalgic fans who love the memories evoked by a slide astride a snowy hill are hoping the Forest Preserve District follow suit with the other four toboggan sites throughout the county, most of which have also been for the since 2000. Though the Dan Ryan chutes are in the worst shape, all the aging structures need rehabilitation, officials said. Forest preserve commissioners are questioning whether they want to be in the especially considering how few days tobogganers can actually enjoy the slides, Mayberry said. To operate a run, there must be at least 4 inches of snow and temperatures colder than 25 degrees for 48 hours, Mayberry said. Records show that on average, about seven to 12 days a winter meet those criteria.

There are also legal liability concerns, Mayberry said. The district has spent $138,000 in legal fees to settle five different lawsuits filed by past users claiming injuries. This month, the board will seek bids from any private vendors interested in transforming any of the old slides, perhaps into a more year-round attraction with a snow machine or artificial surfaces. At Dan Ryan, the hill will be sodded and made suitable for sledding. is certainly the beginning of the said Commissioner Forrest Claypool (D-Chicago), who for years has advocated pumping the necessary millions into restoring the slides and reopening them.

He voted against removing the Dan Ryan slides, he said, because any momentum to fix or replace them would be lost once the chutes are gone. is the one thing the county does for kids, and they have been allowed to fall into Claypool said. are historical assets that have been operated for In addition to the run in the Dan Ryan Woods, officials have closed the slides in Bemis Woods in Western Springs, Deer Grove Woods in Palatine, and the Jensen toboggan run in Caldwell Woods. Palos Swallow once known as for its 90-foot two of its six chutes for only a few days in the last seven years because of a lack of snow and needed repairs. Commissioner Elizabeth Gorman, whose district includes Swallow Cliff, remembers plummeting down Swallow 90-foot drop as a child.

Now, she just uses the 122 steps leading to the chute as exercise. She wants Swallow Cliff to return to the family-friendly outing it once was. But Nature is not and artificial surfaces or snow machines may be the key to its return, she said. Tribune photos by Scott Strazzante Choked with bramble, the two toboggan slides in the Dan Ryan Woods have been closed for years. soon be torn down.

Toboggan runs head down chute Others may follow Ryan Woods slides Though the Dan Ryan site is in the worst shape, four other such sites also need rehabilitation. Product: CTMETRO PubDate: 05-04-2007 Zone: SSW Edition: HD Page: 2-6 User: rbishop Time: Color:.