Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 2-7

123456 TRIBUNE 7 METRO By William Presecky Tribune staff reporter While Kane first voter hot line worked smoothly on Election Day, the cell phone system designed to allow communication with polling places broke down, Atty. John Barsanti said Tuesday. The failure of County Clerk Jack plan to use cellular telephones at polling sites on Nov. 7 forced Barsanti to dispatch teams of assistant attorneys by car to help resolve more than 20 voter complaints, he said. If the phones had worked, some of the voter complaints would have been handled remotely, allowing those assistant attorneys to take hot line calls instead of driving to polling sites, Barsanti said at a news conference.

Several of the cell phones issued to voting precincts by Cunningham were distributed in error or not programmed correctly, said Barsanti. not sure exactly what he said. there were precincts that we could not get a hold of. A lot of places were not reachable he said. But communications is of the glitches that can be worked on pretty said Barsanti, adding that he and others planned to work with Cunningham to help resolve those issues.

Barsanti said the hot line worked well. intend to do this every said Barsanti. Nearly a dozen assistant attorneys fielded about 140 calls to the complaint line, including a few when voting was extended by court order for an additional 90 minutes, Barsanti said. Of the 175 complaints registered with the office, roughly a third were related to polls opening late, various mechanical issues and long lines to vote, he said. More than a third were related to electioneering, either in or too close to polling places, Barsanti said.

Other calls included complaints about bad signage, lack of privacy, language difficulty, voter identification problems and, in one case, no U.S. flag being displayed. The majority of the complaints came from the Aurora and Elgin areas, according to the report. In part because failed communications made it impossible early on to ascertain how many of the 223 precincts had failed to open on time at 6 a.m. a Kane County Circuit Court judge ordered that all of the precincts remain open an additional hour and a half on Election Day.

Cells fizzle, but hot line saves Kane election Midwest Baseball Academy The largest instructional program returns to 5 Chicagoland locations from Jan. 7 April 1. Six weeks of advanced hitting and pitching lessons for just $98. Elgin Melrose Park Palos Hills Park Forest NW Indiana Sessions for grades 1-12 Top area coaches 5:1 ratio Great indoor facilities Batting cages Space is limited. Register today.

Phone 866-MBA-HITS or visit www.BaseballAcademy.net Travel smart! chicagotribune.com/traveldeals charged with a wide range of drug and gun violations. The investigation began in 2003, when a longtime gang member agreed to cooperate and provided investigators with access to the structure, authorities said. About 90 guns were seized during the probe, along with more than 15 kilograms of cocaine. Investigators said they hoped the case would have an effect in many of the subregions controlled by King. think at this point pretty much decapitated the Latin Kings on the South said Andrew Traver, special agent in charge of the Chicago ATF.

Traver said support in executing arrest warrants early Tuesday came from a variety of federal agencies, the Cook County office and police in Summit, Hickory Hills, Stickney and Orland Park. alleged second in command, 29-year-old Anthony Compean of Cicero, was charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine. Compean, known as was charged after a cooperating gang member was arrested by the ATF early this year and decided to help investigators. The gang member, who was not identified, has a rap sheet that includes a 1997 attempted murder conviction in Cook County and a 1999 drug conviction in Texas. He told authorities he knew Compean as a Latin Kings leader in and agreed to record drug transactions with him, according to a criminal complaint against Compean.

During a March meeting at the gang house, Compean agreed to sell the man a half-kilogram of cocaine for $10,000, the complaint states. lawyer, Todd Pugh, declined to comment Tuesday, saying he has not had a chance to read the complaint. Oscar Diaz, 32, of Blue Island, the alleged southwest regional leader of the gang, was charged with providing a Russian assault rifle to a cooperating witness in November, a gun delivered to Elmhurst. Danny Aguilar, 29, of Justice, the alleged regional enforcer, was charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs. In the case against King, a former gang member cooperating with federal agents recorded conversations with King in which drug deals were discussed, according to a criminal complaint released Tuesday.

On Monday, the informant provided King with a kilogram of what King thought was cocaine, leading to his arrest and the charges against him. The informant told agents that he understood King to report to no one but the highest echelon. An attorney for King could not immediately be reached for comment. Fitzgerald said authorities hoped investigations such as the one that ended Tuesday would send a message to would- be gang leaders that such a position comes with a price. New Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said the case should also be a warning for suburban residents that street gangs are entrenched in their neighborhoods too.

those people who still feel for some reason that gang crime is centered in the city of Chicago and does not touch suburban Cook County, if this is not their wake-up call, I know what looking Dart said. ARRESTS: Latin Kings talks were taped CONTINUEDFROMPAGE1 Daniel Aguilar Oscar Diaz Augustine Jarosz Mohammad Issa Antonio Cabral Juan Gonzalez Miguel Juarez Nedal Issa Gang suspects sought Tribune photo by Terrence Antonio James U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald (left) and Andrew Traver of the Chicago Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at a news conference Tuesday announcing the 18 arrests. By Susan Berger Special to the Tribune Health and school officials are pleased with the turnout in a weeklong effort to vaccinate students and staff against a whooping cough outbreak at New Trier Township High School this fall.

On Tuesday, the first day for student shots, 205 received the free vaccine. Staff members began being vaccinated Monday, and as of Tuesday 300 had come forward. The school also has received 175 notes from doctors verifying that students have been inoculated elsewhere. am happy; a good said Dr. Catherine Counard, Cook assistant medical director for communicable disease.

She also said that Tuesday might be the slowest day because paperwork has to be turned in before shots are given. The Cook County Department of Public Health provided the vaccines and 12 doctors and nurses to administer them at the Winnetka campus. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare provided four nurses to administer the vaccine to the staff at New Northfield Campus. Shots will be available through Friday. As of Tuesday, 29 students and one teacher had come down with the highly contagious bacterial infection also known as pertussis.

County health officials were prompted to provide the vaccinations upon learning that only 30 percent of juniors and seniors had received a booster vaccine since parents were urged in a Sept. 7 letter to have their children vaccinated. County health officials warned that they could bar students from school who were not vaccinated if the outbreak brought under control at the school. New Trier school nurse Colleen Kahler said parents are helping with the vaccination clinic by staffing sign-in tables and directing traffic. Although District 203 postponed some athletic events last week, no others have been canceled, Supt.

Linda Yonke said. Pertussis is spread by coughing or sneezing and is contagious from just before the onset of symptoms until three weeks later, unless treated with antibiotics. Symptoms resemble a common cold with a mild cough that becomes severe. Most people recover from per- tussis, but it is dangerous to infants, who are at risk of pneumonia, seizure or death. Tribune photo by Jim Robinson Nurse Deborah Nichols immunizes teacher Brian Woodruff against whooping cough Tuesday at New Northfield campus.

Thirty cases have been reported at the school. Anti-whooping cough effort at New Trier is off to.