Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 2-3

3 CCHICAGO TRIBUNE METRO SECTION2 Chicago police seized more than a dozen rifles and assault weapons on Thursday from a home in the Hegewisch neighborhood, police said. The weapons were found after officers executed a search warrant in the 12900 block of South Exchange Avenue, police said. Thirteen rifles and assault weapons, eighthandguns and hundreds of rounds of military ammunition were found. A man living in the home took responsibility for the weapons and was taken into custody, said South Chicago District Lt. Maurice Richards.

Charges had not been filed on Thursday evening. The Southeast Side has seen a rise in gang violence, and police were concerned the weapons would be sold or stolen, Richards said. Police do not believe the man was involved in gangs, he said. CHICAGO Cops seize weapon stash from home Firefighters in boats searched a Plainfield lake Thursday to find a mother of two who has been missing for nearly two weeks. Lisa Stebic, 37, was last seen April 30 inside her home in the 13200 block of Red Star Drive.

Her husband, Craig, told investigators he did not see her leave. The couple live together but are in the middle of a divorce. On Wednesday, Craig Stebic filed for temporary full custody of the children. Dion Davi, the attorney representing Craig Stebic, said he wanted to protect his client so that cannot come in and disappear with the children just as she has Lisa divorce attorney, Glenn Kahn, said that he think filing was and that he will fight the request. Plainfield Deputy Police Chief Mark Eiting said firefighters searched Lake Renwick, just north of U.S.

Highway 30 and Renwick Road, Thursday morning. PLAINFIELD Search for missing mom expands into village lake State police are investigating the death of a man who had been held in the Bridgeview police lockup, authorities said. An autopsy on Gilberto Reyes, 40, of the 800 block of South Harlem Avenue, Bridgeview, was inconclusive, according to the Cook County medical office. Reyes was arrested without incident during a traffic stop around 3:45 a.m. Tuesday after police searched his vehicle and found a sawed-off shotgun, state police Master Sgt.

Luis Gutierrez said. He was being held in the lockup when officers performing a routine check found him rolling on the floor of the cell and unresponsive, Gutierrez said. Paramedics took Reyes to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he went into cardiac arrest. BRIDGEVIEW Police investigate death of man held in lockup Red Line trains will be rerouted onto the elevated tracks during the weekend, CTA officials said on Thursday. Trains running northand southbe- tween the Fullerton and Roosevelt stops will operate on the elevated tracks from 11 p.m.

Friday to 2 p.m. Sunday. Trains will operate normally north of the Fullerton stop and south of the stop. The CTA will provide three shuttle buses to connect the downtown Red Line subway stations to nearby elevated stations along the Brown Line. CTA RED LINE Subway stations closed for weekend, officials say METROPOLITAN DIGEST By Jon Hilkevitch Tribune transportation reporter On his 10th day on the job Thursday, CTA President Ron Huberman nibbled at non-essential internal expenses, announcing $12.5 million in administrative cuts from the transit billion annual operating budget.

CTA customers will not feel the pinch from the elimination of 49 which 31 are already other cutbacks at the glass-and-steel headquarters said, calling the cuts just the beginning. The CTAhas more than No frontline jobs, like bus drivers, train operators, janitors or maintenance workers, were said, adding, however, that service cuts are still on the table later this year if the legislature does notapprove additional transit funding to plug a $110 million budget shortfall. Transit oversight groups praised cost-cutting effort, but they said major savings can be achieved only by the CTA aggressively holding down costs related to salaries, health care and pension benefits provided to retirees, who currently make no contributions to their health insurance plan. The CTA pension is only about 35 percent funded. General Assembly has passed legislation requiring the CTA pension be at a 90 percent funded ratio by 2058.

Unless the CTA finds new revenues or substantially reduces labor costs, these funds must come from service said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation of Chicago. The jobs that Huberman yanked from the CTA payroll Thursday range from more than a dozen manager posts to nine unionized jobs, including secretaries, clerks and typists, at a total annual savings of $3.8 million, officials said. Some affected employees who have good work records could be reassigned, Huberman said. Most of the remaining savings would come from an estimated $7 million reduction in overtime pay. The $7 million represents about 20 percent of what is typically spent on overtime annually at the CTA, officials said.

Also being pared are advertising expenditures, miscellaneous administrative spending and employee purchasing practices will be reformed to better manage cash flow, Huberman said. we are doing at the CTA is tightening the belt everywhere we Huberman said at a news conference at CTA headquarters, 567 W. Lake St. CTA has to show its riders, taxpayers and the legislature that we are doing a better job managing the resources we currently he said. The CTA faces a $110 million operating shortfall in 2007.

The agency, along with Metra and Pace, is counting on a $226 million bailout from Springfield. The Regional Transportation Authority, meanwhile, is calling on the General Assembly to provide $400 million in annual operating funds for transit and $10 billion in new capital funds over the next five years. RTA Executive Director Stephen Schlickman said administrative cuts send the right mes- sage that we need to make tough While agreeing with a recent state audit that called for reforms and belt-tightening by the CTA, Metra and Pace in concert with increases in state transit funding, Schlickman said, think there is a lot more to be cut out of the administrative costs. Eventually you will be cutting into the Schlickman on Thursday sent a letter to the three transit agencies asking them to produce plans for possible service cuts and fare increases to take effect July 1 if the state does not authorize additional funding. Huberman said his top priority at the CTA is to focus on safety, consistency of service and cleanliness.

But he indicated the CTA would continue to cut costs to demonstrate to state legislators the transit commitment to operating like a business while striving for high performance. will be coming back in a lot of for more cuts, Huberman said. A consultant that the CTA hired in 2005 to identify cost savings came up with $159 million in suggested cuts and efficiencies. But $111 million of the projected savings would require changes in the collective-bargaining agreements or legislation. CTA boss cuts 49 jobs as agency snips budget The jobs that CTA President Ron Huberman cut Thursday will save the Chicago Transit Authority a year.

By Kristen Kridel Tribune staff reporter Only a teenager in 1944, Magda Brown did not want to be separated from her mother. She clung to the hand. With the tip of his index finger, an official indicated which Jews would be killed at the death camp. Young and beautiful, mother could have been saved, the Holocaust survivor recalled. But Brown never saw her mother again.

The 17-year- old was sent to the right; her mother to the left. The two were ripped apart. saw us holding on to each other and that was another way to torture said Brown, 79. Brown, a Skokie resident and member of the speakers bureau of the Illinois Holocaust Memorial Foundation, told her story Thursday to about 250 people attending 17th annual Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Cultural Center. must never said Mayor Richard Daley.

Some humanity has learned its lesson and that it could never happen again. That is a dangerous assumption. Humanity still has a lot to Brown said she had a carefree childhood with loving parents before Germany invaded Hungary, her homeland, in 1943, she said. Everything changed at a breakneck pace, she said. Jews were segregated from the rest of the population.

neighborhood was transformed into a ghetto. The house her grandfather had built soon sheltered 40 people, she said. Within months, her family was sent to a labor camp. have absolutely she said. I say nothing, I mean it in its truest sense.

lying on the floor and thinking what the next step will The day Brown turned 17, she was shoved into a boxcar with 80 other people. There only was enough room for the elderly to sit. Fresh air came from a single window the size of a TV screen that was barred by barbed wire. They rode in the railroad car for about four days without food or water, she said. Many people out of their screaming and cursing.

A young mother refused to remove her dead baby from her bosom. When they finally got off the train, they were at the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland. Brown was shaved of all her body hair. Then she was sprayed down with chemicals and given a shower. Brown received only a slip for clothing.

of a sudden, from a normal human being, you become a robot, a Brown said. think for Five hundred people were crammed into barracks suitable for 200 and fed only green, she said. They slept shoulder-to-shoulder, using their wooden clogs as pillows. During the day, smoke billowed nonstop from chimneys surrounding the camp, she said. remember the burning flesh smelling, and wondering who is she said.

Eventually, Brown was sent to Germany to work in an ammunition factory. Without protective gear, she was forced to fill bombs with poisonous chemicals. Within a month, her hair turned orange, her skin became yellow and her lips grew purple. When Allied bombers flew overhead, she prayed they would hit the factory, she said. As Allies got closer, Brown said she was forced to march away from the factory.

group of us, we decided our life is worth she said. They planned an escape. Hiding in a barn, they lay amid straw and manure for at least a day. Two American soldiers found and liberated them. Brown said she remembers different details each time she tells the story.

open new she said. Amy Rainey, granddaughter, said this was the first time she ever heard the story in full. She cried. just amazed at how dedicated she is to telling her story and preaching tolerance, making sure nothing like this happens Rainey said. Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak Holocaust survivor Janine Oberrotman lights a candle in remembrance on Thursday at the Chicago Cultural Center.

A painful remembrance Holocaust survivors say telling their stories helps them heal and ensures that the world will never have to endure similar horrors By John Chase and David Kidwell Tribune staff reporters The embattled Krispy Kreme Doughnuts abruptly shuttered its three locations at the Illinois Tollway oases this week, giving its top rival, Donuts, another chance at a state lease enveloped in questions of political favoritism. The move to close the shops Wednesday afternoon came one month after the Tribune detailed how a Chicago-area Donuts magnate forged ties to Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his wife last year while seeking to expand his doughnut empire into the state-owned oases. A spokeswoman for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority said her bosses were but were unaware the famous sweets were no longer available at the oases until a reporter informed them Thursday morning. we first announced the tenants, there was lots of excitement that Krispy Kreme was spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis said.

view it as a Although it occurred without notice, Krispy departure has been expected for more than a year. Lagging sales and legal troubles had the nationwide chain near collapse last year as it struggled to fulfill its lease obligations. In addition, Krispy franchisee at the Louis-based Sweet among several tenants who complained about unreasonably high rents and exaggerated preconstruction estimates of foot traffic at the seven oases. Janie Goldberg-Dicks, a spokeswoman for Sweet Traditions, said Thursday it had become clear the toll- way oases leasing agent, Wilton Partners, was not going to renegotiate the rent. resolution to accommodate their situation was not Goldberg- Dicks said.

a combination of high rent and low foot traffic, it was necessary to make this decision Scott Mayer, president, said his company might consider legal action against Sweet Traditions and questioned whether the rents were solely to blame for the closings. Sweet Traditions, he said, opened stores in only three of seven locations. have been a patient Mayer said. their business model is not successful company- On the renewed chances for Donuts, Mayer said, deem confidential any discussions with potential In an April e-mail response to the questions, Mayer said negotiations with Donuts stalled last year because of a non-compete clause with the Starbucks coffee chain, another oases tenant. Tollway spokeswoman McGinnis said a deal with Donuts would be seriously considered if the legal obstacles could be overcome.

Donuts officials declined to comment. Last month, the Tribune reported about efforts by Amrit J. Patel, 60, one of the largest and most influential Donuts owners in the Chicago area, to build ties with Blagojevich. In April 2006, Patel held a fundraiser at his Northbrook home for the governor. His family also has ties to a real estate deal that paid the wife more than $30,000 in commissions in May 2006.

At the time, Donuts was trying to finalize an agreement to take over leases from Krispy Kreme at the seven tollway oases. Patel acknowledged he started the tollway effort in 2005 but said corporate officials took over the effort months before he began his political activities. Patel said in April that he no longer wants to run any toll- way stores. pal could wind up on tollway Krispy Kreme pulls out of oasis spots A 2-year-old boy was in serious condition Thursday night after opening a bedroom window in a Little Village apartment and falling three stories to the ground, Chicago police said. The child was in a bedroom in the top- floor apartment of a three-flat in the 3000 block of West Cermak Road and lifted open a window before falling, police said.

The boy landed on his stomach on the concrete, police said. His parents, who were home and heard a loud noise, rushed into the bedroom and discovered the boy had fallen, police said. They called 911 about 3:35 p.m., police said. The boy, who is at Mt. Sinai Hospital, possibly suffered a skull fracture, but is expected to survive.

LITTLE VILLAGE Boy, 2, seriously injured in 3rd-story fall, cops say Product: CTMETRO PubDate: 05-11-2007 Zone: Edition: HD Page: METROP3-3 User: gajohnson Time: Color:.