Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 2-3

3 WCHICAGO TRIBUNE METRO SECTION2 One person was severely injured in a traffic crash during the Monday afternoon rush hour on the Eisenhower Expressway near the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. As of 5:40 p.m., three of the four eastbound lanes were shut down near the accident site, located just east of Ashland Avenue, according to an Illinois Department of Transportation dispatcher. The crash happened in the eastbound lanes shortly before 5 p.m., sending one person in serious to critical condition to Stroger Hospital of Cook County, said firefighter Richard Rosado, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman. Illinois State Police were investigating. CHICAGO 1 severely injured as rush-hour crash closes Eisenhower A Chicago man was killed Sunday when he was thrown from a car in a rollover crash on the Bishop Ford Freeway, police said Monday.

Robin Stokes, 27, was one of five people in a car northbound on Interstate Highway 94 near 134th Street on the Far South Side about 3 a.m. when they were cut off by another vehicle, Illinois State Police Trooper Rodney Collins said. The driver of the car in which Stokes was a passenger swerved and lost control, causing the car to flip, he said. Stokes, of the 10200 block of May Street, was taken to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, where he died at 2:03 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical office.

The driver and three other passengers were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and were listed in stable condition on Monday, Collins said. No citations have been issued against the driver, and alcohol was not a factor in the crash, Collins said. None of the passengerswas wearing a seat belt. CHICAGO Passenger killed, 4 hurt in crash on Bishop Ford More than two months after Chicago Public Schools teachers approved a new contract that added financial incentives for educators to become nationally certified, a record number of the teachers are pursuing the top teaching credential, officials said Monday. More than 660 teachers this fall enrolled in programs leading to national board certification, according to school officials.

To date, 652 teachers have achieved national certification and about 400 others have completed the process and are awaiting their scores, according to officials at the Chicago Public Education Fund, which helps pay for public education in Chicago. In September, the teachers union approved a five-year deal that would give teachers a $1,750 annual salary boost if they received national certification. In addition, the Chicago Public Education Fund has given teachers $3,000 if they attain certification. Teachers also receive a financial incentive from Chicago Public Schools and Illinois education agencies if they receive the certification, said Cindy Lieberman, a spokeswoman with the Chicago Public Education Fund. From 2001 to 2005, schools with at least three nationalboard-certified teachers showed larger gains on standardized tests than schools without nationally certified teachers, Lieberman said.

CHICAGO Teachers eager to get raises for certification The death of a 2-year-old Aurora boy who fell from a bunk bed over the weekend most likely was an accident, officials said Monday. Christopher Young suffered a head injury about 11 p.m. Saturday in his home in the 600 block of North Buell Avenue, police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said. Ferrelli said the autopsy has been completed, but the manner of death is pending the police investigation. The boy, who may have suffered from a medical condition affecting his balance, tumbled from the top bunk in his bedroom, Ferrelli said.

A 25-year-old relative who was baby-sitting called police. Christopher was airlifted to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead at 6:05 a.m. Sunday, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical office. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the death, said spokeswoman Kendall Marlowe, who added that the agency has had no previous contact with the family. AURORA death was likely accidental, officials say METROPOLITAN DIGEST Tribune photo by Chuck Berman backs student activists Rev.

Gregory Livingston, national field secretary for the Coalition, speaks in support of parents and students demonstrating Monday at Morton West High School in Berwyn. has threatened to sue District 201 and the school, where students who participated in a recent Iraq war protest were suspended and some may face expulsion. By Carolyn Starks and Jeff Long Tribune staff reporters Speed may have been to blame for a one-car crash over the weekend that killed two Harvard High School students, McHenry County police said Monday. Police said Travis Peters, 16, of Harvard was driving south on Pagles Road in unincorporated McHenry County near Harvard around noon Saturday when his car swerved off the pavement, struck a tree and rolled over. Peters and a passenger, Juan Resendiz, 17, also of Harvard died at the scene, said police Sgt.

Karen Groves. couple of witnesses said they appeared to be traveling over the speed Groves said. damage to the car is certainly consistent with Peters played baseball and was on the high school wrestling and football teams, said Tim Haak, athletic director and a coach at Harvard High School. Peters and Resendiz had known each other since 4th or 5th grade, friends said. Peters was on the sophomore football he suited up for the Harvard varsity playoff game Friday, which was thrilling because it was only the third time in the history that the Hornets made it to the quarterfinals, Haak said.

Harvard lost to Coal City. I think of Travis, I think of somebody who just had a lot of passion. He was passionate about the Hornets, about people, and passionate about the Cubs, for Haak said. was one of those individuals who was just a great kid. a tremendous loss for our school and football It was the second time in less than a month that two McHenry County high school students have died in crashes on rural county roads.

On Oct. 26, two Marian Central Catholic students were killed when a car driven by Eva Grys, 17, of Algonquin swerved into oncoming traffic after drifting off the shoulder of Haligus Roadwest of Lakewood. brother, Alexander, 14, and a friend, Taylor Wozniak, 17, of Lake in the Hills were killed. Eva Grys and William Schlau, 14, of Algonquin, also students at Marian Central, were injured. The four likely were headed home after classes.

Groves said the inexperience of teenage drivers could have been a factor in both crashes. Peters got his license in June, Groves said. Investigators do not suspect alcohol or drugs were involved but are awaiting autopsy results. The speed limit on Pagles Road is 55 m.p.h. Peters and Resendiz were wearing shoulder belts in the 1993 Nissan Maxima but had not buckled their seat belts, Groves said.

Both were ejected from the car. On Monday, at a makeshift memorial at the crash site, Abel Aguilar, 15, laidResen- soccer ballby a wooden crossandflowers left by friends. just liked playing in the morning in the gym before school, and after Aguilar said. what he liked doing. I thought I should put it there.

what he would have Aguilar said he had been close to Resendiz for about a year and hung out with him every day. He and Peters likely were on their way to see another friend who lives near where the crash occurred, Aguilar said. Aguilar said he spent Friday evening with Resendiz, listening on the radio to the playoff game. was kind of intimidating, because he was pretty Aguilar said. he was a nice person.

Kind of quiet. He hurt Aguilar said students in Harvard have been devastated by the loss of two classmates, and he wants teens to learn to be careful when driving. want to lose any more he said. Speed probed in fatal crash 2 Harvard teens die after car hits tree couple of witnesses said they appeared to be traveling over the speed limit. The damage to the car is certainly consistent with County police Sgt.

Karen Groves By Jo Napolitano Tribune staff reporter The family of a missing Plainfield woman will distribute fliers and hand warmers to hunters in Upper Peninsula on Wednesday to raise awareness about her disappearance and encourage hunters to look for her. Lisa Stebic, 37, was in the middle of a divorce when she vanished from her family home April 30. Her estranged husband, Craig, who was one of the last people to see her, is an avid hunter, and his family spent part of each year in the Upper Peninsula. He has been identified by police as a person of interest in the case, but he has denied any involvement. Melanie Greenberg, Lisa cousin, said family members plan to distribute 300 hand warmers with picture and police contact information at a breakfast held each year in Crystal Falls, to kick off firearm deer hunting season.

tells you when you are looking for a missing person that you need to look at the places where they spent the most Greenberg said. spent a lot of time up there. You just never Greenberg said she hopes the usually cover a wide stumble across information or evidence that will help police find Lisa Stebic. going places people been all summer and, with the change of seasons things that may have been overgrown could be more revealed Greenberg said. are asking all hunters to please keep their eyes Greenberg said that she has had no contact with Craig Stebic but that he has complained in the past about the proliferation of fliers and billboards bearing Lisa the Chicago area as well as in the Upper Peninsula.

He has said they upset the two children. Craig Stebic could not be reached for comment Monday. Hunters asked to look for Stebic Missing woman sought in Michigan vacation-home area Stebic going places people been all Greenberg, Lisa cousin, about hunters trekking in the woods By Jo Napolitano Tribune staff reporter Charles Flowers has been regional superintendent of schools for only four months but said he already has worked with the office on a dozen cases of alleged corruption in suburban Cook County. A soft-spoken 50-year-old with 17 years of teaching experience, Flowers said he wants school chiefs to know malfeasance be tolerated. aboveboard, be he said.

not, have a His office, which serves as a liaison between local school districts and the state Board of Education, is better known for processing paperwork than for ferreting out crooked administrators. But Flowers plans to change that. He talks about rogue superintendents and school boards, especially questioning the absence of mandatory training for the elected officials. After all, Flowers said, school boards handle multimillion- dollar budgets and are responsible for the education of nearly 400,000 students in the region. Many board members have received no training at all, he said.

boards equal ineffective he said. But the Illinois Association of School Boards contends unfair to single out school boards when other as city council not have mandated training. Spokesman James Russell said fine for Flowers be a watchdog on his own but the regional office is administrative, regulatory and much beyond Flowers, who earns $100,320 a year as regional superintendent of suburban Cook County schools, wants to do more. Inundated with complaints about corruption from parents, teachers, superin- tendentsand board members, Flowers said he has hired an ethics and fiscal compliance coordinator to handle the calls. Some complaints are from parents concerned about their treatment.

Others are about board members failing to comply with open- meetings laws. Political hir- ings and firings are another common topic. He elaborate on the cases he has discussed with investigators until further action is taken. Flowers said seen a pattern in the worst performing schools: a lack of communication among teachers, administrators, parents and the school board, either by design or apathy. He plans to make troubled that struggle academically top priority, meeting with school officials to discuss how he can help them improve.

Flowers, a native of South Bend, his teaching career in 1982. He worked with behaviorally challenged youths in Illinois and Georgia until 2000, when he became director of special education and summer school at Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163. He took a job as director of special services for Community Consolidated School Dis- trict 146 in Tinley Park in 2002 and later served as director of special education at Ada S. McKinley Community Services leaving when he was elected to his current post. Staff members from his office have begun attending local school board meetings, arriving unannounced in some cases.

But one new teacher was unimpressed. Sherei Mascola of Oak Park said she had a hard time getting anyone to answer the phone at office, even when she called to report that some personal Social Security posted on the Web site by accident. one returns a voice she said. mailboxes are full. You physically have to go there to ask a general Flowers called the office equipment archaic and said he was considering moving to another site.

Schools watchdog eyes crooks Tribune photo by Antonio Perez Charles Flowers has been regional superintendent of suburban Cook County schools for four months. Suburban Cook official aims to tackle corruption Product: CTMETRO PubDate: 11-13-2007 Zone: Edition: HD Page: METROP3-3 User: rhochgesang Time: Color:.