Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 2-3

3 CCHICAGO TRIBUNE METRO SECTION2 A north suburban man arrested in the slaying of his wife in Lincolnshire last weekend waived his right to extradition in an Indiana courtroom Wednesday morning, allowing Lincolnshire police to bring him back to Illinois to face murder charges, officials said. Clarence Weber, 58, drove to northwest Indiana, where he also abandoned his vehicle, after his wife, Adelina Weber, 31, was stabbed to death Saturday afternoon in the parking lot outside a pancake house where she was a server. She collapsed in the lobby of the adjacent SpringHill Suites hotel, 300 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. Weber, most recently of the 3400 block of Lewis Avenue in Waukegan, was arrested Tuesday morning outside Crown Point, Ind. Slaying suspect can be returned to Illinois INDIANA DuPage County prosecutors said Wednesday that they will seek the death penalty for a Glendale Heights man accused of burning his two young sons, who died of their injuries this year.

Kaushik Patel showed no emotion as he was told through an interpreter that the state had filed an official notice of intent to seek his execution because the case involved multiple deaths. If Patel is convicted of first-degree murder, the only other punishment under state law would be life in prison. Patel, 34, is accused of dousing his sons, Vishv, 7, and Om, 4, with gasoline and setting them on fire in a bathroom of their home Nov. 18. Om died of his injuries in January, and Vishv died in February.

The trial for Patel, who also suffered serious burns in the fire, expected to take place for more than a year. Death penalty sought in burning of 2 boys DUPAGE COUNTY An Arlington Heights man charged with using a small camera to take photos under skirts during the northwest 4th of July festivities is the managing director of real estate for the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, foundation officials said Wednesday. Timothy J.

Hoeppner, 47, of the 800 block of North Highland Ave- nuehas worked at the foundation since 1993. Andrew Solomon, vice president of public affairs for the foundation, confirmed that Hoeppner was an employee. Hoeppner was charged with misdemeanor unauthorized videotaping after an officer at the Frontier Days festival noticed him pretend to adjust his shoes while taking a photo under a skirt, police said. MacArthur exec faces lewd video charge ARLINGTON HEIGHTS A man killed himself in Pilsen neighborhood after he confronted police officers investigating a disturbance call Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. Officers were called to Lumber and Halsted Streets about 2:20 p.m.

for reports of a suspicious person pacing in front of a business with a gun in his hand, Police Officer John Mirabelli said. When officers encountered the man, he removed a semiautomatic handgun from his waistband and pointed it at them, Mirabelli said. The officers then opened fire, but did not hit him, he said. The man apparently turned the gun on Mirabelli said. Andres Seals, 24, of the 3600 block of South Emerald Avenue waspronounced dead at 3:13 p.m.

of a gunshot wound in the head. Man shoots, kills self after confronting cops PILSEN An Evanston Township High School student was charged with murder Wednesday for allegedly killing his 11-month- old daughter, authorities said. James Jackson, 17, of the 2000 block of Dodge Avenue was charged with two counts of first- degree murder in the death Monday of Clarasha Hebron, said Andy Conklin, spokesman for the office. Conklin said Jackson was not the biological father but is her boyfriend. Evanston police said the two lived together at home, along with the baby.

Teen held in killing of child EVANSTON By Ted Gregory TRIBUNE REPORTER Two months ago, 19 suburban high schools received an exemption from a controversial new state law requiring six hours of teacher-supervised, behind-the-wheel training for public school education students. Now, Chicago public high schools are asking for the same exemption. improve student driving performance by providing students with more opportunities to practice driving through a variety of Chicago Public Schools states in its application to the Illinois State Board of Education, would like to continue to use a combination of simulator instruction, range driving and behind the The new, behind-the-wheel re- quirement was part of a package of teen-driving laws signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in August 2007 and aimed at reducing vehicular crashes, the leading cause of death among teenagers. Among other areas, reformers targeted education practice of shaving the number of hours of teacher-supervised street driving through the use of simulators and driving ranges.

For decades, six hours of supervised street driving was the benchmark. But schools used obscure state rules to reduce that time. Some Chicago public schools were providing as little as one hour and 40 minutes of supervised street driving to students. When the changes were signed into law, many included a tripling of the time a teen driver must hold a permit, an extension of night-driving limits and a mandate for fewer passengers in cars driven by widely commended. But school districts bristled at the six-hour requirement, contending that their existing programs were effective, efficient and provided a broad range of training for new drivers.

education administrators also noted that state elected officials who supported the change had suggested they would fund the higher costs of providing six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction. That money has not been delivered. Most of the measures became law Jan. 1. The six-hour, teacher-supervised street-driving requirement took effect July 1.

The Chicago Board of Education authorized its request for an exemption June 25. looking for a change in the training hours, not solely because of financial city schools spokesman Mike Vaughn said Wednesday. think, in a lot of cases, that a bad idea to place new drivers directly out in traffic without training on simulators or driving The school system is asking to train the estimated 19,000 public and private-school education students with four hours of teacher- supervised, behind-the-wheel street driving, one hour of simulators and one hour of range driving, in addition to the 30 hours of classroom work, Vaughn said. The State Board of Education will submit the request to the legislature by Oct. 1, spokesman Matt Vanover said.

If the legislature fails to act on the request in 60 days after convening, the exemption is granted. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White proposed the sweeping changes in teen driving laws partly in response to at the a yearlong Tribune series examining teen-driving issues. On Wednesday, spokeswoman Beth Kaufman said White will try to overturn the waivers given to the 19 any that may be granted to Chicago the fall legislative session. TRIBUNE UPDATE ed waiver sought in city School system wants to bend new state rules By Deanese Williams-Harris TRIBUNE REPORTER Before she disappeared in January, Yasmin Acree talked excitedly about starting her first job and taking an annual summer trip with a YMCA mentoring program, which was considering her for a prominent role in a new job initiative. are so many reasons why my daughter run said Rose Starnes, who reported her 15-year-old daughter missing almost six months ago.

On Wednesday, family, friends and several ministers gathered in front of the Chicago Police Depart- headquarters on the West Side to urge officials to heighten their investigation into disappearance. a 15-year-old African-American honor student from the West Side, this case getting the attention it said Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. family wonders why it took two days for police to gather what the family considers key lock that may have been cut from a wrought-iron gate outside the missing home.

Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said evidence technicians were at the scene in January and collected what they thought was appropriate. She said police have no suspects. Grand-Central Cmdr. Joseph Salemme said Wednesday that the criticism was little He said police have spent more than 2,000 hours on the case and sent numerous items to the state crime lab. The investigation has gone into California and Kentucky, where other family members live, Bond said.

She also said police have not gotten full cooperation from people who may have information about the missing teen. Starnes, 51, said she last saw her daughterJan. 14 before going to Elgin to visit her grandchildren. boyfriend told her that Acreehad washed a load of clothes and gone to bed. When Starnes returned home, she found the locks cut on two gates, and the door was forced open to the basement, where bedroom is located.

Earlier this year, police said they found no evidence of forced entry and that Acree told friends that she planned to run away. But others say she would never run away. saw no signs that she was unhappy or that something was wrong at said Kimberly George, director of the youth and teen development program at the North Lawndale YMCA. George said Acree was sociable, smart and attentive to the younger children at the YMCA, which led officials to believe she could play an important role in a summer jobs program they were starting. been working with kids for more than 30 years, and I know a good kid when I see said Austin Principal Bill Gerstein.

There is a $2,500 reward for information leading to abouts. Call 773-378-3300. Tribune photo by Alex Garcia Shaquana Holmes (left) and Krystal Wilson, friends of missing teen Yasmin Acree, hold fliers of the youth at a news conference Wednesday. More attention sought in disappearance family, friends urge beefed-up investigation By Jeff Coen TRIBUNE REPORTER A former worker at International Airport who pocketed payoffs to help smuggle cash and military equipment out of the country was sentenced Wednesday to 2 years in prison. U.S.

District Judge Joan Gottschall said she would have dealt Riad Skaff, 69, of Chicagoastiffer sentence if not for the fact that he has diabetes and health problems that required a kidney transplant. Skaff pleaded guilty last year to bypassing security at on four occasions to help an undercover federal agent smuggle nearly $400,000 in cash, night-vision rifle scopes and goggles and a device that jams cell-phone calls. Between 1999 and his arrest in early 2007, the Lebanon native worked as a ground services coordinator for an Air France contractor, giving him unlimited access to international terminal. His lawyer, Robert Clarke, argued Skaff had never before been accused of a crime and realize he was threatening U.S. interests.

Skaff was duffel-bag- around-the-counter guy at Air Clarke said. about as sophisticated as he But Gottschall was unconvinced. at least as sophisticated as the average person, and the average person is pretty sophisticated these days about she said. The judge called the conduct extremely troubling and described Skaff as an opportunist. In court papers, prosecutors described how Skaff allegedly took a combined $26,000 in payoffs to defeat security.

Skaff, who had access even to jetways and the tarmac without being subject to inspection, allegedly agreed to meet up with the undercover agent to take the cash and equipment past security. 2-year sentence for worker in smuggling case Tribune photo by Phil Velasquez Pedestrians demand a break Sophia Darugar from Drive With Care joins other pedestrians in a bilingual rally Wednesday at Milwaukee Avenue and Hutchinson Street in the Irving Park neighborhood. Product: CTMETRO PubDate: 07-10-2008 Zone: Edition: HD Page: METROP3-3 User: gajohnson Time: Color:.