Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 1-16

16 CHICAGO TRIBUNE SECTION1 Metro By Hal Dardick TRIBUNE REPORTER If all nine of Cook County Board President Todd nominees to a new public health oversight board make the final cut, the system could slip into the leader of a Chicago civic group said Friday. The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago joined a growing chorus of critics saying slate lacks the balance, expertise and independence needed to reverse the fortunes of the beleaguered Health Services Bureau. County used to be a great institution, and it has the potential to be that again, or it can slip into chaos, and this may be the last chance to get it said R. Eden Martin, president of the Civic Committee. But if selections are seated, the board may find it difficult to attract the top-level CEO and other executives needed to lead and manage the stated a letter sent Thursday to Stroger and commissionersby Martin and Civic Committee Chairman Lester Crown.

opportunity to fix Hospital may not come the letter concluded. independent, experienced, balanced board is the key to getting it Eugene Mullins, spokesman, noted the Civic Committee had a member on the health board nominating committee that submitted 20 names to Stroger, who then chose nine as mandated by county ordinance. unfair and irresponsible for them to say that the selected candidates do not satisfy the requirements for abalanced, experienced Mullins said. is also irresponsible to believe one is more qualified than another, because if any were unqualified, the nominating committee have selected In their letter, Crown and Martin did suggest their three nominees would make fine additions to the board. None of the three were picked by Stroger, however.

But the Civic concerns were not the result of self interest, Martin said. political and labor contingent are pretty well represented, and having some of those people is fair, but as a whole out of he said. Laurence Msall, who as president of the Civic Federation also sat on the nominating committee, expressed similar concerns. Commissioner Larry Suf- fredin (D-Evanston), architect of the legislation that created the independent board, pledged that each of the nominees, who must be approved by the County Board, would be fully vetted at hearings scheduled to start Tuesday. Group criticizes Stroger choices Civic Committee chief says hospital could into By Jon Hilkevitch TRIBUNE REPORTER CTA bus-only lanes will be built on portions of 79th Street, Chicago Avenue, Halsted Street and Jeffery Boulevard as part of the plan to speed up public transportation and entice commuters from their cars.

In addition, officials said Friday that transit stations will be built at key points along the bus lines, all set up so passengers can pre-pay fares before quickly boarding new hybrid buses through the front and back doors. The shelters also would feature electronic message boards linked to the Bus Tracker system, which uses GPS technology to provide riders with information about the locations of buses on routes. In the longer term, that commuters could use for free or for a small fee could be available at the stations. are optimistic about decreasing travel times into the places people are trying to go and increasing rider- said Sarah Kremsner, CTA vice president of performance management. The details were released after U.S.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters came to Chicago last week to sign an agreement with Mayor Richard Daley to provide $153million in federal funds. The pilot project is geared toward reversing the traffic chokehold on Chicago, which ranks No. 2 in the nation for roadway gridlock. To encourage greater use of mass transit, costs will increase for drivers to park downtown during peak hours, when streets are overburdened with traffic. The four corridors chosen for the initial bus-only lanes are among the busiest routes and the most traffic-congested.

During the morning rush period, CTA No. 14 Jeffery Express buses would operate on a lane reserved for buses only, then enter South Lake Shore Drive at 67th Street for an express trip downtown. Many commuters use the 79th Street bus route to connect with trains on the Dan Ryan Expressway branch of the Red Line. Under the funding agree- Tribune photo by Bonnie Trafelet Traffic clogs 79th Street just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway during the morning rush Friday. CTA officials announced that bus-only lanes will be put in place at four traffic-laden Chicago thoroughfares, including 79th Street, as part of a pilot program to reduce travel times on CTA buses.

Streets tagged for CTA bus plan SOURCES: Chicago Transit Authority, ESRI, TeleAtlasTRIBUNE GRAPHIC Designated CTA bus-only lanes will be tested in Chicago as an incentive to get more people to take public transportation and reduce traffic congestion. Four streets establish the pilot project. BUS-ONLY LANES Buses serving each corridor City streets favor buses only LAKE MICHIGAN 2 MILES 1 2 3 4 Loop 90 94 290 HALSTED CTA BUS WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP For routes that will feature bus-only lanes, Dec. 2007 1 Halsted 2 Chicago 3 4 79th 19,021 21,199 19,784 32,847 Express and local routes PLEASESEE CTA PAGE18 Traffic-laden routes to have bus-only lanes By Erika Slife TRIBUNE REPORTER The family of a missing Plainfield woman is asking her husband if he told her that her would be on the back of a milk carton and that he would cut her pieces and no one would ever find according to documents filed this week. The questions are part of a legal battle initiated by Lisa parents, Lawrence and Judith Ruttenberg, and her grandparents, Milton and Charlotte Ruttenberg, against her husband, Craig, in an effort to gain visitation rights with the two children, ages 11 and 13.

As part of the petition filed in November, the Ruttenbergs claim Craig Stebic is an unfit parent, and they base some of their questions on a Decem- ber 2006 incident in which police were called to the home. whole purpose of this is to see those said Melanie Greenberg, Lisa cousin and spokeswoman for her family. parents have not seen the children in almost three years. been six months since anyone in the immediate family has seen those Greenberg said the family has a copy of the police report, which has been sealed. Lisa Stebic was 37 when she vanished from the home April 30, 2007.

She and her husband had begun divorce proceedings, and the day she disappeared, she mailed her lawyer a petition seeking to evict him, saying he was inconsiderate, domineering and verbally Craig Stebic has denied knowing about the petition. Police have named him person of in the case, but no charges have been filed. In the new documents, the Ruttenbergs ask Craig Stebic if, on the night police were called, he told his wife that would not be if she tried to enter the house and that he would Lisa on her Greenberg said alleged statements about the milk carton and cutting her into pieces did not stem from the report, but she could not say why the family believed Craig Stebic said those things. An attorney for Craig Stebic, who filed an objection to the questions with the court, did not return phone calls or email for comment. His sister, Kim Dove, questioned the validity of the accusations, saying Lisa Steb- parents were never a part of their lives.

that missing, they want to see Dove said. even know them. opened a can of Missing family seeks to question husband on threats Lisa parents in fight over children By Ted Gregory TRIBUNE REPORTER becoming increasingly difficult to miss reminders of Marie Wilkinson in Aurora. The addition to a boulevard, a park, a food pantry, a child-care center and a scholarship that bear her a bronze sculpture to be unveiled Saturday. In the piece, Wilkinson, 99, whom many view as the matriarch, is gesturing passersby to sit with her on a bench.

Like those other places and twice has declared a Marie Wilkinson sculpture is more than a memento of an exemplary life. It is another inspiration to follow that exemplary life. something that will carry on after gone and after said Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner, one of the prime movers behind the city-funded, $95,000 project. a reminder of the remarkable influence this lady has had on this Wilkinson came to Aurora in the early 1930s from her birthplace of New Orleansto live with her mother and grandmother. She graduated from Straight University, now Dillard University, and married Charles Wilkinson a few years after arriving in Aurora.

Early on, she demonstrated an almost unconditional generosity and activism. Her daughter, Sheila Scott-Wilkinson, recalled her mother storing food and clothing to give away. She remembered her helping line up job interviews, providing solace to people enduring difficulties, even giving away money. Those were the very personal gestures. Over the years, Wilkinson has done a great deal more on a wider stage.

She started a food pantry and child-care center, which have served thousands. In the 1960s, she established a relief fund that raised $25,000 for the civil rights movement. About the same time, she pushed city officials to create the Aurora Human Rights Commission. After Charles Wilkinson died in 1995, she created a scholarship fund for local high school graduates. In 2001, the Catholic Church bestowed upon her a Lumen Christi Award, its highest honor for missionary work in America.

When asked to explain the source of that generosity, Wilkinson struggles to find the words. Scott-Wilkinson contends her unselfishness comes from her upbringing in the French Quarter, where neighbors shared everything. In addition, Wilkinson always has been deeply religious, Scott-Wilkinson said. I was home, hear my parents laughing all the Scott-Wilkinson said. understood that happiness is internal.

They had such joy, and because they The life-size sculpture, created by Preston Jackson, will be unveiled at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena and mounted outside the main entrance of the Aurora Public Library. matriarch gets the bronze Marie Wilkinson has, among other things, a boulevard and park in her honor. Life-size sculpture to be another reminder of 99-year-old enduring influence Product: CTMAIN PubDate: 05-10-2008 Zone: ALL Edition: HD Page: SATMETRO-16 User: bfletcher Time: Color:.