Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 1-1

123456 FINAL 156TH CHICAGO TRIBUNE 50 INDEX BUSINESS SEC.3SPORTS SEC.4 EDITORIALS SEC.1 P.12TEMPO SEC.2 METROSEC.1 P.7WORLD SEC.1 P.3 NATION SEC.1 P.5YOUR MONEYSEC.3 P.5 Weather: Sunny; high 23, low 7 24 hours a day go to chicagotribune.com By Rick Pearson and Christi Parsons Tribune staff reporters to shake up the status quo in Springfield and reject politics of mediocrity and Rod R. Blagojevich was sworn in as 40th governor Monday as he warned were ahead to resolve a nearly $5 billion budget deficit inherited from George Ryan. But one of his first decisions in office was easy. Blagojevich faxed a pink slip to Scott Fawell, a former chief of staff and campaign manager to Ryan. Fawell was on paid leave from his job as chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority pending a trial under way on federal corruption charges.

Quickly shedding himself of one Ryan appointee, Blagojevich on Tuesday also is expected to address the issue of dozens of the former Republican allies whom Ryan packed into politically protected jobs in the new administration. move is aimed at setting a reform theme for his new Democratic administration. In taking the oath of office just minutes after noon, Blagojevich became the first Democrat to hold the office after 26 years of uninterrupted Republican rule. His inauguration made complete a dramatic reshaping of political landscape in which Democrats now control the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. But the inauguration of Democrats to five of the six statewide offices also creates a new intra- party dynamic of potentially competing interests.

Along with Blagojevich, new Atty. Gen. Lisa Blagojevich takes over, puts deficit at $5 billion Tribune photo by John Lee Rod R. Blagojevich, the 40th governor of Illinois, is joined by his wife Patti, daughter Amy, and father-in-law, Ald. Dick Mell, as he waves to supporters after his swearing-in Monday in Springfield.

Governor fires pal Fawell PLEASE SEE BEGINNING, PAGE9 Excerpts from the inaugural address. PAGE 8 By Jeff Coen Tribune staff reporter Serial-killing suspect Andrew Urdiales was one of the condemned prisoners spared by last mass commutation of death sentences, but a Downstate prosecutor said Monday he is committed to putting him back on Death Row. Police and prosecutors in two states have accused Urdiales of killing eight women and dumping their bodies in lakes, rivers or California deserts. Urdiales, 37, was convicted last year in Cook County of killing two women whose bodies were found in Wolf Lake and was sen- tenced to die in September. In April, Urdiales is scheduled to stand trial in Pontiac, in the slaying of Cassandra Corum, 21, of Hammond, whose body was found in the Vermilion River more than six years ago.

Livingston County Atty. Thomas Brown said he will seek the death penalty. was not a hard Brown said Monday. man is a serial Cook County prosecutors who tried Urdiales for the 1996 stabbing and shooting deaths of Lynn Huber, 22, of Chicago and Lori Uylaki, 25, of Hammond routinely used the case during last clemency hearings as a prime example of why capital punishment is needed in Illinois. was not a hard decision.

This man is a serial County Atty. Thomas Brown, in saying he will try to put serial-killing suspect Andrew Urdiales (right) back on Death Row time off Death Row may be short 60 capital cases still in pipeline PLEASE SEE CLEMENCY, PAGE8 By Joseph Sjostrom and Rudolph Bush Tribune staff reporter Steve Cieslewicz was awake all night, thinking not only about the fact that his mother, Anna, was dead, but also about the horrible way she died: mauled by dogs as she jogged through the Dan Ryan Woods forest preserve. way it happened is by far the worst part of Cieslewicz said Monday morning on the front porch of the Evergreen Park home. think about it, totally Investigators were walking through the leafless woods Monday trying to determine why the attacks occurred and who, if anyone, owned the dogs that killed Cieslewicz and seriously injured another jogger in a span of minutes on Sunday morning. The death was the first fatal attack by a pit bull on an adult that Dr.

Dan Parmer, head of the Cook County Animal and Rabies Control Department, could remember. know there are a whole lot of stray dogs all over the city, all over the county and in the forest he said. Police will distribute handbills on Tuesday warning nearby residents that feral dogs are still living in the woods and Feral dogs still lurk in woods, cops warn PLEASE SEE ATTACKS BACK PAGE Owner of pit bull sought in mauling By Lisa Black Tribune staff reporter Rebecca Landmark first saw apicture of the five brothers on aWeb site advertising the adoption of special-needs children. Ranging in age from 3 to 10, the boys were about to be separated in hopes of finding them good homes. were hugging and holding each other like they were all each other said Landmark, 33, of Pleasant Prairie, Wis.

Two years later, Landmark and her husband, Jeff, are poised to adopt the siblings, as well as a sixth brother, a 1-year- old born to the same mother. On Tuesday, the young couple will pack the children into their Safari van and head to a suburban Milwaukee courthouse to complete the adoption before a judge. The brothers have lived with the Landmarks for the last two years as foster children while adoption proceedings churned slowly. The parents say from the moment they met the boys, now age5, 6, 8, 11and 12, they connected with them emotionally in a way that surprised them. went in with the idea that, five way.

It was a crazy said Jeff Landmark, 35, a safety manager for Pace in Des Plaines. night we met them, it was like love at first sight. I just knew they were my State officials declined to release information about the children or their biological par- ents, citing confidentiality laws. But Rebecca Landmark said the mother and four fathers agreed to terminate their parental rights. The boys are of Mexican or Puerto Rican descent.

The 1-year-old, Sam, was re- Two years ago the boys were about to be separated, but on Tuesday, they'll find a permanent home with Rebecca and Jeff Landmark Tribune photo by David Trotman-Wilkins Jeff Landmark tickles Robert, 6, with help from Josh, 11, two of six brothers the Landmarks, of Wisconsin, are adopting Tuesday. idea' is new life for couple, 6 brothers PLEASE SEE ADOPTIONS BACK PAGE By Evan Osnos Tribune staff reporter SOUTH OF THE IRAQI BORDER, less than two weeks, the U.S. Army has constructed a near-perfect model of its own nightmare: a life-size town, complete with buildings, streetlights, abandoned cars and endless places for enemies to hide. The mock town, hurriedly raised from the desert a dozen miles from the Iraqi border, is a laboratory of urban-combat training. It is the newest piece of a broad effort across the Army and Marines to intensify training in urban warfare, in preparation for a war with Iraq.

always try to replicate the conditions we stand to said Col. David Perkins, com- mander of the 3rd Infantry 2nd Brigade, which has 120 soldiers sharpening their skillsthis week at the new training ground. warfare is extremely challenging because you have so many troops in a dense area, with non-combatants mingled among the The grim scenario facing U.S. war planners is a block-to-block fight in Baghdad, a sprawling city of 5 million residents. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein re- U.S.

drills for Iraq street fight Mock city built in Kuwait desert Turkey juggles U.S. desires, popular opinion. PAGE 3 PLEASE SEE URBAN BACK PAGE By Michael A. Lev Tribune foreign correspondent SEOUL After days of escalating tension over North nuclear activities, the focus has shifted to quiet diplomacy in South Korea, where officials suggested that a solution to the nuclear standoff might be found by talking. The change in atmosphere was noticeable, if subtle.

American envoy James Kelly, who held a second day of talks with South Korean leaders Tuesday, has emphasized for the first time that North Korea might reap specific benefits if it abandoned its nuclear ambitions. Meanwhile, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung underscored on Monday that diplomacy is the key to a solution. believe there is no problem that be solved through Kim said. Ben Limb, an adviser to South president-elect, Roh Moo after a meeting with Kelly that he expected the United States to pause now to judge North intentions before ratcheting up the pressure by, perhaps, going to the United Nations Security Council. think the U.S.

is not going to press too hard on North Korea in order to perhaps allow North Korea to change its said Limb, following meeting with Roh on Monday. In Vienna, the nuclear watchdog agency said Monday that it wanted to give diplomacy an opportunity to resolve the standoff before it goes to the Se- U.S., Seoul see talks as answer to nuclear crisis PLEASE SEE KOREA, PAGE2 NATION Lieberman running Al 2000 running mate launches candidacy for the White House. PAGE 5 INSIDE.