Chicago Sun-Times Metro News

Teen dies after leaping from stolen van

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

A 14-year-old girl has died after jumping out of a stolen van being driven by a 13-year-old boy, Chicago Police said. Shonique Young, a freshman at Gage Park High School, died Friday night of injuries she suffered Thursday when she jumped from the van while it was moving.

Father, son were dead for weeks

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

A father and son were found dead in their Round Lake town home weeks after they died -- circumstances that authorities are calling "unusual'' but not suspicious. The badly decomposed bodies of Jeffrey Johnson, 65, and Tom Johnson, 33, were found last Sunday after a friend grew worried about them and called police, authorities said Saturday. A pet cat, however, was OK.

A mother's letter to the people who let her son die

BY NANCY KOEPKE — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

It was a brisk fall morning when I last heard from my youngest son. Christian had called me that morning of the night he died, wanting to know if I wasn�t busy if I would call him in 15 minutes to wake him up so he wouldn�t be late for school. You see, Christian was 26 years old, a full-time student at a well-known arts and communications college in downtown Chicago and shared an apartment with another young man who attended a design school in downtown Chicago.

Teen charged in murder of Sameere Conn, 13

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

A 15-year-old has been charged with murder for fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy in a Southeast Side grocery store on Oct. 1, police said.

Marathon sends 61 to hospitals

FROM SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP WIRE REPORTS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Temperatures for Sunday's Bank of America Chicago Marathon may not have climbed as high as last year's steamy race, but several runners still needed medical attention.

Weis: Chicago police are supported, motivated

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Police superintendent is denying a news report that officers in his command are working the streets less aggressively out of fear of being second-guessed by him.

Kenyan, Russian win Chicago Marathon

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Kenya's Evans Cheruiyot won his second marathon in two tries, pulling away late from countryman David Mandago before finishing in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 25 seconds to win the Chicago Marathon on a warm Sunday morning.

Bellwood man killed in sewer accident

FROM SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP WIRE REPORTS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Police are investigating the death of a west suburban Bellwood man who apparently died when he fell into a sewer in his backyard, police said.

Girl, family apologize for rape hoax

By KIM JANSSEN, staff writer — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

The girl who cried wolf in the Palos Heights rape case has agreed to do community service as penance, her attorney said Saturday as the public reacted with a mixture of sympathy and outrage to news that a hoax was behind one of the Southland�s biggest criminal investigations.

Heat again a concern for marathon

BY MONIFA J. THOMAS Staff Reporter/mjthomas@suntimes.com — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

With temperatures expected to reach or top 80 degrees today, organizers of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon say they've taken extra precautions to avoid the problems that shut down last year's race. Among the changes: A new warning system features flags, signs and a public address system that will alert runners if weather conditions are of concern.

Daughters' futures are at stake: Obama

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Barack Obama told 1,500 women from around the country who gathered in Chicago on Saturday that they need to elect him president to protect their daughters' futures. Obama said he had to conclude his remarks quickly because, while his quest for the presidency was important, guests for a scheduled wedding were due to take over the banquet hall at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel as soon as he finished speaking.

Pushing buttons: Chicagoans help us wear our pride

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Dave Hoekstra: A playful twinkle dots the eyes of Christen Carter, owner of the Busy Beaver Button Co. She is sitting at the kitchen table of her Logan Square apartment with the company's operations manager, Alex White. They are both rock musicians, but by day they produce custom lapel buttons from the basement of Carter's apartment. The company rolls out 6 million buttons a year.

City budget shortfall gets worse

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

With consumer spending in the deep freeze and tax revenues plummeting, Chicago's budget shortfall now stands at $469 million -- $49 million more than it was in mid-August.

One killed in South Side shooting

FROM SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP WIRE REPORTS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

A 17-year-old was killed and a second person was critically injured in a shooting Saturday night on a South Side street.

In space, which way is north?

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

The space shuttle takes off weighing about 120 tons, filled with fuel, science gear, computers and, in the most recent journey, a compass from the Museum of Science and Industry. Not that the crew of the STS-124 could use it: A compass picks up the Earth's magnetic forces to always point north.

Firefighter hurt battling fire

FROM SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP WIRE REPORTS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

A fireman was injured Saturday afternoon while extinguishing a two-alarm fire in the West Side�s Austin neighborhood.

Man shot fatally on porch

FROM SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP WIRE REPORTS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

A man died after being shot while sitting on a porch in the Southwest Side Marquette Park neighborhood Saturday night.

Three wounded in Lawndale shooting

FROM SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP WIRE REPORTS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Three people were shot late Saturday in the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood.

Inspiring teen enjoys his own 'Rudy' moment

BY STEFANO ESPOSITIO Staff Reporter — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Three years ago, he was the boy who hid behind a tree and eavesdropped as his younger brother�s football coach pumped up the team. Patrick Nicholson, who has Down syndrome, refused to speak. And if the coach asked him how he was doing, he�d run away. On Saturday, Our Lady of Perpetual Help�s 8th-grade football team huddled near that same tree at Johns Park in Glenview. Patrick, now 14, was there too, standing before the kneeling players, holding a clipboard and urging them on.

U. of Wisconsin says sorry to black student

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

MADISON, Wis. � The University of Wisconsin-Madison has apologized to a black student who during a class last year was shown a clip of the movie ��Blazing Saddles�� that features racial epithets.

Metro briefs

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00 CST

Ten pit bulls were seized from a garage in the 8300 block of South Emerald on Saturday after police with a search warrant found the caged dogs to be scarred and emaciated. Officers also found dog-fighting paraphernalia in a home adjacent to the garage, authorities said. The homeowner, 50-year-old Leon Huff, was taken into custody by Cook County sheriff's police. He is scheduled to answer to felony dog-fighting and other animal-cruelty charges in court today.