GHNS Illinois Budget (2/21/08)
<font size="2">Here are the top Illinois stories coming today from GateHouse News Service.
Stories are available at www.gatehousenewsservice.com. Please check
www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/news in the
evening for changes to story lineup, including breaking news.
If your paper has a story, digest item, opinion piece or standalone photo to
share, please e-mail it to Illinois@gatehousemedia.com.
Contacts:
- Casey Laughman: 630-348-3353, 217-816-3343,
claughman@gatehousemedia.com
- Jean Hodges: 630-348-3350, 630-956-8834, jhodges@gatehousemedia.com
TODAY¹S SPOTLIGHT:
NIU crosses are latest step in personal mission of healing
ROCKFORD ­ - Just after daybreak, Greg Zanis slipped unnoticed across the
slumbering Northern Illinois University campus, scaled a snow-covered knoll
and hammered five white crosses into the frozen earth. It was part of a
mission that he's been on for more than a decade. By Sadie Gurman of the
Rockford Register Star.
ILLINOIS NEWS
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/news
STATE BRIEFS: News from around the state. Will be posted by 5 p.m.
PERSONAL INFORMATION RELEASED: PEORIA - City officials released personal information _ Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account statements, checking account numbers and bank routing numbers as well as grade transcripts _ for dozens of city employees in a botched Freedom of
Information request. By Jennifer Davis of the Peoria Journal Star. Story is
posted; Further follow-up stories from the Journal Star will be posted this
evening.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x15297587
89
ARSON DEATH: GLENDALE HEIGHTS ­ - A second child has died from injuries
suffered when his father set him on fire in what authorities say was a
botched suicide attempt. By David Heitz of Suburban Life Publications.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x56532125
MOMENT OF SILENCE: SPRINGFIELD ­ - Despite initial confusion about the final
vote tally, a House committee approved legislation that would make the new
"moment of silence" law in schools permissive, not mandatory. By Adriana
Colindres of the Statehouse bureau.
HIV/AIDS: SPRINGFIELD ­ - A House Committee approved legislation that would
repeal an existing law requiring students to report their HIV/AIDS status to
their school district and principal. By Meagan Sexton of the Statehouse
bureau.
DEAD BABY: PEORIA - Benjamin Sargent died with his eyes open, fists clenched and strapped into a car seat after eight days without food or water, the
county¹s top prosecutor said Wednesday. The 5-month-old¹s parents are
charged with capital murder in his death. By Andy Kravetz of the Peoria
Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x28801956
4
ILLINOIS OPINIONS
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/opinions
BRITT: Toon on Gov. Blagojevich's Illinois budget proposal. Will be posted
this afternoon.
PHIL LUCIANO: I've never read a more cruel irony than this line from the
obituary of Benjamin Sargent: "Benjamin is survived by his loving parents."
They would be Tracy D. Hermann, 21, and James E. Sargent, 23. They were
charged with first-degree murder Wednesday for allegedly letting him starve
to death over eight days as he sat strapped to a car seat dumped into his
crib. Loving? I can't fathom an antonym to properly peg them. What they did
is beyond comprehension to us, an evil so terrible that words fail to
adequately reflect our collective anger and frustration about the senseless
death of an innocent. Will be posted this evening.
ILLINOIS SPORTS
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/sports
MIKE NADEL: MESA, Ariz. - Brian Roberts is still in Fort Lauderdale with the
rest of the Baltimore Orioles, some 2,337 miles away from the Cubs' base in
Mesa. For the foreseeable future, get used to Alfonso Soriano remaining the
less-than-ideal man at the top of Lou Piniella's lineup. Moving this
evening.
FOR THE WEEKEND:
Mass shooting victims were regular folks doing ordinary things -- how do we
cope with that?
DEKALB - When she learned about a shooting rampage at Northern Illinois
University, Sara Martinez started to cry and cry -- "for days,"she said.
The 25-year-old isn¹t a student at the DeKalb campus. She didn¹t know anyone
who died or anyone within the shooter¹s range. Nor were her husband and baby
son close to the scene. Still Martinez cried for her hometown and for the
pain about to confront families of the five victims and the gunman Feb. 14.
By Lauren FitzPatrick of Gatehouse News Service.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x16371305
72
Buckle up, it¹s going to be one bumpy ride
Rockford: City of potholes. The Register Star's Sadie Gurman goes for a ride
on the torn-up streets and lives to tell about it -- even if her coffee
doesn't. Will be posted Friday afternoon for use in weekend editions.
Who needs Hollywood? Teen trio finds a niche with offbeat productions
KNOXVILLE ­ - Jake Reeder, Riley Johnson and Trent Benedict make movies. And
thanks to Web-era delivery systems like MySpace.com and YouTube, the
Knoxville teenagers have reached an audience outside the confines of the
bedroom community six miles southeast of Galesburg. Will be posted Friday
afternoon for use in weekend editions. By Tom Loewy of the Galesburg
Register-Mail.
A life-changing chance for disabled workers
ROCKTON ­ - A Chicago-based group is working with businesses across the state
to try to provide more jobs and opportunities to people with disabilities.
Will be posted Friday afternoon for use in weekend editions. By Melissa
Westphal of the Rockford Register Star.</font>