About a half dozen of Lisa Stebic’s closest friends will gather today to pray and reflect at a cream colored gazebo in a park adjacent to the Plainfield woman’s home, but this is the first anniversary since the woman’s disappearance in 2007 that no public vigil or ceremony is being held in her honor.
A Calumet City man and his longtime girlfriend conspired to kill a woman who was carrying his child so he would not have to be a father, police and prosecutors said today.
In newly released 911 calls, the sister-in-law of George Nellessen describes how his girlfriend found the terrible scene that launched a police chase and the eventual arrest of Nellessen’s own son for his murder.
A man who has been attacking and choking women in Oak Park struck again Thursday evening, this time robbing a woman on her way to do volunteer work.
*A debate over how to stem possible flooding in Illinois and Missouri took a racist turn this week, as a leading Missouri politician made some controversial remarks about the fate of a predominantly-black Illinois town, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Massive rainfall has caused waters at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to run dangerously high, and the mayor of Cairo, Illinois, located at the confluence, has asked residents to evacuate the town.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering a plan to destroy a levee, which would lower the floodwaters by a few feet and help protect Cairo. But the state of Missouri has vigorously objected to the plan, because it would badly damage around 130,000 acres of farmland.
Missouri’s Republican House Speaker Steve Tilley was asked by reporters about the dilemma. “Would you rather have Missouri farmland flooded or Cairo underwater?” Tilley is asked.
Without hesitation, he replies, “Cairo. I’ve been there. Trust me. Cairo.”
As another reporter prepares to ask another question, Tilley goes on. “Have you been to Cairo? OK, then you know what I’m saying then.”
Cairo, Illinois (pronounced KAY-roh) was at the turn of the 20th century a bustling trade center. The 2,800-person town is now largely abandoned, two-thirds African-American, and deeply impoverished: nearly 50 percent of children under the age of 18 in Cairo live below the poverty level.
Many criticized the Speaker for what they described as insensitivity in the remarks. The Capitol Fax, which posted the video of Tilley’s remarks, also has a press release from Illinois State Senator Gary Forby:
During a time when people are being asked to evacuate their homes and leave behind their belongings, it absolutely blows my mind that that type of dialogue is being thrown around by the Missouri Speaker. Not only is it in poor taste, but it absolutely disgusting that Speaker Tilley would joke about putting the lives of Cairo residents at risk by choosing farmland over a community.
The St. Louis Beacon notes that the Speaker has since issued an apology:
“I was asked a question about blowing up a dam in Missouri and the negative consequences that happened to Missouri,” Tilley said. “As the speaker of the House, (I believe) my first responsibility is to Missourians. And in my effort to defend them, I went on to say some pretty insensitive and inappropriate remarks about Cairo.”
‘He didn’t deceive us,’ police chief saysA south suburban Oak Forest man who authorities previously believed staged an elaborate hoax will not be charged, authorities said this morning.
*What is the world is going on today. A Florida man was arrested this week after he barged into a Christian radio station and exposed himself to the female radio host, threatening to rape her.
Donald Destin (30, pictured), was arrested in Orange County, Fla. on Monday around 6 p.m. after he attempted to perform a sexual act on himself before attempting the rape. The woman was so scared she ran and locked herself in her car.
A listener heard the attack on air and called police.
Destin was arrested after stealing the woman’s purse and fleeing the scene.
The future was bright for Paul Simmons Jr. The 17-year-old basketball player was ready to attend prom and graduate from Marist High School next month. He was planning on driving his new Dodge Challenger — an early graduation gift from his parents — to Alabama in August to begin his freshman year at Spring Hill College, his family said.
*Yolanda Adams is a Gospel machine and is not showing any signs of stopping any time soon. Coming May 3, she’ll be releasing her new album, “Becoming.”
Her first single, “Be Still” has already received rave reviews and is bound to take her higher. The soulful song stays true to her inspirational nature and sends out a message of peace and patience.
In addition to her thriving gospel career, the easy to look at singer and former Houston school teacher hosts “The Yolanda Adams Morning Show” that can be heard on radio stations across the country.
A south suburban Crestwood woman and her three daughters who had been missing since Easter have been found safe, police say.