According to law enforcement sources, Berg — real name Christian Ward — was at a house party at around 2:00 AM Monday morning when four suspects entered the home and brandished firearms. 

We’re told the suspects pistol-whipped two people inside the party — one of whom was Berg. Law enforcement sources say the suspects robbed eight people and made off with $10,000 in cash and jewelry.

Source

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Featuring Elton John and the 4 Billys

This first Billy Elliot webisode features interviews with Elton John (music), Stephen Daldry (director) and the four young stars rotating in the role of ‘Billy’ – Tommy Batchelor, Giuseppe Bausilio, Cesar Corrales and JP Viernes.

Find out why the producers chose Chicago for the first U.S. production outside of Broadway and what makes Chicago such an incredible city for live theatre.

Additional webisodes will be released in March and April to introduce the cast, explore rehearsals, audience reactions, opening night and more, giving viewers around the world a chance to connect with this hit musical as it begins its run in Chicago.

More information regarding the production available after the fold.

PRESS RELEASE:

Billy Elliot will begin preview performances March 18, 2010 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph St.). Opening night is Sunday, April 11, 2010. Time Magazine recently named Billy Elliot the “BEST MUSICAL OF THE DECADE.” This incredible honor adds to the show’s overwhelming acclaim and recognition that includes ten 2009 Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, as well as Best Musical awards from the NY Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League.

Billy Elliot is the funny, heartwarming tale of a young boy with a dream, and a celebration of his triumph against the odds. Set against the historic British miners’ strike of the 1980s, the story follows Billy’s journey as a boy in a small mining town who, after stumbling across a ballet class while on his way to a boxing lesson, realizes that his future lay not in the boxing ring but on stage as a dancer.

Featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreographed by Peter Darling and directed by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot opened to critical acclaim at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre on November 13, 2008.

Billy Elliot the Musical is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn and Sally Greene. Angela Morrison and David Furnish are Executive Producers. The production features scenic design by Ian MacNeil, costume design by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting design by Rick Fisher and sound design by Paul Arditti. Musical supervision and orchestrations are by Martin Koch.

Individual tickets range in price from $28 to $100. A select number of premium seats are also available. Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St. and 18 W. Monroe St.), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations (including Hot Tix and select Carson Pirie Scott, Coconuts and fye stores) and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com. For groups of 15 or more, call (312) 977-1710.

For information on Billy Elliot the Musical, please visit

www.BroadwayInChicago.com or www.BillyElliotChicago.com

Technorati Tags: Boy, broadway, Broadway in Chicago, design, Musical, night, role, webisode

A woman who abandoned her alleged 3-year-old nephew at a firehouse Monday night, told firefighters there she was in the military and on her way to catch a flight to Virginia.   

The woman dropped the boy off at a firehouse at 1440 E. 67th St at about 9:15 p.m. Monday, said Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.

She told firefighters the boy was her nephew and his mother–the woman’s sister–left the child with her three days ago and failed to pick him up, said Kubiak, citing a preliminary police report. The woman said her flight to Virginia was scheduled to leave at 11:30 p.m. Monday and she could no longer care for him, Kubiak said.

Under Illinois’ “safe haven” law, parents or guardians can legally leave a child up to 1 month old at a designated place such as a hospital, fire or police station–well under the age of the abandoned boy. Charges could be brought against the person who abandoned him.

The child was described as in good condition. No further information was available.

–Deanese Williams-Harris

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The parents of a 13-month-old boy killed in a traffic collision this week cried in outrage today when they learned the driver responsible for the fatal crash had been released from police custody a day earlier.

“How could they just let the guy go?” asked Joshua Molina of the motorist who rammed his vehicle Monday night, killing his toddler son and two of his friends, Aldo Maldonado, 21, and Orlando Rodriguez, 20. “What more could they want? This guy took three lives away.”

ChicagoChicago reviews police released the 55-year-old Skokie man Wednesday night after tests came back negative for alcohol or drug use. He also had a previously spotless driving record. Investigators had questioned him for more than a day.

On Monday night, the motorist, driving an older-model Toyota Camry, rear-ended a Ford Expedition at Cicero and Belmont avenues, police said. He sped off despite front-body damage and broken headlights, witnesses said.

Just a few blocks later, at Cicero and Parker avenues, the Camry smashed into Molina’s Honda, killing the three occupants. Molina and his fiancee, Amy Alanis, suffered minor injuries.

The driver — whose identity isn’t being released by the Tribune because he hasn’t been charged with criminal wrongdoing — was issued only driving citations for the crash.

Police and prosecutors say the investigation is continuing.

Relatives and friends gathered at the Molina family’s East Garfield Park neighborhood home Thursday morning, many wearing T-shirts with photos of the victims, before attending funerals for Maldonado and 13-month-old Joshua Molina Jr.

In the afternoon, at the crowded funeral home, Molina and Alanis cupped their toddler’s face and brushed his hair to the side as they said their goodbyes to the boy, who lay in a tiny white casket. Alanis used crutches to help her get around because of bruising to her lower body.

“I can’t even cry anymore,” Molina said. “He just looks so peaceful.”

–Serena Maria Daniels and Annie Sweeney

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A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed this afternoon in the city’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood, ChicagoChicago reviews police said.

Police believe the teen’s killers chased him down before shooting him, authorities said.

Killed was Ramone Washington, of the 700 block of South Karlov Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A neighbor called police to report screaming followed by shooting near the 1100 block of North Keystone Avenue just after 1:40 p.m., police said.

Authorities found the Washington’s body in the 1100 block of North Karlov Avenue. He suffered gunshot wounds to his left and right hips, as well as underneath his right arm, with the bullet penetrating his heart, police spokeswoman Gabrielle Lesniak said.

Washington was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, a medical examiner’s spokesman said. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

Descriptions of the two gunmen weren’t available.

–William Lee

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A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed this afternoon in the city’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood, ChicagoChicago reviews police said.

Police believe the teen’s killers chased him down before shooting him, authorities said.

Killed was Ramone Washington, of the 700 block of South Karlov Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A neighbor called police to report screaming followed by shooting near the 1100 block of North Keystone Avenue just after 1:40 p.m., police said.

Authorities found the Washington’s body in the 1100 block of North Karlov Avenue. He suffered gunshot wounds to his left and right hips, as well as underneath his right arm, with the bullet penetrating his heart, police spokeswoman Gabrielle Lesniak said.

Washington was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, a medical examiner’s spokesman said. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

Descriptions of the two gunmen weren’t available.

–William Lee

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Police at the scene where a student was shot near Hubbard High School on the Southwest Side this afternoon. (Terrence Antonio James/ChicagoChicago reviews Tribune)

A 15-year-old student was shot and seriously wounded as he left Hubbard High School  this afternoon after taking an exam, school officials said.

The boy, a freshman, was walking near the rear of the school at 6200 S. Hamlin Avenue when he was shot in the back, Chicago Lawn District Sgt. Mike Mulligan said at the scene.

He was taken in serious to critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Officials said he was talking and stable at the scene.

School had been let out early, around 12:45 p.m., because of final exams, and the boy was shot around 1 p.m., said Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Students leave Hubbard High School following the shooting today of a 15-year-old boy who was on his way home from the school after an exam. (Carlos Javier Ortiz/For the Tribune)

The teen was shot near 63rd Street and Springfield Avenue and made his way back onto the school’s parking lot to get to safety, where officials found him, Bond said. At least two gunshots were fired, police said.

Bond said that it was uncertain if the victim was the intended target.

Police Supt. Jody Weis, who arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting, said some people of interest were being sought for questioning. He said the city has cameras in the area and some footage was caught at 63rd and Springfield

“It’s always sad when one of our young people are injured,” Weis said.

Edwin Tejada, 16, a sophomore, said there were several fights at school on Friday. He rarely walks alone to or from school.

Crystal Fernandez, 14, a freshman, said she feels safe on campus, but farther out “it’s like a war.”

Fernandez said police and security were increased on Friday. They did not know if today’s shooting was related to Friday’s fight.

“On Friday, I was scared,” Fernandez said. “We thought, yeah, there’s going to be a shooting.”

Hubbard is among 38 high schools whose principals were asked by CEO Ron
Huberman to make detailed plans for creating a calmer school culture.
The schools, which have higher-than-expected levels of violence, are
home to 80 percent of the public-school shooting victims.

A husband and wife who own the nearby Evolution Unisex, a hair salon at the northeast corner of 63rd Street and Springfield Avenue, said they heard a shot this afternoon.

Maria Gamino, 34, was cutting a customer’s hair and her husband, Salvador Gamino, 43, was also at the shop with their 6-year-old son when he heard a single shot. The couple then saw a young person running south on Springfield.

Maria Gamino typically works alone in the beauty shop until about 2:30 p.m. when her sister takes over. There was yellow crime scene tape attached to their single-story brick building.

Maria said she leaves the door locked all the time, and her customers are regulars.

“We know there are a lot of problems over there, but we’ve never heard anything like this before,” Maria Gamino said. “We know the neighborhood is getting worse. Sometimes we reconsider whether we should move.”

The couple said at the beginning of the year there was another shooting in the area. 

– Serena Maria Daniels

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A school bus driver in Crystal LakeThe Crystal Lake reviews was ticketed today after he collided with another vehicle while trying to make a left turn, police said.

A 4-year-old boy, one of seven children on the bus when it crashed, was taken to the hospital with what police called a minor laceration. Police said David C. Duwe, 69, of the 1000 block of Butler Drive in Crystal Lake, was attempting to turn from Ackman Road onto southbound Golf Course Road when his school bus struck a Honda driven by Melissa Dabrowski of Crystal Lake.

The bus is jointly owned by Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 and High School District 155 and was taking children from a preschool program at Glacier Ridge Elementary.

Duwe was issued a citation for failure to yield while turning left, police said. Neither Dabrowski nor her 1-year-old passenger was injured.

– Staff report

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A 17-year-old boy was charged today after he pointed a gun at police during a chase on Saturday in the Chatham neighborhood, officials said.

Lenard Myles of the 8100 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue was charged with aggravated assault of a police officer and unlawful use of a weapon, police said.

Police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said that about 4 p.m. Saturday, police were patroling near the area of the 7900 block of South Langley Avenue when they attempted to conduct a field interview.

When police approached Myles, he attempted to run away, sparking a foot chase with police, Ursitti said.

During the chase, on the 7800 block of South Champlain Avenue, Myles pointed a gun at police who responded by shooting at the boy, Ursitti said.

Neither Myles or the officers were injured. Police recovered a gun on the scene, Ursitti said.

– Carlos Sadovi

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A 17-year-old boy was charged today after he pointed a gun at police during a chase on Saturday in the Chatham neighborhood, officials said.

Lenard Myles of the 8100 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue was charged with aggravated assault of a police officer and unlawful use of a weapon, police said.

Police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said that about 4 p.m. Saturday, police were patroling near the area of the 7900 block of South Langley Avenue when they attempted to conduct a field interview.

When police approached Myles, he attempted to run away, sparking a foot chase with police, Ursitti said.

During the chase, on the 7800 block of South Champlain Avenue, Myles pointed a gun at police who responded by shooting at the boy, Ursitti said.

Neither Myles or the officers were injured. Police recovered a gun on the scene, Ursitti said.

– Carlos Sadovi

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A 17-year-old boy has died after being wounded Saturday in a shooting in the AustinAustin reviews neighborhood. Two other teens were shot in the same incident.

Brandon McCain was pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m. at Stroger Hospital according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The medical examiner’s office said McCain lived in the 700 block of North Waller Avenue, but a family member said he lived with his mother in the 1600 block of North Nagle Avenue.

About 11:20 p.m., police responded to shots fired in the 400 block of North Central Avenue, said Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro. The site of the shooting is in front of a multi-unit apartment building, according to public records.

When police arrived, they discovered three male teens with gunshot wounds, Alfaro said. Conditions on the victims were not available, but they all were taken to Stroger Hospital for treatment, he said.

McCain was shot in the head, police said.  An 18-year-old suffered gunshot wounds to his back and arm and a 15-year-old was shot in the left arm, Alfaro said.

The teens were standing on a corner when an unknown suspect or suspects opened fire in their direction, Alfaro said.

No one is in custody in the shooting. Police are investigating.

– Deanese Williams-Harris

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A 15-year-old boy who made national headlines last year when arrested for impersonating a ChicagoChicago reviews police officer was arrested again Wednesday night for shoving his mother during an argument after he allegedly stole a relative’s car, police said.

He was charged as a juvenile with domestic battery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

The teen, whose name was not being released since he’s a juvenile, was seen by police outdoors near West 79th Street and South Vincennes Avenue Wednesday night shoving his mother during an argument about the stolen car, police said. He was then taken into custody.

In January 2009, the boy received national media attention when he was arrested for masquerading as a Chicago cop. The boy, then 14, showed up at the Grand Crossing police district station in uniform and rode the streets with an officer.

Months later, he was arrested again for posing as a buyer at a South SideSouth Side reviews car dealership and led police on a chase with a luxury car.

The boy was sentenced in Cook County Juvenile Court last July to 3 years’ probation and one month of home confinement for the two cases. But he has since served nearly four months in youth custody after violating his home confinement.

–Staff report

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A 15-year-old boy who made national headlines last year when arrested for impersonating a ChicagoChicago reviews police officer was arrested again Wednesday night for shoving his mother during an argument after he allegedly stole a relative’s car, police said.

He was charged as a juvenile with domestic battery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

The teen, whose name was not being released since he’s a juvenile, was seen by police outdoors near West 79th Street and South Vincennes Avenue Wednesday night shoving his mother during an argument about the stolen car, police said. He was then taken into custody.

In January 2009, the boy received national media attention when he was arrested for masquerading as a Chicago cop. The boy, then 14, showed up at the Grand Crossing police district station in uniform and rode the streets with an officer.

Months later, he was arrested again for posing as a buyer at a South SideSouth Side reviews car dealership and led police on a chase with a luxury car.

The boy was sentenced in Cook County Juvenile Court last July to 3 years’ probation and one month of home confinement for the two cases. But he has since served nearly four months in youth custody after violating his home confinement.

–Staff report

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Police today asked for the public’s helping in finding those responsible for the death of a 16-year-old boy who was discovered shot in the back Tuesday on a Little Village sidewalk.

About 9:30 p.m. Tuesday police were called to the 3300 block of West 27th Street where Williams Diaz was found with gunshot wounds in the back, according to a ChicagoChicago reviews Police News Affairs officer.

Diaz was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Police are investigating the death as a homicide and say it was possibly gang-related. They could not provide any information about possible suspects.

Harrison Area detectives have released a photo of Diaz, encouraging the public to call with any information at 312-746-8252.

–Serena Maria Daniels

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A 15-year old Dolton teenager was fatally shot as he stood outside with a group of people on Tuesday night, authorities said today.

But Dolton police are still investigating what led to the boy’s killing and they are currently interviewing several people who witnessed the incident, said Police Chief Robert Fox.

Steven Alexander, of the 13800 block of South Forest Street, was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. The teenager sustained gunshot wounds to the head and chest, a spokesman said.

The shooting occurred around 8:10 p.m. Tuesday in the 14300 block of
Irving Avenue, said Dolton Police Cmdr. David Spigolon. Police were
called to the scene because residents heard gunfire, he said.

When officers arrived, they found Alexander lying face-down between
the sidewalk and the curb, close to a driveway. The boy sustained
multiple gunshot wounds, but paramedics were able to maintain his
pulse, Spigolon said.

Alexander was taken to the hospital and died the following day, Spigolon said.

The shooting is being investigated by Dolton police and the South Suburban Major Crimes Taskforce.

– Lolly Bowean

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Relatives of a man accused of shooting a 4-year-old boy earlier this month while aiming for his father have been arrested for trying to bribe the victim’s father to not cooperate with the police investigation.

Vincente Herrera, 62, of Lincolnwood, and Hector Herrera, 36, of the 4300 block of North Francisco Avenue in ChicagoChicago reviews, were each charged with bribery and communication of a witness, both of which are felonies, Chicago police said this morning.

The elder Herrera is the father of 26-year-old Juan Herrera, who is accused of shooting the boy near Belmont and Long avenues on the Northwest Side Jan. 6. Hector Herrera is Juan’s brother. 

Juan was charged in the shooting with aggravated battery of a child with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharged of a firearm from a vehicle and aggravated discharged of a firearm from a vehicle near a school.

Abut 7:20 p.m. Jan. 6, the boy was sitting in a car with his father when a dark-colored vehicle approached, police said. The boy’s father had an argument with Juan Herrera earlier that day, police said. Police said Herrera got out of his car and displayed a handgun. The boy’s father tried to drive off when he saw Herrera, who then opened fire, police said.

A bullet entered through the vehicle’s rear window and struck the boy in his leg, police said.

Police allege that the suspect’s father and brother tried to bribe the victim’s father, the target of the shooting, not to cooperate so that authorities would be forced to drop the shooting charges. The victim’s father alerted police, who eventually arrested Vincente and Hector Herrera.

The two are scheduled to appear in bond court later today.

–Staff report

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A Cook County judge acquitted a mother and a home health care nurse today of felony neglect charges in connection to the death of a severely disabled 13-year-old boy.

In the fifth day of a bench trial, Judge James B. Linn found Kesheia Phillips and nurse Loren Brown not guilty of criminal abuse or neglect of a child causing death in the 2008 death of Jaylen Brown, but did convict Phillips, the boy’s mother, of misdemeanor child neglect.

The women and a second nurse were all charged after Jaylen died two months after he was brought to La Rabida Children’s Hospital in ChicagoChicago reviews. Prosecutors alleged the boy was covered in bedsores under his filthy clothes and suffering from severe malnutrition and sepsis. One of the boy’s bedsore, according to prosecutors, went through to the bone.

The boy suffered severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, eczema, a gastrointestinal disorder and asthma.

Prosecutors claimed Phillips, 31, a single mother of three, neglected to take Jaylen to regular doctors appointments and did nothing to prevent her son’s rapid deterioration, adding that neither nurse alerted authorities to the mother’s neglectful actions.

The second nurse, Morris Lee Brinkley, 75, pleaded guilty last summer to criminal neglect of a disabled person and failing to report neglect or abuse and was sentenced to 2 years of probation and 60 days of community service by Linn.

–Matthew Walberg

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A priest who authorities say hurled himself from a church balcony after he was accused of molesting a boy was charged Wednesday with seven felonies, including predatory criminal sexual assault.

The Rev. Alejandro Flores, 37, was also charged with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and two counts of criminal sexual assault for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy at a West ChicagoChicago reviews church where Flores was posted as a seminarian, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office.

The state’s attorney’s office said Flores abused a St. Charles child over a five-year period between Jan. 1, 2005 and Jan 1, 2010. The child was younger than 13 when the abuse started, authorities said.

Flores was released from the hospital Wednesday and was in the custody of Kane County authorities, according to the state’s attorney’s office. He was expected to be booked into the county jail Wednesday afternoon and to appear before a judge Thursday afternoon.

A Kane County grand jury indicted Flores last week, though the indictment remained sealed until local authorities took him into custody.

His bond was set at $1 million, State’s Atty. John Barsanti said. Flores must surrender his passport should he post bond.

The Bolivian-born priest had been hospitalized after reportedly trying to kill himself by leaping from the balcony

On Jan. 6, two days after the Joliet diocese placed Flores on leave from a Shorewood church when the abuse allegations surfaced, Flores fell 20 feet to the floor at St. Mary’s Carmelite Church in Joliet.

He was found unconscious, lying on the floor between a row of pews and taken to a hospital in critical condition. Both police and church officials characterized it as a suicide attempt.

Flores was ordained in June. The abuse allegations stemmed from Flores’ time as a seminarian at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in West Chicago, authorities said.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. John Balluff, addressed the issue in the parish’s weekly bulletin last Sunday, urging any parishioner with additional abuse allegations to immediately contact law enforcement.

“We will always be committed to doing everything possible to protect children, to help this child and his family and to help bring about healing for our families and the people of the diocese,” Balluff wrote.

At a news conference earlier this month, Joliet Bishop J. Peter Sartain publicly apologized to the alleged victim and his family. There were no previous abuse allegations against Flores, the bishop said.

The state’s attorney’s office also asked anyone with possible information to contact the Kane County Child Advocacy Center at (630) 208-5160.

– Clifford Ward

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The Sun-Times reports: A south suburban teen filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court today against the Rich Township High School District 227 and former Rich South teacher Sarah L. Tolzien, who’s charged with sexually assaulting the boy.

Get the full story: suntimes.com.

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A 17-year-old boy is accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl at his South SideSouth Side reviews home over the weekend, ChicagoChicago reviews police said this morning.

The boy, whom authorities declined to immediately identify this morning, was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault this morning in connection with the attack in the boy’s home in the 8600 block of South Morgan Street on Sunday.

Police could not specify the relationship between the boy and his victim.

The boy is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing this afternoon in Cook County Criminal Court.

– Staff report

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Str8NYC: I must say, you were my favorite Danity Kane member.

D. Woods: Aww. Thank you!

Str8NYC: When did you realize you were destined to be an entertainer?

D. Woods: Um… [it's] so funny that you say that because I don’t remember. I was that young! [laughs] I was little. I remember my first, [well] I don’t know if it was my first performance, but the first performance I do remember is when I was three years old I [played] Pinocchio. I got no strings! [I got the] “I’ve Got No Strings” number from my dance school and I remember my mother was worried ’cause rehearsals were running late and everything. And she was thinking that I would probably get irritable and [catch] stage fright. And I was like, ‘No! No!’ [laughs]. I just remember being so focused back stage- getting ready to go on. That’s the first time that I remember I got the little stage bug, stage fever…whatever you want to call it.

Str8NYC: I was shocked when Diddy dismantled the group [Danity Kane]. When it all happened it was like, ‘WTF! Diddy are you serious?’.

D. Woods: Yep! That’s how the cookie crumbles.

Str8NYC: When Diddy fired you, did you feel like your career was over or did you view it as a new chapter/beginning in your life?

D. Woods: I definitely didn’t feel like it was over. It was almost kind of like a sixth sense ’cause I kind of sensed things coming together when he actually came out his face. It was almost like I knew he was going to say it. So that’s why it was just like, ‘Oh wow! Okay. So um…cool. I guess I’ll see you next time’ [laughs]. It was like, ‘Well that’s cool. Um… thanks for everything you’ve done, but it was great! You will be seeing me later and you know maybe it will work out better’. You know, that’s kind of how I was looking at it. Like alright, now it’s time for me to get started on what I wanted to do because there were so many things I had to kind of dumb down, restrict and put on the back burner that I wanted to do to express my talent and my capabilities or just my vision and it wasn’t the platform for it. I was finding out more and more the longer I was in the situation [Danity Kane] that this wasn’t the platform that I was really going to be able to exercise my full potential. So it was kind of like, ‘Well, now let me go find that next plateau where I’m going to really take off. This was fun, but now it’s really time to get it cracking’.

Read more here………..

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A police officer is on leave, students are puzzled and parents are outraged as the fallout from a Taser demonstration gone awry rippled through the halls of Kankakee Junior High School on Wednesday.

Kankakee police said an officer assigned to the school zapped three male students who had volunteered to be part of an unsanctioned, classroom demonstration on Tuesday.

Police said  the Taser was used on the students for about a second, but long enough to send at least one briefly to a  hospital.

The officer has been placed on administrative leave while the Police Department and  school district investigate.

The mother of one of the  students said the officer  entered the classroom yelling, “Who wants a Taser?”

“I was like, ‘Let me try it on my finger,’ and he was like, ‘Let me try it on your thigh,’ ” the boy, Miles Maiden, told WLS-Ch. 7.

The boy’s mother, Alta Young, told Channel 7 that Maiden has a heart murmur and that when she found out about the incident, she took him to the emergency room. He was released soon after.

Although police and school officials would not confirm it, Young said this wasn’t the first time the officer has  used a Taser on students in class.

“This is not a game you play with children,” Young said. “That’s very dangerous.”

That sentiment was echoed by students and parents Wednesday as different versions of the incident spread around school.

–Joel Hood and Andrew L. Wang

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Two people have been charged in the May 2009 slaying of a 17-year-old boy on the South Side, police said today.

Quinton Glover, 17, of the 1400 block of West 73rd Street and Centrell Lanier, 22, of the 6200 block of South Talman Avenue both were charged Tuesday in the May 21 shooting of Eddrick Walker, police said.

Roderick Brown, 19, was charged in the slaying in December, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Antoinette Ursitti.

Walker, of the 600 block of East Marquette Road, suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the attack in the 6500 block of South Evans Avenue in the West Woodlawn neighborhood a little before 10 p.m. that night. He was declared dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 10:20 p.m.

The slaying appeared to have been gang-related, police said, but did not give any details. Just after the slaying, police said they were searching for at least two men or boys who attacked Walker, at least one of whom shot him.

Glover and Lanier had been scheduled to appear in bond court today, but information from court was not immediately available. Lanier already has been serving a 3-year sentence in state prison on an unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon case.

Brown, who is being held without bail at Cook County Jail in connection with Walker’s slaying, was on probation in a case involving selling or possessing stolen goods at the time of the shooting.

–Staff report

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A Near West SideWest Side reviews school bus driver is charged in a sex attack on a high school girl who was the last student on his bus one day last spring, authorities aid.

Antonio Ross, 26, of the 900 block of West Madison Street, appeared before Cook County Criminal Court Judge Israel Disierto today and was ordered held on $50,000 bail in the attack on the 17-year-old girl on March 24 of last year. Ross works for Jewel’s Bus Co., and appeared in court wearing his blue company jacket, with his name over the right side of his chest.

Ross was arrested and charged in the case yesterday, police said; he already was free on $50,000 bond in a related case in which he is alleged to have tried to intimidate the victim of the attack.

Last September, Jewel’s Bus Co. was sued
by the family of a 5-year-old boy after another one of its bus drivers was charged with
kidnapping. The family accused the driver, Willie Bledsoe, of sexually assaulting the boy.

The victim in the case against Ross was a student at a private South SideSouth Side reviews alternative school, and was being driven home when she ended up being the last person on the bus other than the driver Ross, said Assistant State’s Attorney William Hall.

Ross pulled the vehicle over, parked and took the girl to the back of the bus, where he fondled her and ordered her to perform a sex act on him, Hall said. The attack took place in the 8200 block of South Luella Avenue, according to police.

Ross then drove the girl home, Hall said. The victim made an immediately reported the attack.

Since then, Ross is alleged to have gone to the girl’s home three times to try to intimidate her, Hall said. In at least one of those instances, Ross pounded on the door and yelled at her, asking why she called the police, according to the prosecutor.

In the most recent incident, Ross is alleged to have grabbed her by the arm, restrained her and threated to beat her up, Hall said.

Ross is scheduled to appear in court on the criminal sexual assault charge again on Feb 2.

– Matthew Walberg and Liam Ford

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The Daily Herald reports: Charles Pashegoba of ChicagoChicago reviews, who admitted molesting a young boy in 1996, was sentenced to 15 years in prison today in Lake County Circuit Court. The victim in that case, who is now 21 years old, is currently serving a prison sentence for molesting a young girl.

Get the full story: dailyherald.com.

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