Proud Lady Beauty Show 2010
April 24-26, 2010
Tinley Park Convention CenterFor more information, contact:
Proud Lady Beauty Show
P.O. Box 19510
Chicago, Il 60619
Phone: 312-458-9862 or
708-633-6328
Buffalo Grove Village Manager William Brimm announced his resignation Monday night, shortly after the village board retired to closed session Monday night.
His resignation is effective July 2, and his last day in village offices is June 11, he said.
“On January 16, 1978, I was given a wonderful opportunity to join the staff of the village of Buffalo Grove as Director of Finance and General Services,” he said in his resignation letter. “Over the past 32-plus years, I have dedicated myself to the goals, objectives and hopes of the elected officials, residents and those who call Buffalo Grove home for their business.”
Brimm said he put a great deal of thought into making the decision over the past few months.
He recently celebrated his 61st birthday and, “while not considered old anymore, does make me realize that matters of age and responsibility do warrant thought and consideration,” he said.
Brimm, who was making more than $168,000 per year, had refused to accept a pay raise for two straight years. He said he needed to lead by example when village employees were called upon to make sacrifices.
Brimm’s resignation ended more than 32 years of service to the village, the majority of them as finance director.
Brimm was named village manager in 2006 after his predecessor retired.
Brimm, who turned 61 on Sunday, grew up in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. He graduated from Sullivan High School and received his MBA from Northern Illinois University.
After working for Montgomery Ward in the firm’s retail management program, he joined American National Bank and Trust, working on the accounting end of loan portfolios in the comptroller’s division.
A friend told him about the opening in Buffalo Grove and introduced him to Village Manager William Balling, then in his first year on the job.
Brimm was a natural choice to succeed Balling in 2006. Brimm already had been serving as assistant village manager when Balling stepped down. Balling entrusted Brimm with such projects as the remodeling of the Arboretum Golf Course.
One of Brimm’s main accomplishments in the finance arena was building up reserve funds. As a result of that, as well as other measures such as moving to self-insurance for government officials, Buffalo Grove was prepared to face the recent economic storm.
Even so, the village was forced to make up for the decline in the revenues it shares with the state – income and sales taxes – by imposing a utility tax. Today, the budget basically is balanced, and the village even can afford badly needed stormwater management improvements near the White Pine Ditch. By the end of the last budget cycle, the village was a stutter-step away from an AAA bond rating.
Brimm’s job has become appreciably harder in the last year.
After a long period of government by quiet consensus, the board was rocked by a new era of controversy following the election of Lisa Stone to the board of trustees last April.
Stone openly called Brimm’s performance into question – particularly in the wake of controversy over how approval of an off-track betting parlor was handled. That led to a review of whether the village had violated the Open Meetings Act and if the village had adequately complied with a Freedom of Information Act request for related e-mails when additional e-mails later were located.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office recently said it found no reason for action against the village in the matter, though it cautioned Buffalo Grove to be careful how it handled such matters in the future.
Some village board members complained that Stone harassed Brimm with phone calls at all hours of the day, including weekends. As a result, guidelines were set for village board members to contact village staff.
In recognizing Brimm for 25 years of work in 2003, Village President Elliott Hartstein said “Our financial well-being – undoubtedly would not be what it is today without the efforts that have been tireless and continuous and unselfishly given day in and day out for the last 25 years by our own assistant village manager and finance director, Bill Brimm.”
Hartstein noted that Brimm had overseen a local economy with a tax base that grew from $22.9 million in assessed value to $1.2 billion, while the population swelled from 16,000 to 43,000. The tax rate and the water rate had remained stable for more than two decades, and Brimm had received the Award of Financial Reporting Achievement from the Government Finance Officers Association more than 20 times.
Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Authorities are investigating the cause of death of a man who was found lying facedown in the street near his home early Sunday.
Kelvin Mosley, 44, of 1617 S. Stanley St. was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m., about 45 minutes after four teens walking by found him lying in the road in the 1600 block of Stanley.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is unknown, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Mosley, a cook who was described as full of life and close with family and friends, recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Jessie Copeland.
“He did not deserve to die like this, he was almost home,” Copeland said Sunday night from the house they shared. “He will be missed dearly by me, his friends and family.”
She told police she gave him a ride to LA Connection, a Western Avenue bar, late Saturday evening.
Mosley left the bar at some point with a friend, who dropped him off at another friend’s house. He apparently decided to walk home from there, Copeland said.
His cell phone showed he called her phone about 10 minutes prior to the 911 call. She regrets she never heard the phone ring, as he probably was calling her for a ride home.
“If I had, he would be watching basketball,” she said.
Copeland said a police officer knocked on her door about 2:30 a.m. and asked her if she had seen or heard anything about a man in the street, dead.
She said she didn’t and then looked out the window. As a police flashlight illuminated the body, she felt a jolt. She was fairly sure it was her fiance.
“I gave them a photo of Kelvin and asked them to tell me it was not him,” she said.
But to her dismay, it was a match.
Copeland, a certified nursing assistant at Bel-Wood Nursing Home, said Mosley didn’t appear to have gunshot or stab wounds when she ran out in the street to see him. However, his wallet and shoes were missing.
Mosley’s sister, Stacy Mosley, said she and her family saw some bruises on his face at the coroners’ office Sunday.
Police confirmed Sunday evening that Mosley’s shoes were missing when officers arrived at the scene, but released no further information, including whether anyone had been taken into custody or arrested. “He was a good father figure, a good male figure,” Stacy Mosley said of her brother, adding he had eight children, five girls and three boys.
He served in the military in Seattle for four years in the 1980s and had been working at a Bartonville restaurant as a cook for about 10 years at the time of his death, she added.
Pearlie Mosley described her son as full of life and outgoing. “Everybody loved him,” she said.
“Everybody has taken it real hard,” Stacy Mosley added.
Riya V. Anandwala can be reached at 686-3194 or ranandwala@pjstar.com.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Authorities are investigating the cause of death of a man who was found lying facedown in the street near his home early Sunday.
Kelvin Mosley, 44, of 1617 S. Stanley St. was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m., about 45 minutes after four teens walking by found him lying in the road in the 1600 block of Stanley.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is unknown, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Mosley, a cook who was described as full of life and close with family and friends, recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Jessie Copeland.
“He did not deserve to die like this, he was almost home,” Copeland said Sunday night from the house they shared. “He will be missed dearly by me, his friends and family.”
She told police she gave him a ride to LA Connection, a Western Avenue bar, late Saturday evening.
Mosley left the bar at some point with a friend, who dropped him off at another friend’s house. He apparently decided to walk home from there, Copeland said.
His cell phone showed he called her phone about 10 minutes prior to the 911 call. She regrets she never heard the phone ring, as he probably was calling her for a ride home.
“If I had, he would be watching basketball,” she said.
Copeland said a police officer knocked on her door about 2:30 a.m. and asked her if she had seen or heard anything about a man in the street, dead.
She said she didn’t and then looked out the window. As a police flashlight illuminated the body, she felt a jolt. She was fairly sure it was her fiance.
“I gave them a photo of Kelvin and asked them to tell me it was not him,” she said.
But to her dismay, it was a match.
Copeland, a certified nursing assistant at Bel-Wood Nursing Home, said Mosley didn’t appear to have gunshot or stab wounds when she ran out in the street to see him. However, his wallet and shoes were missing.
Mosley’s sister, Stacy Mosley, said she and her family saw some bruises on his face at the coroners’ office Sunday.
Police confirmed Sunday evening that Mosley’s shoes were missing when officers arrived at the scene, but released no further information, including whether anyone had been taken into custody or arrested. “He was a good father figure, a good male figure,” Stacy Mosley said of her brother, adding he had eight children, five girls and three boys.
He served in the military in Seattle for four years in the 1980s and had been working at a Bartonville restaurant as a cook for about 10 years at the time of his death, she added.
Pearlie Mosley described her son as full of life and outgoing. “Everybody loved him,” she said.
“Everybody has taken it real hard,” Stacy Mosley added.
Riya V. Anandwala can be reached at 686-3194 or ranandwala@pjstar.com.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Authorities are investigating the cause of death of a man who was found lying facedown in the street near his home early Sunday.
Kelvin Mosley, 44, of 1617 S. Stanley St. was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m., about 45 minutes after four teens walking by found him lying in the road in the 1600 block of Stanley.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is unknown, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Mosley, a cook who was described as full of life and close with family and friends, recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Jessie Copeland.
“He did not deserve to die like this, he was almost home,” Copeland said Sunday night from the house they shared. “He will be missed dearly by me, his friends and family.”
She told police she gave him a ride to LA Connection, a Western Avenue bar, late Saturday evening.
Mosley left the bar at some point with a friend, who dropped him off at another friend’s house. He apparently decided to walk home from there, Copeland said.
His cell phone showed he called her phone about 10 minutes prior to the 911 call. She regrets she never heard the phone ring, as he probably was calling her for a ride home.
“If I had, he would be watching basketball,” she said.
Copeland said a police officer knocked on her door about 2:30 a.m. and asked her if she had seen or heard anything about a man in the street, dead.
She said she didn’t and then looked out the window. As a police flashlight illuminated the body, she felt a jolt. She was fairly sure it was her fiance.
“I gave them a photo of Kelvin and asked them to tell me it was not him,” she said.
But to her dismay, it was a match.
Copeland, a certified nursing assistant at Bel-Wood Nursing Home, said Mosley didn’t appear to have gunshot or stab wounds when she ran out in the street to see him. However, his wallet and shoes were missing.
Mosley’s sister, Stacy Mosley, said she and her family saw some bruises on his face at the coroners’ office Sunday.
Police confirmed Sunday evening that Mosley’s shoes were missing when officers arrived at the scene, but released no further information, including whether anyone had been taken into custody or arrested. “He was a good father figure, a good male figure,” Stacy Mosley said of her brother, adding he had eight children, five girls and three boys.
He served in the military in Seattle for four years in the 1980s and had been working at a Bartonville restaurant as a cook for about 10 years at the time of his death, she added.
Pearlie Mosley described her son as full of life and outgoing. “Everybody loved him,” she said.
“Everybody has taken it real hard,” Stacy Mosley added.
Riya V. Anandwala can be reached at 686-3194 or ranandwala@pjstar.com.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Authorities are investigating the cause of death of a man who was found lying facedown in the street near his home early Sunday.
Kelvin Mosley, 44, of 1617 S. Stanley St. was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m., about 45 minutes after four teens walking by found him lying in the road in the 1600 block of Stanley.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is unknown, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Mosley, a cook who was described as full of life and close with family and friends, recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Jessie Copeland.
“He did not deserve to die like this, he was almost home,” Copeland said Sunday night from the house they shared. “He will be missed dearly by me, his friends and family.”
She told police she gave him a ride to LA Connection, a Western Avenue bar, late Saturday evening.
Mosley left the bar at some point with a friend, who dropped him off at another friend’s house. He apparently decided to walk home from there, Copeland said.
His cell phone showed he called her phone about 10 minutes prior to the 911 call. She regrets she never heard the phone ring, as he probably was calling her for a ride home.
“If I had, he would be watching basketball,” she said.
Copeland said a police officer knocked on her door about 2:30 a.m. and asked her if she had seen or heard anything about a man in the street, dead.
She said she didn’t and then looked out the window. As a police flashlight illuminated the body, she felt a jolt. She was fairly sure it was her fiance.
“I gave them a photo of Kelvin and asked them to tell me it was not him,” she said.
But to her dismay, it was a match.
Copeland, a certified nursing assistant at Bel-Wood Nursing Home, said Mosley didn’t appear to have gunshot or stab wounds when she ran out in the street to see him. However, his wallet and shoes were missing.
Mosley’s sister, Stacy Mosley, said she and her family saw some bruises on his face at the coroners’ office Sunday.
Police confirmed Sunday evening that Mosley’s shoes were missing when officers arrived at the scene, but released no further information, including whether anyone had been taken into custody or arrested. “He was a good father figure, a good male figure,” Stacy Mosley said of her brother, adding he had eight children, five girls and three boys.
He served in the military in Seattle for four years in the 1980s and had been working at a Bartonville restaurant as a cook for about 10 years at the time of his death, she added.
Pearlie Mosley described her son as full of life and outgoing. “Everybody loved him,” she said.
“Everybody has taken it real hard,” Stacy Mosley added.
Riya V. Anandwala can be reached at 686-3194 or ranandwala@pjstar.com.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Authorities are investigating the cause of death of a man who was found lying facedown in the street near his home early Sunday.
Kelvin Mosley, 44, of 1617 S. Stanley St. was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m., about 45 minutes after four teens walking by found him lying in the road in the 1600 block of Stanley.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is unknown, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Mosley, a cook who was described as full of life and close with family and friends, recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Jessie Copeland.
“He did not deserve to die like this, he was almost home,” Copeland said Sunday night from the house they shared. “He will be missed dearly by me, his friends and family.”
She told police she gave him a ride to LA Connection, a Western Avenue bar, late Saturday evening.
Mosley left the bar at some point with a friend, who dropped him off at another friend’s house. He apparently decided to walk home from there, Copeland said.
His cell phone showed he called her phone about 10 minutes prior to the 911 call. She regrets she never heard the phone ring, as he probably was calling her for a ride home.
“If I had, he would be watching basketball,” she said.
Copeland said a police officer knocked on her door about 2:30 a.m. and asked her if she had seen or heard anything about a man in the street, dead.
She said she didn’t and then looked out the window. As a police flashlight illuminated the body, she felt a jolt. She was fairly sure it was her fiance.
“I gave them a photo of Kelvin and asked them to tell me it was not him,” she said.
But to her dismay, it was a match.
Copeland, a certified nursing assistant at Bel-Wood Nursing Home, said Mosley didn’t appear to have gunshot or stab wounds when she ran out in the street to see him. However, his wallet and shoes were missing.
Mosley’s sister, Stacy Mosley, said she and her family saw some bruises on his face at the coroners’ office Sunday.
Police confirmed Sunday evening that Mosley’s shoes were missing when officers arrived at the scene, but released no further information, including whether anyone had been taken into custody or arrested. “He was a good father figure, a good male figure,” Stacy Mosley said of her brother, adding he had eight children, five girls and three boys.
He served in the military in Seattle for four years in the 1980s and had been working at a Bartonville restaurant as a cook for about 10 years at the time of his death, she added.
Pearlie Mosley described her son as full of life and outgoing. “Everybody loved him,” she said.
“Everybody has taken it real hard,” Stacy Mosley added.
Riya V. Anandwala can be reached at 686-3194 or ranandwala@pjstar.com.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Authorities are investigating the cause of death of a man who was found lying facedown in the street near his home early Sunday.
Kelvin Mosley, 44, of 1617 S. Stanley St. was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m., about 45 minutes after four teens walking by found him lying in the road in the 1600 block of Stanley.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is unknown, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Mosley, a cook who was described as full of life and close with family and friends, recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Jessie Copeland.
“He did not deserve to die like this, he was almost home,” Copeland said Sunday night from the house they shared. “He will be missed dearly by me, his friends and family.”
She told police she gave him a ride to LA Connection, a Western Avenue bar, late Saturday evening.
Mosley left the bar at some point with a friend, who dropped him off at another friend’s house. He apparently decided to walk home from there, Copeland said.
His cell phone showed he called her phone about 10 minutes prior to the 911 call. She regrets she never heard the phone ring, as he probably was calling her for a ride home.
“If I had, he would be watching basketball,” she said.
Copeland said a police officer knocked on her door about 2:30 a.m. and asked her if she had seen or heard anything about a man in the street, dead.
She said she didn’t and then looked out the window. As a police flashlight illuminated the body, she felt a jolt. She was fairly sure it was her fiance.
“I gave them a photo of Kelvin and asked them to tell me it was not him,” she said.
But to her dismay, it was a match.
Copeland, a certified nursing assistant at Bel-Wood Nursing Home, said Mosley didn’t appear to have gunshot or stab wounds when she ran out in the street to see him. However, his wallet and shoes were missing.
Mosley’s sister, Stacy Mosley, said she and her family saw some bruises on his face at the coroners’ office Sunday.
Police confirmed Sunday evening that Mosley’s shoes were missing when officers arrived at the scene, but released no further information, including whether anyone had been taken into custody or arrested. “He was a good father figure, a good male figure,” Stacy Mosley said of her brother, adding he had eight children, five girls and three boys.
He served in the military in Seattle for four years in the 1980s and had been working at a Bartonville restaurant as a cook for about 10 years at the time of his death, she added.
Pearlie Mosley described her son as full of life and outgoing. “Everybody loved him,” she said.
“Everybody has taken it real hard,” Stacy Mosley added.
Riya V. Anandwala can be reached at 686-3194 or ranandwala@pjstar.com.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Authorities are investigating the cause of death of a man who was found lying facedown in the street near his home early Sunday.
Kelvin Mosley, 44, of 1617 S. Stanley St. was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m., about 45 minutes after four teens walking by found him lying in the road in the 1600 block of Stanley.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is unknown, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Mosley, a cook who was described as full of life and close with family and friends, recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Jessie Copeland.
“He did not deserve to die like this, he was almost home,” Copeland said Sunday night from the house they shared. “He will be missed dearly by me, his friends and family.”
She told police she gave him a ride to LA Connection, a Western Avenue bar, late Saturday evening.
Mosley left the bar at some point with a friend, who dropped him off at another friend’s house. He apparently decided to walk home from there, Copeland said.
His cell phone showed he called her phone about 10 minutes prior to the 911 call. She regrets she never heard the phone ring, as he probably was calling her for a ride home.
“If I had, he would be watching basketball,” she said.
Copeland said a police officer knocked on her door about 2:30 a.m. and asked her if she had seen or heard anything about a man in the street, dead.
She said she didn’t and then looked out the window. As a police flashlight illuminated the body, she felt a jolt. She was fairly sure it was her fiance.
“I gave them a photo of Kelvin and asked them to tell me it was not him,” she said.
But to her dismay, it was a match.
Copeland, a certified nursing assistant at Bel-Wood Nursing Home, said Mosley didn’t appear to have gunshot or stab wounds when she ran out in the street to see him. However, his wallet and shoes were missing.
Mosley’s sister, Stacy Mosley, said she and her family saw some bruises on his face at the coroners’ office Sunday.
Police confirmed Sunday evening that Mosley’s shoes were missing when officers arrived at the scene, but released no further information, including whether anyone had been taken into custody or arrested. “He was a good father figure, a good male figure,” Stacy Mosley said of her brother, adding he had eight children, five girls and three boys.
He served in the military in Seattle for four years in the 1980s and had been working at a Bartonville restaurant as a cook for about 10 years at the time of his death, she added.
Pearlie Mosley described her son as full of life and outgoing. “Everybody loved him,” she said.
“Everybody has taken it real hard,” Stacy Mosley added.
Riya V. Anandwala can be reached at 686-3194 or ranandwala@pjstar.com.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Several people were injured, some seriously, in a multicar crash at the intersection of Green Bay and Kenosha roads in Winthrop Harbor at 10 a.m. Saturday, fire officials said.
Fire Capt. Alicia McCoy said rescue crews from six area departments responded to the crash.
The injured were taken to Vista East Medical Center in Waukegan and Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
McCoy could not comment on the cause of the crash or tell how many vehicles were involved.
Winthrop Harbor Police were not releasing information on the accident Sunday.
Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
A freight train struck a pedestrian Saturday night near Grace Street and St. Charles Road in Lombard, officials said.
Metra spokesman Tom Miller said he was notified that a person was hit on the UnionThe Union reviews
Pacific line near that location, but had no additional information available about the person’s condition or other details.
He said the person was hit by a freight train, not a Metra train, although both freight and commuter trains use the same tracks at that site.
As of about midnight, two trains were delayed because of the incident, according to the Metra Web site.
Train No. 71, scheduled to arrive in Elburn at 12:06 a.m. was stopped near Berkeley, and train No. 514, scheduled to arrive in ChicagoChicago reviews
at 11:46 p.m., was stopped near the Lombard station..
The Lombard Police Department refused to provide any information about the incident and would not say when information would be available. Calls to the Lombard Fire Department were not answered.
A freight train struck a pedestrian Saturday night near Grace Street and St. Charles Road in Lombard, officials said.
Metra spokesman Tom Miller said he was notified that a person was hit on the UnionThe Union reviews Pacific line near that location, but had no additional information available about the person’s condition or other details.
He said the person was hit by a freight train, not a Metra train, although both freight and commuter trains use the same tracks at that site.
As of about midnight, two trains were delayed because of the incident, according to the Metra Web site.
Train No. 71, scheduled to arrive in Elburn at 12:06 a.m. was stopped near Berkeley, and train No. 514, scheduled to arrive in ChicagoChicago reviews at 11:46 p.m., was stopped near the Lombard station..
The Lombard Police Department refused to provide any information about the incident and would not say when information would be available. Calls to the Lombard Fire Department were not answered.
Philip Carpenter happened to be awake when Wednesday’s earthquake shook his Sycamore home, and unlike many people who nervously rode out the tremors, he found the moment exhilarating.
Carpenter is a Northern Illinois University geology professor who studies earthquakes and other geological activity for a living. But until those few shaky seconds, he had never felt one on his home turf.
“To my knowledge, there have been no recorded earthquakes in that area,” he said.
The quake’s center, near the Kane County town of Pingree Grove, was far from any known fault line, and its origin remains a tantalizing mystery. But a research project set to begin in the area might provide answers on just what’s going on deep beneath the surface of northern Illinois.
The federally funded project, known as EarthScope, will plant 400 seismometers across the Midwest to measure seismic activity. The information collected by the instruments will help scientists create images of hidden fault lines and other subterranean “scar tissue” left over from millenniums of underground activity.
Those images, in turn, could help explain why the earth moved, albeit gently, in northern Illinois, an area that rarely experiences earthquakes.
“Maybe then we can see these ancient scars in the crust and finally put it all together,” said Tim Larson, a geophysicist with the Illinois State Geological Survey.
Wednesday’s earthquake was only the fourth in northern Illinois since 1985, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. All have been mild: The latest, which caused no recorded damage, measured a magnitude 3.8; the magnitude 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti last month was about 32,000 times more powerful.
Still, it was a hot topic at the General Store of Udina, a faux log cabin structure about two miles east of the epicenter.
“OMG!” proprietor Cindy Kamijima wrote on the store’s whiteboard. “Did anyone else feel the Earthquake?”
It was the first question she and colleague Charlene LaCasse asked of anyone who walked in the establishment. Kamijima was getting ready to open the store when she felt the jolt at 3:59 a.m. She thought it was a snowplow, then looked outside and saw nothing.
Regular customer Bill Miller had a more sinister first impression. He thought military planes were flying toward Chicago after a terrorist attack.
“I thought it was a sonic boom, to tell the truth, because they scramble jets through here out of Milwaukee and Rockford,” he said.
Managers at VIP Property Maintenance, a landscaping, snow removal and valet service about a mile east of the epicenter, started getting phone calls moments after the tremor, said Kellie Florence, administrative assistant at the company.
“They thought our snowplows were hitting their buildings,” Florence said. “Our regional manager was in a truck and had no idea. He just said, ‘OK, we’ll get right on it.’ ”
More than 17,000 people told the Geological Survey they felt the quake. Those who felt it most strongly lived in Fox River towns from Algonquin to Oswego, but Wisconsin and Indiana residents also experienced the tremors.
Scientists could offer no clear answers about the cause. The closest known fault line runs beneath the small town of Sandwich, about 40 miles south of the epicenter, but it has been dormant for at least 150 years, experts said.
The quake was small enough that geologists did not expect any aftershocks, which would have offered an opportunity for follow-up seismic measurements. And it took place far underground, anywhere fromthree to six miles beneath the surface, where most geological features are still unmapped.
But the EarthScope project, with its battery of seismometers, could provide insight on that hidden territory.
Anne Trehu, EarthScope’s current director, said the instruments are placed in a grid pattern, with one every 43 miles, to continuously record seismic waves. Those data are used to create models of what’s taking place underground, including the stresses that could be building up inside the plate upon which Chicago rests.
The research probably won’t yield life-or-death information for Illinois residents: Experts said that Illinois, sitting on the middle of the North American plate, is much less likely to experience a powerful earthquake than California on the plate’s western edge.
But Larson said it might shed light on one theory: that the state’s earthquakes could be the result of glaciers that receded north about 15,000 years ago. Relieved of the weight of the ice, the crust could still be slowly bouncing back into place, causing underground disturbances.
Carpenter, who hopes to use some of EarthScope’s data in his own research, said the information could have a more practical payoff too. He hopes to use it to monitor the condition of northern Illinois’ aquifers, the underground source of drinking water for many residents.
“It does have some applications to environmental problems,” he said.
The seismometers, which are gradually being deployed across the country, should arrive within the next two years.
–John Keilman and Ted Gregory
Philip Carpenter happened to be awake when Wednesday’s earthquake shook his Sycamore home, and unlike many people who nervously rode out the tremors, he found the moment exhilarating.
Carpenter is a Northern Illinois University geology professor who studies earthquakes and other geological activity for a living. But until those few shaky seconds, he had never felt one on his home turf.
“To my knowledge, there have been no recorded earthquakes in that area,” he said.
The quake’s center, near the Kane County town of Pingree Grove, was far from any known fault line, and its origin remains a tantalizing mystery. But a research project set to begin in the area might provide answers on just what’s going on deep beneath the surface of northern Illinois.
The federally funded project, known as EarthScope, will plant 400 seismometers across the Midwest to measure seismic activity. The information collected by the instruments will help scientists create images of hidden fault lines and other subterranean “scar tissue” left over from millenniums of underground activity.
Those images, in turn, could help explain why the earth moved, albeit gently, in northern Illinois, an area that rarely experiences earthquakes.
“Maybe then we can see these ancient scars in the crust and finally put it all together,” said Tim Larson, a geophysicist with the Illinois State Geological Survey.
Wednesday’s earthquake was only the fourth in northern Illinois since 1985, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. All have been mild: The latest, which caused no recorded damage, measured a magnitude 3.8; the magnitude 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti last month was about 32,000 times more powerful.
Still, it was a hot topic at the General Store of Udina, a faux log cabin structure about two miles east of the epicenter.
“OMG!” proprietor Cindy Kamijima wrote on the store’s whiteboard. “Did anyone else feel the Earthquake?”
It was the first question she and colleague Charlene LaCasse asked of anyone who walked in the establishment. Kamijima was getting ready to open the store when she felt the jolt at 3:59 a.m. She thought it was a snowplow, then looked outside and saw nothing.
Regular customer Bill Miller had a more sinister first impression. He thought military planes were flying toward Chicago after a terrorist attack.
“I thought it was a sonic boom, to tell the truth, because they scramble jets through here out of Milwaukee and Rockford,” he said.
Managers at VIP Property Maintenance, a landscaping, snow removal and valet service about a mile east of the epicenter, started getting phone calls moments after the tremor, said Kellie Florence, administrative assistant at the company.
“They thought our snowplows were hitting their buildings,” Florence said. “Our regional manager was in a truck and had no idea. He just said, ‘OK, we’ll get right on it.’ ”
More than 17,000 people told the Geological Survey they felt the quake. Those who felt it most strongly lived in Fox River towns from Algonquin to Oswego, but Wisconsin and Indiana residents also experienced the tremors.
Scientists could offer no clear answers about the cause. The closest known fault line runs beneath the small town of Sandwich, about 40 miles south of the epicenter, but it has been dormant for at least 150 years, experts said.
The quake was small enough that geologists did not expect any aftershocks, which would have offered an opportunity for follow-up seismic measurements. And it took place far underground, anywhere fromthree to six miles beneath the surface, where most geological features are still unmapped.
But the EarthScope project, with its battery of seismometers, could provide insight on that hidden territory.
Anne Trehu, EarthScope’s current director, said the instruments are placed in a grid pattern, with one every 43 miles, to continuously record seismic waves. Those data are used to create models of what’s taking place underground, including the stresses that could be building up inside the plate upon which Chicago rests.
The research probably won’t yield life-or-death information for Illinois residents: Experts said that Illinois, sitting on the middle of the North American plate, is much less likely to experience a powerful earthquake than California on the plate’s western edge.
But Larson said it might shed light on one theory: that the state’s earthquakes could be the result of glaciers that receded north about 15,000 years ago. Relieved of the weight of the ice, the crust could still be slowly bouncing back into place, causing underground disturbances.
Carpenter, who hopes to use some of EarthScope’s data in his own research, said the information could have a more practical payoff too. He hopes to use it to monitor the condition of northern Illinois’ aquifers, the underground source of drinking water for many residents.
“It does have some applications to environmental problems,” he said.
The seismometers, which are gradually being deployed across the country, should arrive within the next two years.
–John Keilman and Ted Gregory
Philip Carpenter happened to be awake when Wednesday’s earthquake shook his Sycamore home, and unlike many people who nervously rode out the tremors, he found the moment exhilarating.
Carpenter is a Northern Illinois University geology professor who studies earthquakes and other geological activity for a living. But until those few shaky seconds, he had never felt one on his home turf.
“To my knowledge, there have been no recorded earthquakes in that area,” he said.
The quake’s center, near the Kane County town of Pingree Grove, was far from any known fault line, and its origin remains a tantalizing mystery. But a research project set to begin in the area might provide answers on just what’s going on deep beneath the surface of northern Illinois.
The federally funded project, known as EarthScope, will plant 400 seismometers across the Midwest to measure seismic activity. The information collected by the instruments will help scientists create images of hidden fault lines and other subterranean “scar tissue” left over from millenniums of underground activity.
Those images, in turn, could help explain why the earth moved, albeit gently, in northern Illinois, an area that rarely experiences earthquakes.
“Maybe then we can see these ancient scars in the crust and finally put it all together,” said Tim Larson, a geophysicist with the Illinois State Geological Survey.
Wednesday’s earthquake was only the fourth in northern Illinois since 1985, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. All have been mild: The latest, which caused no recorded damage, measured a magnitude 3.8; the magnitude 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti last month was about 32,000 times more powerful.
Still, it was a hot topic at the General Store of Udina, a faux log cabin structure about two miles east of the epicenter.
“OMG!” proprietor Cindy Kamijima wrote on the store’s whiteboard. “Did anyone else feel the Earthquake?”
It was the first question she and colleague Charlene LaCasse asked of anyone who walked in the establishment. Kamijima was getting ready to open the store when she felt the jolt at 3:59 a.m. She thought it was a snowplow, then looked outside and saw nothing.
Regular customer Bill Miller had a more sinister first impression. He thought military planes were flying toward Chicago after a terrorist attack.
“I thought it was a sonic boom, to tell the truth, because they scramble jets through here out of Milwaukee and Rockford,” he said.
Managers at VIP Property Maintenance, a landscaping, snow removal and valet service about a mile east of the epicenter, started getting phone calls moments after the tremor, said Kellie Florence, administrative assistant at the company.
“They thought our snowplows were hitting their buildings,” Florence said. “Our regional manager was in a truck and had no idea. He just said, ‘OK, we’ll get right on it.’ ”
More than 17,000 people told the Geological Survey they felt the quake. Those who felt it most strongly lived in Fox River towns from Algonquin to Oswego, but Wisconsin and Indiana residents also experienced the tremors.
Scientists could offer no clear answers about the cause. The closest known fault line runs beneath the small town of Sandwich, about 40 miles south of the epicenter, but it has been dormant for at least 150 years, experts said.
The quake was small enough that geologists did not expect any aftershocks, which would have offered an opportunity for follow-up seismic measurements. And it took place far underground, anywhere fromthree to six miles beneath the surface, where most geological features are still unmapped.
But the EarthScope project, with its battery of seismometers, could provide insight on that hidden territory.
Anne Trehu, EarthScope’s current director, said the instruments are placed in a grid pattern, with one every 43 miles, to continuously record seismic waves. Those data are used to create models of what’s taking place underground, including the stresses that could be building up inside the plate upon which Chicago rests.
The research probably won’t yield life-or-death information for Illinois residents: Experts said that Illinois, sitting on the middle of the North American plate, is much less likely to experience a powerful earthquake than California on the plate’s western edge.
But Larson said it might shed light on one theory: that the state’s earthquakes could be the result of glaciers that receded north about 15,000 years ago. Relieved of the weight of the ice, the crust could still be slowly bouncing back into place, causing underground disturbances.
Carpenter, who hopes to use some of EarthScope’s data in his own research, said the information could have a more practical payoff too. He hopes to use it to monitor the condition of northern Illinois’ aquifers, the underground source of drinking water for many residents.
“It does have some applications to environmental problems,” he said.
The seismometers, which are gradually being deployed across the country, should arrive within the next two years.
–John Keilman and Ted Gregory
Philip Carpenter happened to be awake when Wednesday’s earthquake shook his Sycamore home, and unlike many people who nervously rode out the tremors, he found the moment exhilarating.
Carpenter is a Northern Illinois University geology professor who studies earthquakes and other geological activity for a living. But until those few shaky seconds, he had never felt one on his home turf.
“To my knowledge, there have been no recorded earthquakes in that area,” he said.
The quake’s center, near the Kane County town of Pingree Grove, was far from any known fault line, and its origin remains a tantalizing mystery. But a research project set to begin in the area might provide answers on just what’s going on deep beneath the surface of northern Illinois.
The federally funded project, known as EarthScope, will plant 400 seismometers across the Midwest to measure seismic activity. The information collected by the instruments will help scientists create images of hidden fault lines and other subterranean “scar tissue” left over from millenniums of underground activity.
Those images, in turn, could help explain why the earth moved, albeit gently, in northern Illinois, an area that rarely experiences earthquakes.
“Maybe then we can see these ancient scars in the crust and finally put it all together,” said Tim Larson, a geophysicist with the Illinois State Geological Survey.
Wednesday’s earthquake was only the fourth in northern Illinois since 1985, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. All have been mild: The latest, which caused no recorded damage, measured a magnitude 3.8; the magnitude 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti last month was about 32,000 times more powerful.
Still, it was a hot topic at the General Store of Udina, a faux log cabin structure about two miles east of the epicenter.
“OMG!” proprietor Cindy Kamijima wrote on the store’s whiteboard. “Did anyone else feel the Earthquake?”
It was the first question she and colleague Charlene LaCasse asked of anyone who walked in the establishment. Kamijima was getting ready to open the store when she felt the jolt at 3:59 a.m. She thought it was a snowplow, then looked outside and saw nothing.
Regular customer Bill Miller had a more sinister first impression. He thought military planes were flying toward Chicago after a terrorist attack.
“I thought it was a sonic boom, to tell the truth, because they scramble jets through here out of Milwaukee and Rockford,” he said.
Managers at VIP Property Maintenance, a landscaping, snow removal and valet service about a mile east of the epicenter, started getting phone calls moments after the tremor, said Kellie Florence, administrative assistant at the company.
“They thought our snowplows were hitting their buildings,” Florence said. “Our regional manager was in a truck and had no idea. He just said, ‘OK, we’ll get right on it.’ ”
More than 17,000 people told the Geological Survey they felt the quake. Those who felt it most strongly lived in Fox River towns from Algonquin to Oswego, but Wisconsin and Indiana residents also experienced the tremors.
Scientists could offer no clear answers about the cause. The closest known fault line runs beneath the small town of Sandwich, about 40 miles south of the epicenter, but it has been dormant for at least 150 years, experts said.
The quake was small enough that geologists did not expect any aftershocks, which would have offered an opportunity for follow-up seismic measurements. And it took place far underground, anywhere fromthree to six miles beneath the surface, where most geological features are still unmapped.
But the EarthScope project, with its battery of seismometers, could provide insight on that hidden territory.
Anne Trehu, EarthScope’s current director, said the instruments are placed in a grid pattern, with one every 43 miles, to continuously record seismic waves. Those data are used to create models of what’s taking place underground, including the stresses that could be building up inside the plate upon which Chicago rests.
The research probably won’t yield life-or-death information for Illinois residents: Experts said that Illinois, sitting on the middle of the North American plate, is much less likely to experience a powerful earthquake than California on the plate’s western edge.
But Larson said it might shed light on one theory: that the state’s earthquakes could be the result of glaciers that receded north about 15,000 years ago. Relieved of the weight of the ice, the crust could still be slowly bouncing back into place, causing underground disturbances.
Carpenter, who hopes to use some of EarthScope’s data in his own research, said the information could have a more practical payoff too. He hopes to use it to monitor the condition of northern Illinois’ aquifers, the underground source of drinking water for many residents.
“It does have some applications to environmental problems,” he said.
The seismometers, which are gradually being deployed across the country, should arrive within the next two years.
–John Keilman and Ted Gregory
Philip Carpenter happened to be awake when Wednesday’s earthquake shook his Sycamore home, and unlike many people who nervously rode out the tremors, he found the moment exhilarating.
Carpenter is a Northern Illinois University geology professor who studies earthquakes and other geological activity for a living. But until those few shaky seconds, he had never felt one on his home turf.
“To my knowledge, there have been no recorded earthquakes in that area,” he said.
The quake’s center, near the Kane County town of Pingree Grove, was far from any known fault line, and its origin remains a tantalizing mystery. But a research project set to begin in the area might provide answers on just what’s going on deep beneath the surface of northern Illinois.
The federally funded project, known as EarthScope, will plant 400 seismometers across the Midwest to measure seismic activity. The information collected by the instruments will help scientists create images of hidden fault lines and other subterranean “scar tissue” left over from millenniums of underground activity.
Those images, in turn, could help explain why the earth moved, albeit gently, in northern Illinois, an area that rarely experiences earthquakes.
“Maybe then we can see these ancient scars in the crust and finally put it all together,” said Tim Larson, a geophysicist with the Illinois State Geological Survey.
Wednesday’s earthquake was only the fourth in northern Illinois since 1985, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. All have been mild: The latest, which caused no recorded damage, measured a magnitude 3.8; the magnitude 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti last month was about 32,000 times more powerful.
Still, it was a hot topic at the General Store of Udina, a faux log cabin structure about two miles east of the epicenter.
“OMG!” proprietor Cindy Kamijima wrote on the store’s whiteboard. “Did anyone else feel the Earthquake?”
It was the first question she and colleague Charlene LaCasse asked of anyone who walked in the establishment. Kamijima was getting ready to open the store when she felt the jolt at 3:59 a.m. She thought it was a snowplow, then looked outside and saw nothing.
Regular customer Bill Miller had a more sinister first impression. He thought military planes were flying toward Chicago after a terrorist attack.
“I thought it was a sonic boom, to tell the truth, because they scramble jets through here out of Milwaukee and Rockford,” he said.
Managers at VIP Property Maintenance, a landscaping, snow removal and valet service about a mile east of the epicenter, started getting phone calls moments after the tremor, said Kellie Florence, administrative assistant at the company.
“They thought our snowplows were hitting their buildings,” Florence said. “Our regional manager was in a truck and had no idea. He just said, ‘OK, we’ll get right on it.’ ”
More than 17,000 people told the Geological Survey they felt the quake. Those who felt it most strongly lived in Fox River towns from Algonquin to Oswego, but Wisconsin and Indiana residents also experienced the tremors.
Scientists could offer no clear answers about the cause. The closest known fault line runs beneath the small town of Sandwich, about 40 miles south of the epicenter, but it has been dormant for at least 150 years, experts said.
The quake was small enough that geologists did not expect any aftershocks, which would have offered an opportunity for follow-up seismic measurements. And it took place far underground, anywhere fromthree to six miles beneath the surface, where most geological features are still unmapped.
But the EarthScope project, with its battery of seismometers, could provide insight on that hidden territory.
Anne Trehu, EarthScope’s current director, said the instruments are placed in a grid pattern, with one every 43 miles, to continuously record seismic waves. Those data are used to create models of what’s taking place underground, including the stresses that could be building up inside the plate upon which Chicago rests.
The research probably won’t yield life-or-death information for Illinois residents: Experts said that Illinois, sitting on the middle of the North American plate, is much less likely to experience a powerful earthquake than California on the plate’s western edge.
But Larson said it might shed light on one theory: that the state’s earthquakes could be the result of glaciers that receded north about 15,000 years ago. Relieved of the weight of the ice, the crust could still be slowly bouncing back into place, causing underground disturbances.
Carpenter, who hopes to use some of EarthScope’s data in his own research, said the information could have a more practical payoff too. He hopes to use it to monitor the condition of northern Illinois’ aquifers, the underground source of drinking water for many residents.
“It does have some applications to environmental problems,” he said.
The seismometers, which are gradually being deployed across the country, should arrive within the next two years.
–John Keilman and Ted Gregory
A new Web site has gone online that officials at the University of Illinois say will offer information about the school’s budget.
The online site is called “Stewarding Excellence at Illinois” and is available at http://oc.illinois.edu/budget. School spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the site was created for those interested in the university’s budget process. She says it’s also for those who want to offer ideas.
The Web site is to offer budget updates, documents and schedules for upcoming meetings, along with other information. Visitors also can subscribe to be notified when new information is added to the site.
–The Associated Press
A woman’s body was found in Starved Rock State Park late this morning as police searched for a missing Evanston woman, authorities said. It was not immediately clear whether the body was that of the woman who was being sought.
Beginning about 7 a.m., the Utica Fire Department led a ground search by more than 70 police and fire department volunteers in Starved Rock State Park for a missing woman from Evanston, authorities said. A body was found in the park about 11 a.m., said Chris McCloud, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources. The body was found on the park’s river trail, below an area known as Eagle Cliff, police said in a release.
Authorities are not yet releasing the identity of the woman whose body was found, pending notification of family, police said.
The woman was declared dead on the scne at 11:35 a.m., authorities said.
Authorities were acting on information they received that the missing woman may be somewhere inside the park, Sgt. Robert Frazier of the Illinois Conservation Police said.
Evanston police have been investigating the disappearance of the woman, and informed Conservation Police that the woman might be located at the park, McCloud said.
Conservation police are assisting the Evanston Police Department in the investigation. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed by the LaSalle County coroner early next week, authorities said.
Information from the Evanston Police was not immediately available.
– John Loboda, staff
A student at Crone Middle School in Naperville was taken into custody today after it was learned he had brought a knife to school, according to a news release from the Naperville Police Department.
No students or staff were threatened or harmed, and the student was taken into custody without incident, police said.
After being processed at the police department, the student was released into the custody of his parent, police said. No further information about the student was released.
Crone Middle School is located at 4020 111th Street in Naperville.
– Staff report
Drop locations and processing center information.
Shoes coming from drop sites ultimately arrive at the Share Your Soles processing center.
As our foundation is expanding, we will be updating our drop site locations. Please check back to see if one is going to be in your area, or if you would like information about becoming a drop site location please feel free to contact us at info@shareyoursoles.org
NOTE: Please drop-off shoes in boxes (do not box them separately – bulk package them). It helps us to quickly and more efficiently process your donations. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Please also limit the number of shoes you bring to the following drop sites to FIVE Pairs (5).
A special thanks to our drop sites that are accepting an unlimited number of shoes to the Share Your Sholes Haiti relief effort. Monetary donations will be of great help to pay for the cost of proessing and shipping shoes to those with none in Haiti.
Drop off locations are listed below according to state..
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Two masked men tied up a couple and their 5-year-old child and robbed their house Monday evening in Carpentersville.
Authorities said two men wearing ski masks entered the home on the 4000 block of Stratford Lane through an open garage door about 9:15 p.m., just after the family had arrived home. After tying up the victims, the men, one of whom had a handgun, removed several items from the house and drove away in a red, two-door sedan. No more detailed information was available regarding the items that were stolen.
Cmdr. Tim Bosshart said police are investigating and are unaware of any similar incidents in the area.
It’s not clear how family members escaped their bonds and contacted police.
– Andrea L. Brown
Oh Illinois politics, you are so predictably and consistently colorful with your rich and recent history of “alleged” corruption and the occasional “indictment.” Illinois is a dream beat for a political reporter—you just can’t make up stories as good as we get them unless you were in perhaps Philadelphia or maybe Moscow. It would be entertaining if it wasn’t so sad. So, to cut to the chase, there’s a primary election Tuesday February 2 in which we will be selecting tomorrow’s reformers and headline makers—but also a raft of not-so-glamorous but awfully powerful public servants—among them, judges.
Who is running? Are they golden, are they crooked, are they beholden to the interests of the Amish special interests? You’ve gotta research this stuff, people, because those attack ads, well, they can be a bit inaccurate.
Start with Illinois voting info.
The Board of Election of Commissioners for the city of Chicago takes care of all your voting needs from information about polling places to how to use the balloting system. The site also allows you to preview sample ballots and has a list of all Democratic, Republican and Green party candidates running for office.
Meet the judges. Get comprehensive information about the candidates running for any judicial positions in Cook County. The site lists endorsements for candidates and ratings of candidates from professional organizations, including the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Chicago Bar Association.
The Cook County Clerk lists nonpartisan information about the candidates, organized by political party. You can also view the full referenda and a schedule of public viewing.
Already have strong party ties? The Cook County Republicans will help you put a face to a name for candidates running in Cook County. There’s also a link to view federal candidates.
For undecided democrats, the Cook County Democratic Party provides endorsements and voting recommendations for each office.
Chicago’s local ABC station invited candidates to submit information about themselves, including stances on issues. Though not all responded, many of the contenders for the major offices did.
Governor Quinn’s YouTube channel
Challenger Dan Hynes’s YouTube channel
Chicago Reader’s “Election Follies”
NBC Chicago’s slide show of candidates
Tribune’s extensive coverage of the entire elections
The race for Comptroller might be the most colorful of all, more on that later.
Thanks to Amie Ninh and Julia Korol for compiling the links.
Two men were shot Friday night in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, officials said.
At about 11:40 p.m., police responded to shots fired in the 3600 block of West Cortland Street, said Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.
When they arrived, police found two men with gunshot wounds to their legs, Alfaro said.
One man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, he said. The other man was taken to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, Alfaro said. There was no information available about their conditions, he said.
Police are investigating.
–Deanese Williams-Harris
Two men were shot Friday night in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, officials said.
At about 11:40 p.m., police responded to shots fired in the 3600 block of West Cortland Street, said Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.
When they arrived, police found two men with gunshot wounds to their legs, Alfaro said.
One man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, he said. The other man was taken to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, Alfaro said. There was no information available about their conditions, he said.
Police are investigating.
–Deanese Williams-Harris
When Elida Cruz worked in the banking industry, she assured clients that their personal information would remain confidential.
So, imagine her horror when she learned that much of her own information, including her Social Security number, birth date, phone number and job history, had become astonishingly public, floating down a Des Plaines street in a cloud of half-shredded paperwork.
Hundreds of sensitive, intact documents — including W-2 forms, investment account balances and job applications — were inexplicably swirling around Touhy Avenue and Eastview Drive on Thursday afternoon.
After being tipped to the airborne paper trail, the Tribune contacted some of the people and companies listed on the documents.
None of them knew how the papers could have ended up in the street.
“I am pretty much disgusted with this,” said Cruz, 47, of ChicagoChicago reviews, who was notified that at least 17 documents with her Social Security number (the apparent remnants of an old job application) had been retrieved. “All of that is sensitive information. You would think your stuff is secure.”
Privacy experts say the loss of confidential paperwork illustrates that even in an electronic age, stray documents remain a danger.
“It’s a lot more frequent than people would suspect,” said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. “Most of the time it’s just not discovered.”
His group, which pushes for tighter privacy laws, tracks breaches of sensitive information. Though computer hackers are behind most such data loss, careless document disposal still causes problems. Since 2006, the clearinghouse has noted 33 cases of legal, medical and financial paperwork discovered in trash bins.
Losing track of sensitive documents can have serious consequences.
Washington, D.C., attorney Christopher Wolf, founder of the Future of Privacy Forum and a partner at Hogan and Hartson, said state and federal laws on data security have gotten tougher in recent years. Companies that lose records often must announce it publicly, he said — a public relations nightmare.
“These laws certainly have spurred compliance, and every major corporation now understands they have a data security obligation,” he said. “Companies know they can’t put sensitive records on the curbside or throw them in the Dumpster. It’s not to say that never happens, but it’s rarer.”
Many companies contract with vendors to destroy their paperwork. That is the case with MedHQ, a Westchester firm that provides business services to healthcare providers. Some of its employees’ 2009 W-2 forms were found in Des Plaines.
Tom Jacobs, MedHQ president, said he called his shredding company (he declined to name it), but no one there claimed responsibility.
“I don’t know how it could have happened,” he said. “It is really upsetting to know there might be some documents out there that are loose like that. We are down near Oak Brook and don’t have any customers in that area.”
David Collins, owner of Lindy Manufacturing, a metal stamping company in Downers Grove, said his business does all of its shredding in-house. He also had no clue how employees’ 401(k) statements from several years ago could have escaped.
“It disturbs me a lot,” he said. “You just have to trust that these people (with access to sensitive papers) will do the right thing.”
Robert Johnson, executive director of the Phoenix-based National Association for Information Destruction, said a good shredding company maintains an unbroken chain of custody over its documents, with a screened employee taking them from locked container to locked vehicle to secured shredder.
He guessed that a recycling company or waste hauler might have been the source of the Des Plaines paperwork.
“It would explain why materials from disparate sources would have ended up in one place,” he said.
Des Plaines police said Friday they had no reports about the paper trove.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau, whose Touhy Avenue headquarters are close to where the documents were discovered, had its employees collect as many as they could and plans to return them to the people named in the papers.
“If we see who belongs to the stuff, we will get it back to them,” spokesman Frank Scafidi said. “It’s definitely not ours.”
Freelance reporter Krystyna Slivinski contributed to this report.
– Lisa Black and John Keilman
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