Chicago Sun-Times

As Oklahoma tornado tore down school around her, teacher from Naperville saved 22 children

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:43:59 -0500

Last week in Oklahoma, a hero emerged in the form of a 26-year-old kindergarten teacher originally from Naperville, who used her body to shield her students from falling rubble while a tornado completely demolished the school around them. Jennifer Simonds, a 2005 graduate of Neuqua Valley High School, counts herself as blessed to have survived along with her entire afternoon kindergarten class of 22 after the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., was lost when a tornado struck the building around 2:30 p.m. Monday. Simonds said she knew the school was in the tornado’s path, but that no one …

Ealy found guilty in Burger King strangulation case

Sat, 25 May 2013 02:10:53 -0500

A Lake County jury has convicted James Ealy of strangling his former boss during a 2006 robbery at the north suburban Burger King restaurant where he once worked.

Aldermen grill Rahm aides over parking-meter deal

Sat, 25 May 2013 02:05:09 -0500

Chicago aldermen grilled Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top aides Friday over whether a proposed settlement to end costly disputes with the operator of the city’s parking-meter system would give the company a windfall for decades to come.

Allegiant Air pulling out of Gary airport

Sat, 25 May 2013 01:36:00 -0500

Allegiant Air plans to discontinue passenger service from Gary to Sanford, Fla., in August, officials with Gary/Chicago International Airport said Friday night. The company remains open to discussing other opportunities at the airport, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said. The airport’s large-scale runway expansion project and a potential public-private partnership have accelerated discussions with other airlines, she said. “The airline industry is taking notice and other airlines are expressing an interest in Gary,” Freeman-Wilson said. Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co. begin flying between Gary and Sanford on Feb. 15, 2012. Beginning June 5, weekly flight service will switch to Wednesdays and …

Roseland Hospital cuts staff, salaries to keep doors open

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:36:53 -0500

As it waits to hear if it’ll receive a $7 million bailout to stay open, Roseland Community Hospital laid off almost 70 employees and other hospital employees will take a pay cut.

The future of Fermilab

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:32:00 -0500

In the world of science, answers sometimes mean more questions. That’s how it has been for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, particularly since the Tevatron particle collider was turned on in 1985. The Tevatron, Fermilab’s signature device, produced the first proton-antiproton collisions, paved the way for about 1,000 doctorates, produced about a paper a week through its various experiments, and led to discovery of the top quark — among other accomplishments — before it was shut down due to lack of funding in October 2011. There’s been a school of thought that the end of the Tevatron, and …

City revokes Congress Theater’s liquor license; owner vows to appeal

Sat, 25 May 2013 02:06:15 -0500

The embattled Congress Theater has lost its liquor and business licenses but can continue business as usual while it appeals, authorities said Friday.

RTA mailing Ventra info to seniors, reduced-fare riders

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:26:05 -0500

Seniors and other CTA and Pace riders now using reduced or free transit fare permits should watch their mailboxes in coming days for informational notices about the CTA’s new Ventra fare payment system.

Two shot near Roosevelt Red Line station

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:55:43 -0500

Two men suffered graze wounds in a shooting Friday morning near the Roosevelt Red Line station.

U.K. arrests 2 men over incident with Pakistan plane

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:14:06 -0500

LONDON — Two men were arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft Friday after a U.K. fighter jet was scrambled to divert their plane as it traveled from Pakistan to Britain, officials said. The incident further rattled the U.K. just days after a British soldier was brutally killed on a London street in a suspected terror attack. A British security official said the situation involving the Pakistan International Airlines flight, which carried more than 300 people, did not appear to be terror-related, but that police were still investigating. He requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation. …

Ex-judge: Charter-school operator UNO needs ‘robust’ policy against conflicts

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:21:37 -0500

The United Neighborhood Organization needs to adopt “robust conflict-of-interest” policies in the wake of a scandal that’s jeopardized tens of millions of dollars of state funding for UNO’s network of charter schools in Chicago, a retired federal judge hired by the politically influential group urged Thursday.