Chicago Sun-Times

Forgotten Lotto ticket brings fortune to family on brink of foreclosure

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:50:53 -0500

Ricardo Cerezo and his family have been going through a hard time in the last couple of years. Last year, their 14-year-old daughter, Savannah, passed away from a sudden illness. On Feb. 12, the couple, who have three children, stood before a judge in a foreclosure hearing for their home in the Mill Creek neighborhood of Geneva. Foreclosure and eviction were imminent. The judge gave the couple a few more months to find a new home as the paperwork on their foreclosure finalized. Three months later, Cerezo’s wife decided to clean the kitchen, including a shelf holding a clear glass …

Police: Suspect used sweet talk to fleece lonely women, business ‘customers’

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:16:31 -0500

At 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, David Ray Wooten has been dubbed Lothario the Large. In past decades, Wooten was a pro at seducing lonely elderly women out of their savings and valuables. But most recently, he ran a phony business in northwest suburban Park Ridge, police say. Wooten, 63, allegedly bilked his “customers” out of three cars, works of art and sports memorabilia including a 1907 Chicago Cubs World Series poster and an autographed Dan Marino football, police say. He may have as many as 100 victims in the Midwest alone, authorities say.

Laurie Dann Rampage, 25 years later

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:34:22 -0500

It’s been 25 years since Phil Andrew was shot by Laurie Dann. Then a 20-year-old college student, he was taken hostage on May 20, 1988 by Dann after she went on a rampage in the North Shore, killing a boy and wounding others. It’s a day that has impacted and influenced his life. There is no official ceremony marking the quarter century that’s passed since Dann, 30, terrorized the community.

Woman, 87, suing Donald Trump takes stand

Sat, 18 May 2013 02:07:41 -0500

Donald Trump accused her of playing the “age card.” But 87-year-old Jackie Goldberg demonstrated an uncanny recollection of detail that Trump himself couldn’t match when she took the stand in Chicago’s federal court Friday afternoon. Goldberg is suing the real estate magnate for allegedly using a bait-and-switch scam to sell her two hotel condo units at the Trump Tower in 2006.

Pedestrian killed after being hit by Orange Line train

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:52:00 -0500

A pedestrian was killed Friday afternoon after he was hit by a CTA train in Bridgeport, fire officials said. Paramedics responded around 4:45 p.m. for an Orange Line train that struck a pedestrian near South Archer Avenue and South Halsted Street, according to Fire Media Affairs. The male was pinned under the inbound train and was dead when paramedics arrived, the fire department said. The CTA suspended Orange Line service between the Roosevelt and 35th Street / Archer stations, according to the CTA. Shuttle buses were provided to for affected passengers. …

Former Proviso East three-sport athlete dies after shooting in Maywood

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:24:09 -0500

Dashamone McCarty came home to Maywood barely a week ago after his first year of college. He planned to attend a Proviso East High School track meet on Thursday to support his alma mater, where he was known as Deshawn McCarthy. Instead, Maywood police said McCarty was shot in the head late Wednesday and died the next morning.

Toni Preckwinkle rips Emanuel, says CPS closure plan ‘weakens our public schools’

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:50:30 -0500

In an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle suggested the mayor and his handpicked schools officials refrain from shuttering 13 of the 54 schools marked for closure. She noted that hearing officers hired to oversee the process recommended that those schools stay open. The CPS plan “didn’t reflect any of the concerns raised by the community in those hearings nor the recommendations of the hearing officers,” she alleged. “What was the point of having public hearings? Was it all a charade?

Purple Hotel plans spiked; wrecking ball looms in Lincolnwood

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:47:22 -0500

The Purple Hotel’s days may be numbered once again, as plans to use the colorful building as an anchor for new development in Lincolnwood have sunk. On Wednesday, developers North Capital Group withdrew a proposal to the village of Lincolnwood for the site’s redevelopment, Village Manager Tim Wiberg said.

Cops say woman fabricated story that men robbed her of jewelry, cash on Mag Mile

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:37:59 -0500

Her story was a lie. That’s the message Chicago police sent out Thursday night about a woman who claimed a group of young men robbed her of jewelry worth more than $175,000 and several thousand dollars worth of cash on the Magnificent Mile in broad daylight Wednesday.

Rahm defends phasing out city subsidy for retiree health care

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:42:42 -0500

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday defended his decision to save $108.7 million-a-year by phasing out the city's 55 percent subsidy for retiree health care and forcing 30,000 retired city employees to make the switch to ObamaCare. "There's another way to upset people, which is saddle `em with a half-billion dollars worth of costs with no way to pay it. That, too, will have a lot of other people upset," Emanuel said. "You get the freedom of looking at a question with one peephole. I have to look at it from the whole perspective...What is now a $109 million cost to the taxpayers …

Wells Street bridge closure teaches CTA lessons for Red Line reconstruction

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:16:35 -0500

There were lessons learned from the CTA’s Wells Street bridge shuttle bus runs. The transit agency internally called the shutdown — during two nine-day periods in early March and late April — “Mini Red Line South” because transit officials knew it would serve as a guide. And beginning Sunday, CTA riders will see plenty more shuttles, helping to fill the gap left during five months of the Red Line South Side Reconstruction project. Free shuttles are being offered to riders getting to the Green Line from four South Side stations: 69th, 79th, 87th and 95th. Another local shuttle will run …