Archive for the ‘Illinois’ Category

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Remembering 911 in the Chicago Area

By Dawn in Chicago, Illinois, Terrorism at September 12th, 2011 | No comments

I found a wonderful story posted by the Chicago Tribune – Chicagoland – and wanted to share it with our readers:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-sept-11-events-0912-20110912,0,2732754.story

By Becky
Schlikerman, Ashley Rueff and Jennifer Delgado, Tribune reporters

6:49 a.m.
CDT, September 12, 2011

As sirens near and far sounded in unison and enveloped the otherwise silent park, Marta Ortiz clutched an American flag and wept.
Having not lost anyone in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the 65-year-old Chicago resident couldn’t explain why the tears flowed so furiously during a memorial service in Humboldt Park.
In Tinley Park, Georgette Frank cried for a very different reason.As a red cloth was pulled away to reveal a steel beam from the World Trade Center during a remembrance service, the Elk Grove Village woman wept for the destruction she witnessed while standing outside her New Jersey home and the loss her family would suffer years later.

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L.A. debating elimination of all red light cameras

By alisa in Illinois, invasion of privacy, Police Records, Safety at July 16th, 2011 | No comments


L.A. debating removement of all red light cameras
If the Police Commision gets its way, the nation’s second largest city will be at the leading edge of an anti-camera movement that appears to have been gaining traction across the country in recent weeks.

Los Angeles’ City Council committee is considering whether to continue the city’s camera contract over the objections of the commission, which voted unanimously to remove the camera system, which shoots video of cars running red lights at 32 of the city’s thousands of intersections. The private Arizona company that installed the cameras and runs the program mails off $446 tickets to their registered owners. The company’s contract will expire at the end of July if the council can’t reach a final agreement to renew it.

Opponents of the cameras often argue that they are really just revenue engines for struggling cities and towns, silently dinging drivers for mostly minor infractions. The nearly 400 cameras in Chicago, for example, generated more than $64 million in 2009. Read the full article »

Unused Train Ticket Cracks 1957 Murder Case

By alisa in Crime, Illinois, murder at July 4th, 2011 | No comments

After more than half a century from the kidnapping of his sister, Charles “Chuck” Ridulph was informed that a former police officer was charged with the murder and kidnapping of Maria Ridulph. “I just can’t believe that after all these years they’d be able to find this guy,” Chuck Ridulph told The Associated Press.

A 65-year-old minister who mainly serves his area’s senior citizens, Ridulph once shared a bedroom with his sister and already has his headstone placed on a burial plot next to her grave. With McCullough’s arrest, he worries about a drawn-out legal process that will dredge up bad memories but also perhaps answer some nagging, stomach-churning questions about what happened to the little girl who loved to play dress up.

Maria disappeared Dec. 3, 1957, while doing what kids in Sycamore did then — playing. Maria’s friend, Kathy Chapman, who was 8 at the time, recalled that she and Maria were under a corner streetlight when a young man she knew as “Johnny” offered them a piggyback ride. Chapman, now 61 and living in St. Charles, Ill., told the AP she ran home to get mittens and that when she returned, Maria and the man were gone.
The search for Maria grew to involve more than 1,000 law enforcement officers and numerous other community members, ultimately catching the eye of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who requested daily updates.

Jack Daniel McCullough, 71, has been held in Seattle on $3 million bail. Read the full article »

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Illinois left as only state to withhold concealed carry ban

By alisa in Illinois at June 24th, 2011 | No comments

Wisconsin is set to become the 49th state in the nation to legalize concealed carry, leaving Illinois as the only state left to withhold the ban.

The Wisconsin House and Senate both passed the bill, which will allow citizens to carry concealed handguns, with bipartisan support. The measure now goes to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for his signature.

The legislation requires residents to obtain a permit, unlike states like Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Hampshire where citizens can carry open and concealed handguns without a permit.

Governor Pat Quinn says it’s unlikely that Illinois will allow concealed carry anytime soon. Legislation to legalize carry concealed handguns in Illinois was voted down in May.
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