steve miller’s overset

the darien murders

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 09:37:52 -0600

Usually when I come in to work on Sunday mornings at 7 I have a few minutes to go over email and listen to phone messages that have been left since the last time I worked, Thursday night.

But yesterday the producer met me almost at the newsroom door, before I’d had a chance to take my coats off. Coats with an “s” because I believe in the layered approach.

I was to go to Wheaton to the DuPage County courthouse for the 8 a.m. bond hearing for the two men accused of killing the three members of the Kramer family in Darien.

Since I have been known to get lost even with the help of Mapquest and an on-board GPS, I did what I usually do when asked to go to the suburbs: I panicked. Internally, of course. I wished I’d been given a heads-up. So I could’ve panicked at home, I guess.

I went the Mapquest route, which turned out to be a straight line: Eisenhower to Ill. 38 West. Lots of traffic lights. The shortest distance but perhaps not the quickest.

TV trucks and other vehicles took up the small parking lot so I had to park a block away in the garage and then sprint over to the bond hearing, unsuccessfully trying two locked doors first before finally being waved over by a kindly county official who said, “I saw the notebook sticking out of your pocket so I knew where you were headed.”

I was late, but it didn’t matter much since what I missed of the Borizov proffer I picked up with the Nodarse proffer, which had basically the same language.

What I did miss was the look that Borizov supposedly had on his face when he was led into court. One print reporter described it as a little smile (I think), so since I didn’t see it I didn’t think it was right to write about it in my WBBM reports.

Nodarse seemed smaller than I would have thought. They had dressed him in a not-quite-matching yellow jail uniform - two-piece, two shades of yellow. Borizov wore a bright yellow coverall.

I wasn’t sure but it didn’t seem like either of them had any family there.

blago’s autograph is ‘f-n golden’

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 20:52:28 -0600

Former Governor Rod Blagojevich signed copies of his book, "The Governor," for more than 100 people who lined up at the University of Chicago bookstore.

Rod Blagojevich signed a copy of his book for Jon Razi, a second-year student from Columbus, Ohio, who says he's read some of it.

"It's not the most... I don't think the lyricism here is Nabokov's ‘Pale Fire,’” Razi said.

Razi also asked Blagojevich to sign a copy of the U-S Constitution - the part that relates to how a senator is appointed.

"This is what he wrote to me in my copy of the constitution. I had him sign Amendment 17. And he wrote, 'To Jon, I really enjoyed meeting you. Good luck in your future studies. And always remember, the rule of law is sacrosanct. Nay, it is more. It is f-n golden. Rod Blagojevich."

WBBM: And you requested that?

"I requested that he sign there. But that was his own imagination at work. Creative man."

the high cost of over-running

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:48:04 -0600

Radiologists meeting here in Chicago this week have some advice for middle-aged runners and joggers: Don't overdo it - or you face a greater risk of osteoarthritis.

Results of a new study by a group of researchers here at the Radiological Society of North America meeting may not be such welcome news to runners.

Especially runners who are in their 40s or 50s - whose knees seem to be in fine shape.

"There is a certain amount of physical activity which may be harmful."

Dr. Thomas Link of the University of California-San Francisco is a co-author of the study, and he says he's used to seeing cartilage damage in young people who are extremely active in sports.

"And I was really surprised that also these normal people who are not high-level athletes also had changes according to their physical activity levels, and that there was an increasing number of cartilage lesions."

Dr. Link says it's not clear yet how much running is too much.

"Doing extreme bicycle tours, doing extreme running - I think all the extremes may be harmful for the cartilage and also for the joint itself,” he says.

“We have to keep in mind that cartilage is a tissue which does not regenerate."

veterans day

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:28:22 -0600

A Veterans Day parade and ceremony drew a crowd of several hundred in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood this morning.

Among the dwindling number of World War Two veterans: 86-year-old Carey Turner of Chicago, who was a technical sergeant in the Army and served in New Guinea and the Philippines.

"When you go places like that and see how the other people are living and what they're doing, you appreciate this country more and more,” Turner said.

Quite an observation, considering what Turner says he endured as a black soldier fighting for America overseas.

And what he went through back home, in Missouri, where German prisoners of war were kept.

"They wouldn't let us eat in the cafeteria, but the POWs, the German soldiers, they could go in there and eat, but we couldn't.

"And when I got back here, I could remember my mother - I couldn't even take her to the park. I had my soldier's (uniform)... everything on, and they wouldn't serve us and they wouldn't let us in the park. But they let the dogs in. They could go in there and do everything they wanted to do. But they just wouldn't let us,” Turner said.

“And you put your life on the line,” I said.

"That's right. But I still love this country. I guess that's why I'm 86 years old and days are changing, but you just have to wait and believe in God."

Thoughts from Carey Turner, an African American veteran of World War Two.

‘i’m still breathing today’

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 22:25:04 -0600

Shot three times. In the leg. The abdomen. The chest.

One bullet reportedly just missed the heart of 21-year-old Private Najee Hull of Homewood.

Private Hull spoke to me from his hospital room in Texas, and he said he was feeling better.

He says he thinks about last Thursday.

"Everything... it was just surreal. I would have never thought that stuff like this would happen... where I thought I was safe.

"Every day I come in there. I work there. It was a surreal feeling to actually get shot at on post."

He talked about being scared, and at one point, his mother in the background reassures him.

"I was afraid that I was going to lose my life. That I was going to let down my family and stuff..."

"You weren't going to let us down, son," his mother says.

"But after all, through and through, I'm still breathing today,” says Hull.

toddler ‘fine,’ mom goes to hospital

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 21:54:03 -0600

The mystery deepens over what happened on the CTA Red Line platform at Morse on Monday - when a 22-month-old girl ended up on the tracks.

The mother of 22-month-old Rachel told me that "Rachel is fine."

But Ebere Ozonwu says, "I'm confused right now. But I'm getting better, thank God."

Ozonwu's pastor, David Philemon, says Ozonwu herself had to go to the emergency room this morning.

"Not only is she psychologically traumatized, she is also physically in pain. And she had to go to the emergency."

Ebere Ozonwu reportedly has told police the train dragged the stroller before it hit a metal barrier.
Robert Kelly, president of the transit union that represents the el train operator, says there are unanswered questions.

"Nobody actually saw that baby being dragged in the stroller. There's no marks on the stroller to indicate it was dragged 300 feet down the platform and smashed into steel beams which are at the end of the platform."

Meanwhile, the CTA says it's still investigating.

first quarter of the investigation

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:03:47 -0500

More details are coming out about the murders of Milton and Ruby McClendon of Hammond, whose bodies were found in an Illinois forest preserve a week ago.

Even though two teenagers are charged in connection with the murders, Hammond Police Chief Brian Miller says the investigation is just getting started.

"We're in the first quarter of a four-quarter investigation. We have a ton of physical evidence to go through."

And Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott says "lots of DNA" was found in the Cadillac that was stolen from Milton and Ruby McClendon.

McDermott says the thieves went to a fast food restaurant and left a spoon in the car. He says they were smoking marijuana in the car - and left DNA evidence behind - before they ran out of gas on the Dan Ryan Expressway, where they abandoned the car.

Both teenagers are charged with burglary, robbery, confinement and auto theft but not murder.

McDermott says even though blood was found in the McClendons' home, it's not certain where the murders were committed - so it's not clear who can charge them.

Seventy dollars in jewelry and a Cadillac: Police in Hammond say that's a large part of what two teenagers got - for the murders.

A Hammond pawn shop called Cash for Gold is where the teenagers made their $70, police say.

McDermott says tips came in from people who knew the teenagers - saw them in the green Cadillac - and knew who the rightful owners were.

Authorities are looking for others who were seen in the car after the murders.

The teenagers were arrested in Chicago, where at least one of them had lived, McDermott says.

McDermott says the teenagers may also be linked to recent carjackings in Hammond.

In an affidavit released by Hammond police, it says one of the two teenagers charged in connection with the murders said the teenagers overpowered Milton McClendon. That they weren't satisfied with the 50 dollars Ruby McClendon said she had in her purse.

That they forced Mr. McClendon to crawl upstairs, that they hit him on the head with a vase and kicked him in the stomach.

That Mr. McClendon said he was dizzy and told them to take jewelry and a .22 long rifle.

Later, the affidavit quotes the teenager as saying they "tied Mr. and Mrs. McClendon and put them in the closet.

"They left the residence and returned a short while later to 'finish them,'" the affidavit says.

a mother’s hopes

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:09:37 -0500

Several dozen people demonstrated today at Federal Plaza as part of a national day of protest against alleged police brutality.

September 11 has a different meaning for Natasha Williams than it does for most people.

That's the day this year that her son Corey Harris, a 17-year-old student at Dyett High School in Chicago, was shot and killed by police on the South Side.

"I still can't believe it. It's like a dream that hopefully one day I'm going to wake up from, and my son is going to be in the house with me and my granddaughter."

Corey Harris was the father of an 8-month-old girl.

He was shot in the back by police.

An officer reportedly said Harris pointed a gun at police - and that's when police started shooting. After a chase, police killed Harris, who was reportedly unarmed when he was shot.

A spokeswoman says the Independent Police Review Authority is still investigating the fatal shooting by police.

were there any signs?

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:53:13 -0500

Chicago City Hall is in for a fight from at least two suburban residents who say their cars were towed from the same street on the North Side, hours before the marathon, and they claim there were NO no-parking signs up.

It's a matter of principle - and the $160 towing fee for Joyce Siddiqui of Roselle, who says her car was towed from Broadway near Belmont early on the morning of the 11th.

"I would never park my car in that situation - when there are signs. And there were no signs."

Joel Babicki of Aurora says his car was towed from Broadway near Addison.

"Both my friend and I made a point to look to make sure there were no signs posted or anything like that. There was nothing posted at all."

Joyce Siddiqui says she thinks it's a rip off.

"I think it's a racket. It's deceiving the public. They should at least give 24-hour notice."

A spokesman for the department of streets and sanitation says no-parking signs were posted all along the marathon route and signs that may have been taken down were replaced at some point during the weekend.

‘on the wings of angels’

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:37:57 -0500

The teenage pilot of a small plane says it was a miracle that he was able to walk away from a crash over the weekend near Peoria.

Not only was 17-year-old Scott Hall of LaGrange able to walk away from his crashed Piper Cherokee Saturday night, he walked away seconds before it exploded into flames.

"Honestly, I feel it was a miracle. I don't believe that I rode the wings of a Piper aircraft to the ground. I was on the wings of angels,” Hall said.

Hall crashed onto a highway several miles from the Peoria airport and walked away without a scratch.

"I feel that everything... I don't think anything could have gone any better than it did. I truly believe it was a miracle that nobody was hurt."

Hall is reluctant to talk about what happened in the air while investigators are putting their report together.

He's a senior at Lyons Township High School and has had his pilot's license for about six months.

I asked him if he was going to buy a lottery ticket now.

“A lot of people have been asking me that,” Hall said. “I think my mother’s buying one... I’m only 17 and you can’t buy a lottery ticket until you’re 18.”