Archive for December 16th, 2008
December 16th, 2008
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford struck a deal under which the Rev. Luis Alfredo Rios of St. Thomas the Apostle Church will apologize to the Algonquin man before his congregation, according to this Daily Herald story.
An Algonquin man, Angel Llavona, will get “a formal apology, but no financial reward, as part of an out-of-court settlement entered this morning ending his lawsuit claiming a parish priest defamed him from the pulpit.
“The remarks, court documents state, came after Llavona left Rios a phone message critical of his previous sermon, saying ‘I have seen poor homilies, but yesterday broke all records.’
“The following Sunday, the suit states, Rios played that message during mass, then, referring to Llavona, asked his congregation ‘What should we do, send him to hell or another parish?’
“The Diocese also will pay Llavona about $13,750 — his costs of filing and pursuing the lawsuit — but not any of the compensatory or punitive damages he was seeking for comments he claimed caused him emotional distress and damaged his professional reputation. He is a teacher at Maine West High School in Des Plaines.”
December 16th, 2008
In McCullom Lake near McHenry in McHenry County, in a community of about 1,000 people, 14 residents have developed brain cancer. Nationally the rate is roughly seven out of 100,000, according to this CBS story.
Coincidence?
“Attorney Aaron Freiwald says “absolutely not.” He represents the McCollum Lake Village residents in their lawsuits against multi-billion dollar chemical company Rohm and Haas. Rohm and Haas has had a plant there since 1963. It makes specialty chemicals that are used in a variety of industries - from plastics to pesticides. It has 140 facilities in 27 countries.” The company denies the charges.
The Northwest Herald, where I worked a long time ago, ran a series last December about the issue.
December 16th, 2008
What do you think will happen in 2009? Write your predictions in the comments section at this blog.
Yes, we can all predict sure-to-happen things like: “The sun will rise,” and “The economy will still suck.”
Let’s try to be a little more inventive and specific than that.
A few of my local predictions for next year:
1. Developer Sunil Puri will make more money than me.
2. Rumors will surface (for the umpteenth time) that Rockford Speedway has been sold.
3. Former Judge Paul Logli will find a permanent full-time job.
4. Retired tourism ‘czarina’ Wendy Perks Fisher will again be nominated for the Register Star’s Excalibur Award.
5. Cheap Trick frontman Rick Nielsen will announce his one-day-to-be-built eatery will be shaped like a guitar pick.
