When the unrelenting grip of ALS is staring you in the face, the freedom of skydiving looks like a pretty attractive break from the physical limitations looming on the horizon.
That's the realization Katrina Shelby, of Bourbonnais, reached before she jumped from a plane at the Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Rochelle Wednesday.
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"I wonder if he's hungry. I wonder if he's shivering in the cold."
But that's all that Bourbonnais restaurateur Steve Long really can do for his son, Devon.
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A Bourbonnais man arrested for driving 106 mph through the Interstate 57 construction zone told police he was just trying to get home.
Mark V. McKune, 25, was stopped for driving 61 mph over the 45-mph speed limit at 3:47 p.m. Monday, according to an Illinois State Police report.
McKune was also charged with not having insurance and having an illegal license plate cover. He was taken to Jerome Combs Detention Center.
Speeding more than 40 mph over the limit is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail.
The Kankakee Veterans Affair VA clinic health fair will be from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 581 William Latham Drive, Suite 301.
The Hines Mobile Medical Unit MMU will be open for drive-thru flu shots. Free health screenings, giveaways, and door prizes.
For more information or questions, call Lorry Luscri, MPH, RD at 708-202-8387, ext. 21228, Erin Zerth, PhD at 708-202-8387, ext. 23143.
Stories about breast cancer generally fall into two categories.
• Tales of hope, told by those fortunate 10 or 20-year survivors, or...
• Sad memories of the last courageous fights, told by the widowers who haven't adjusted to life on their own.
Today, though, there are also the new stories of therapy breakthroughs being told by Dr. Arnold Herskovic, of the Presence St. Mary's Hospital Radiation Therapy Center in Bourbonnais. Employing principles he began studying in the early 1970s, he can now offer an internal breast radiation device custom fitted to each patient, an implant called the five-day SAVI system.
"This is not for every patient, but from my experience, this has produced excellent results for about 25 percent of my patients," he explained, "Yes, there will still be fear, whenever the word cancer is used, but there are so many advances being made."
To that end this product of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is still developing new tools to wage a war that claims approximately 40,000 American lives each year.
The executive chef at Flight 102 Wine Bar in Bourbonnais participated this week as one of four contestants in the Food Network show "Cutthroat Kitchen."
So how was the experience for the 25-year-old Peotone native?
"It was one of the most stressful things I've ever done," Basile said Thursday after returning from filming in California. "Your mind is constantly being twisted. They are constantly throwing curve balls at us."
Due to confidentiality issues, Basile could not offer any show details. He said he's not even sure when the show will air, other than it will likely be in late December or early January.
He heard about the show looking for contestants earlier this summer. He thought it was something he'd like to try, so he sent his resume and a short cooking video a friend filmed of him.
A free, short Lunch and Learn event called Get Your Lawn Ready for Fall will be at noon on Monday, Sept. 23, at the University of Illinois Extension, Kankakee County Office at 1650 Commerce Drive, Bourbonnais.
Preregistration is required for program materials to be prepared. Seating is limited. Bring your lunch and eat while learning.
Another program, on Monday, Oct. 28, the Lunch and Learn topic is The Barn Quilts of Kankakee County. Come learn the history of this fascinating project. This program also is at the Bourbonnais branch of the Extension office.
To register, call 815-933-8337 or visit web.extension.illinois.edu/gkw.
A Bourbonnais man, who was twice convicted on previous drug charges, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison for selling crack cocaine.
Damos S. Rosenthal, 39, pleaded guilty in April to selling more than an ounce of crack, according to a federal court press release.
Rosenthal was arrested in January following a Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group investigation.
In 2002, Rosenthal was convicted of selling cocaine and was sentenced to probation. The following year, he was again convicted on a delivery charge and was sentenced to five years in prison.
The Jewel-Osco at 655 Main St. NW will be having a free health fair from 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 14.
The free health fair will offer blood pressure testing and blood glucose testing. There also will be free health-care information, a spin and win game and other activities. Any questions, call the pharmacy at 815-929-0590.
Terry Vaughn knew he was in trouble when he came out of Turn 4 Friday night at the Kankakee County Speedway.
He had the steering wheel in his hand and it was no longer attached to the steering column. Moments later he crashed into the wall.
"I was having a nice season. But the season is over," 62-year-old Vaughn said with a chuckle from his Riverside Medical Center room on Monday.
The Limestone resident and former Bourbonnais mayor explained that to climb into his Sports Compact division 1986 Ford Mustang, the steering wheel has to be removed. He put the wheel back in place once he was seated, but not in the proper manner.
As a result, when he was spinning around Turn 4 during a qualifying race's fifth lap, the steering wheel pulled away from its post and his No. 53 car crashed into the wall at about 50 mph.
Belson Steel Center Scrap is moving and that means changes for Bradley.
The scrap yard is moving west of the railroad tracks to Bourbonnais on Larry Power Road most likely within the next 18 months, said Bradley Mayor Bruce Adams during Monday's village board meeting. The land where Belson now sits, at the intersection of Larry Power Road and Illinois Route 50, is being eyed by a "big box" retailer and for other commercial uses.
While the intersection is not considered dangerous — there have been few car crashes that resulted in injuries — traffic flow has been an issue. Adams said the new development will help as the entrance to Belson will be closed and relocated to the entrance for the entire Water Tower Plaza complex.
The tax-increment financing district created for the site in 2008 will be used to accommodate commercial development at the site.
A 24-year-old Bourbonnais man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to charges of weapons possession and will face a prison sentence of at least three years.
Gabriel A. Sheegog will be sentenced Jan. 3 in the U.S. District Court in Urbana.
Sheegog pleaded guilty to possession of two guns by a convicted felon. On Feb. 16, he was arrested in the 700 block of North Fifth Avenue in Kankakee by Project Safe Neighborhood Task Force members. When arrested, he was in possession of a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol; when task force members searched his residence, they also found a .38-caliber revolver.
Sheegog's previous conviction was for attempted armed robbery.
He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service.
The Bourbonnais Public Library District will hold a Long Range Planning Committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday Aug. 19 at the library on W. John Casey Road before the regular board meeting at 7 p.m.
