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	Best News of Past Year? It's over Herald News [Joliet IL] January 1, 2007 http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/193113,4_1_JO01_LOCAL10_S1.article We don't know about you, but to us, 2006 seemed like a pretty busy year for our area. The following is our list of Top 10 local stories as selected by Herald News employees. With the possible exception of the installation of Bishop J. Peter Sartain as the new leader of the Joliet Diocese, a move many hope will help the beleaguered diocese heal, our top stories were not the happiest of 2006. Here's looking to a brighter 2007: 1. Officials discover that millions of gallons of radioactive tritium spilled from Exelon Corp.'s Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant during the past decade. Elevated levels of tritium, a radioactive hydrogen isotope and a byproduct of nuclear reactors producing electricity, are believed to cause cancer. Exelon announced the discovery of the leaks in December of 2005. In January, Exelon bought a 20-acre tract of property near the site of a 1998 pipeline valve break that tested high for tritium. Meanwhile, neighbors filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Exelon, and a lawsuit was filed in Will County court. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and State's Attorney James Glasgow accused Exelon of failing to properly maintain the underground pipeline where the leaks occurred. A series of wells were tested by both the county and Exelon. None showed a level of tritium higher than the level deemed safe by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Exelon continues to supply Godley residents with bottled water and has given Godley $11.5 million to build a new water system. The company has installed alarms and invested in equipment needed to keep the problems from happening again. 2. Will County Judge Dan Rozak sentenced Larry Southwood, 69, of Wilmington to the maximum 104 years in prison Oct. 24 for sexually assaulting a disabled teenager whom he was hired to watch while her mother was at work or running errands. A jury found him guilty of the crimes in August. The victim's mother, Kimberly A. Riordan, 32, of 349 N. First St., Wilmington, was arrested in January. She is charged with neglect of a disabled person, obstructing justice and concealing a fugitive. Riordan allegedly accepted a $10,000 payment from Southwood. He allegedly paid her to keep quiet about the sexual abuse, police said. Her trial is postponed until February. 3. Art Schultz Jr., the son of the Joliet mayor, a Joliet Park Board trustee and former Will County Courthouse employee, is charged with two felonies: official misconduct and tampering with public records. Schultz Jr. is accused of fixing 11 minor traffic tickets for family and friends who live in Will County. On July 30, The Herald News reports that a Will County Circuit Clerk employee is suspended and an investigation is underway into an alleged ticket fixing scheme that may involve the son of Joliet Mayor Art Schultz. On Nov. 9, it was reported that Schultz Jr. quit his job at the Will County Courthouse the week before. The 44-year-old son of Joliet's mayor was the court security services coordinator and worked for County Sheriff Paul Kaupas. On Nov. 16, jurors determine there is enough evidence to file criminal charges against Schultz Jr. Later Diana J. Massat, 28, of Monee, also is charged. Massat is a former deputy clerk from county Circuit Clerk Pam McGuire's office. 4. During an elaborate June 27 service, the Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain is installed in late June as the Joliet Diocese's fourth bishop. He replaces Bishop Joseph Imesch, 75, who retired after serving the diocese for nearly three decades. Sartain is the former bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock, Ark., and was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to his new post. A series of special worship services throughout the counties within the diocese welcome Sartain to the area. 5. On Feb. 2, a judge's ruling makes available to the public the transcript of an Aug. 11, 2005, deposition given by Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch. On that summer day, Imesch answered questions for five hours in a Joliet office about how he and other Catholic Church officials handled reports of priests engaging in sexual misconduct with minors. On Feb. 6, Imesch says in a letter to those attending Masses that he cares about the safety of children despite questions about how he has handled reports of alleged sexual misconduct by priests. In May, two brothers sue the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, claiming sexual abuse by two different priests. The lawsuits filed in Will County Circuit Court brought to 15 the number of suits pending against the diocese in Will and DuPage counties. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet says that it will release the names of some priests accused of sexually abusing minors. The diocese will post on its Web site the names of "diocesan priests against whom a credible allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor has been made," Imesch says in a letter distributed in parish bulletins. 6. In early May, New Lenox trustees censured Mayor Mike Smith for repeatedly using a village credit card for personal expenses, including $1,300 for lap dances and $1,462 for food and drinks at a Chicago strip club in March. It also became known that on numerous occasions, Smith has used the village credit card to charge personal expenses at a number of upscale restaurants, piano bars and expensive hotels. He has since repaid all the charges using personal and campaign expenses. Following the credit card fiasco, the board tightened its credit card usage rules and pulled from the table a proposal to increase the mayor's salary and make the position full-time. At the request of the state, Smith also updated his campaign spending documents. Trustees also adopted tougher credit-card rules, rejected proposed salary increases and approved an ordinance that sets the per-meeting compensation for elected officials at the current rates. 7. Despite support from the Will County Board and Plainfield-area officials, the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board again denies the Edward Hospital's plans to build a full-service hospital in Plainfield. 8. On Sept. 18, Plainfield North High School football coach Dan Darlington is suspended from coaching for the rest of the season by the Illinois High School Association. Darlington was cited for recruiting players against IHSA rules, and the football team was barred from postseason competition for two years. Two assistant football coaches were suspended. Plainfield North Principal Peter Pasteris and Athletic Director Jeff Johnson have been barred from acting as the school's official representatives to the IHSA. The IHSA was happy with the school's remediation plan and lifted the sanction against the team later that month, but Darlington resigned his position at the high school. 9. On Dec. 7, a Louisiana man is killed in a shootout with New Lenox police in a parking lot of the Central campus of Lincoln-Way High School. Two officers are wounded and they are later cleared by Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow for using force. Police said an investigation determined that Dale Rodeghero was planning to die when he started shooting at the officers after they tried to conduct a traffic stop at Lincoln Highway and Schoolhouse Road. The shooting occurred in the evening when there were only a few hundred people in the school. No one in the school was hurt during the incident. 10. Instead of proving that downtown Joliet is a great place for concerts, the Joliet Summer Concert Series sparked an investigation by the Illinois attorney general. The promoter, Group 7 Marketing, and its president Joe Hill pulled the plug on the series in July after one poorly-attended concert and a second show that had to be relocated. Within weeks of the cancellation, Group 7 contractors as well as musical groups alleged they had not been paid for their services or had not had their contracts fulfilled. Numerous ticketholders also complained that they did not receive refunds as promised. In August, The Herald News uncovered that Hill and his wife Joi Hill had been the subject of business-related lawsuits in several states and had previously declared bankruptcy. Today, some ticketholders still are without refunds and Group 7 Marketing has been sued for not paying bills and breaking contracts. In addition, the Hills have filed for bankruptcy once again. The attorney general has not released the findings from its investigation.
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