NWH-5-21-2013

Page 1

Penkava: Teachers just want grads to remember them

75 CENTS

TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2013

WWW.NWHERALD.COM

The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.

Local, A2

Viktor Stalberg

COUNTY SIGHTINGS

ARNOLD COLUMN

Coyotes could prey on small pets Local, B1

Hawks lack urgency in Game 3 loss Sports, C1

STORM HITS OKLAHOMA CITY SUBURBS

MONSTROUS

Tornado strikes school, flattens neighborhoods; many dead

Feds nab McHenry resident Man charged after alleged threats to U.S. ambassador By LAWERENCE SYNETT

At a glance

lsynett@shawmedia.com A McHenry man faces federal charges after threatening to kill the U.S. ambassador to Serbia over a visa dispute involving his wife, U.S. Justice Department officials said. Russell K. Gordon, 48, was arrested Saturday at his McHenry home by special agents of the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security Service and Federal Bureau of Investigations. Members of the McHenry Police Department, McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and Kane County Bomb Squad assisted with the arrest. According to the criminal complaint affidavit, Gordon, a U.S. citizen, lived in Serbia from 1996 to November 2012. While there, he married a Serbian woman with a child from another man. The Serbian courts awarded the biological AP photo

Russell K. Gordon, 48, of McHenry faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of federal charges after threatening to kill the U.S. ambassador to Serbia. Gordon allegedly sent a threatening email to the U.S. Consulate in Belgrade, Serbia, as well as the former consular chief of that embassy.

See THREATS, page A5

A woman carries her child Monday near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. A tornado as much as half a mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school. By TIM TALLEY The Associated Press MOORE, Okla. – A monstrous tornado at least a halfmile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds up to 200 mph. At least 51 people – at least 20 children among them – were killed, and officials said the death toll was expected to rise. The storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, a community of 41,000 people

Trial begins in youth mentor’s sex assault case

about 10 miles south of the city. Block after block lay in ruins. Homes were crushed into piles of broken wood. Cars and trucks were left crumpled on the roadside. The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most-powerful type of twister. More than 120 people were being treated at hospitals, including about 50 children. And search-and-rescue efforts were to continue throughout the night.

See TORNADO, page A5

By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com

A child is pulled from the rubble Monday of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., and passed along to rescuers.

WHAT TO DO DURING A TORNADO If you are in a building ... • Go to a designated shelter area, such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar or the lowest building level. If there isn’t a basement, go to the center of an interior room on the lowest level (closet, interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and outside. Go under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck.

If you are in a mobile home or trailer ... • Get out immediately and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.

If you are outside with no shelter ... • Immediately get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt and try to drive

to the closest sturdy shelter. • If your vehicle is hit by flying debris while you are driving, pull over and park. • Stay in the car with the seat belt on. Put your head down below the windows; cover your head with your hands and a blanket, coat or other cushion if possible. • If you can safely get noticeably lower than the level of the roadway, leave your car and lie in that area,

covering your head with your hands. • Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location. • Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for safe shelter. • Watch out for flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries.

Source: FEMA at Ready.gov

WOODSTOCK – The alleged victim in a sex abuse case against his one-time youth mentor said the man was sexually aroused when he pulled down the boy’s pants and spanked him. The defense attorney said the boy is not to be believed. Leonard Puccini, 53, of Bull Valley, is accused of sexually abusing a then-12year-old boy he met through Big Brothers Big Sisters of McHenry County. Aggravated criminal sexual abuse is a Class 2 felony, punishable by three to seven years in prison. A bench trial in front of Judge Michael Feetterer began Monday.

Leonard Puccini, 53, is accused of sexually abusing a then-12-yearold boy he met through Big Brothers Big Sisters of McHenry County. Puccini’s defense attorney said the boy was troubled and “just not credible.”

See TRIAL, page A5

LOCALLY SPEAKING

Jacobs’ Kelsey Peters Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com

McHENRY

CARY

DELAYS CAUSED BY MILLER ROAD AT END

MAPLEWOOD STUDY BEING CONSIDERED

The major traffic delays caused by the widening of Charles J. Miller Road are pretty much at an end, an engineer for the project said. The construction is part of a two-phase project that will widen the two-lane Charles Miller Road to four lanes and construct a second two-lane bridge over the Fox River. For more, see

District 26 and the village of Cary are discussing whether to have a planning study done on the future of the closed Maplewood School. The proposed study would cost $38,000, and the village wants the district to pay for half of it. However, the district already has an interested buyer in the property. For more, see

page B1.

page B1.

CRYSTAL LAKE: Jacobs beats Crystal Lake South, 5-0, to advance to today’s regional semifinals. Sports, C1

WEATHER HIGH

LOW

80 62 Complete forecast on A6

Where to find it Advice Business Buzz Classified Comics Local&Region

D2 B4-5 B6 D4-12 D3 B1-3

Lottery Obituaries Opinion Planit Style Puzzles Sports

Vol. 28, Issue 141

A2 B3 A4 D1-2 D4 C1-6


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