Aurora news

• Authorities digging at Joliet home in connection to ex-Will County deputy missing since '90

  23-02-2017 23:56
  
  Nearly 30 years after the confounding disappearance of a former Will County Sheriff's deputy, "new leads" in the case have brought investigators to a Joliet home where crews are digging under a portion of the basement's concrete slab floor, authorities said Thursday. Investigators from the Illinois...
  
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• Wrestling: Cherokee Trail trio comes up just short of program’s first state wrestling championship

  23-02-2017 23:23
  
  Cherokee Trail senior Zeke Silva, left, ties up with Mountain Vista’s Trent Schultz during the Class 5A 195 pound state wrestling championship match on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Silva gave up a takedown with just a few seconds left in overtime in a 3-1 loss to Schultz, who finished and undefeated season and won a second straight state title. (Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel)
  Josh Richardson only took up wrestling because of a bet with a friend, but nobody woul
  
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• Police seek suspects after afternoon carjacking in Oak Park

  23-02-2017 22:08
  
  The Oak Park Police Department is looking for suspects allegedly involved in the Wednesday afternoon armed carjacking of a victim who was sitting in a parked car. According to Oak Park police reports, the incident occurred between 11:55 a.m. and 12:06 p.m. in the 900 block of South Lyman Avenue....
  
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• Father pleads guilty in 2016 death of infant

  23-02-2017 21:42
  
  The father of a 4-month-old infant who weighed less than six pounds when he died of malnutrition and dehydration pleaded guilty Thursday to neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Jarod McMillan also pleaded guilty to six additional neglect counts for placing baby Kannon McMillan and his five...
  
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• Authorities digging at Joliet home, searching for ex-deputy missing since '90

  23-02-2017 21:22
  
  Investigators are "unearthing a portion of a residential concrete basement slab" Thursday in Joliet in response to "new leads" in the case of a former Will County sheriff's deputy who went missing in 1990, state police said. According to a news release from Illinois State Police, the dig is taking...
  
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• Colorado moves toward Front Range rail study

  23-02-2017 21:12
  
  DENVER | Passenger rail service along Interstate 25 in Colorado? The state may be looking into the idea more carefully under a bill that passed the state Senate Thursday.
  The Senate voted 24-11 to order a report on the feasibility of Front Range rail service by the end of the year. The study is part of a bill to extend the work of an existing panel looking at the Southwest Chief, an Amtrak line that runs through southern Colorado.
  Republican Sen. Larry Crowder of Alamosa sponsored the
  
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• CU launches investigation into former coach’s abuse charges

  23-02-2017 21:04
  BOULDER | Attorneys are investigating whether University of Colorado officials violated campus policies by failing to report accusations of domestic violence against a former assistant football coach.
  The Daily Camera reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/2mbsBpP ) that the attorneys will focus their inquiry on whether Chancellor Phil DiStefano, Athletic Director Rick George and CU football coach Mike MacIntyre violated campus policies. The university will pay the outside attorneys $1,211 per h
  
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• Wrestling: Aurora’s placers leave it all on the mat at 5A state tourney

  23-02-2017 20:41
  
  Overland junior Kaelin Chin, second from left, won five straight matches after a first round loss to place third in Class 5A at 195 pounds and join Cherokee Trail runner-up Zeke Silva, second from right, on the medal podium on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
  As a senior with wrestling not in his future, Tyler Ross left everything he had on the wrestling mat Feb. 18 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
  Wrestling with a “torn up” knee t
  
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• North Barrington attorney sentenced to prison for invasion of ex-wife's home

  23-02-2017 20:38
  
  A North Barrington attorney was sentenced Thursday to nearly 10 years in prison, followed by three years of periodic imprisonment, for a 2014 Hawthorn Woods home invasion that included the discharge of a gun. Under a negotiated plea deal in Lake County Circuit Court, Raymond Clutts, 59, pleaded...
  
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• Coroner IDs man killed in Aurora shooting

  23-02-2017 20:00
  AURORA | The Arapahoe County coroner’s office has identified a man killed following a fight Feb. 18 in an Aurora parking lot as 29-year-old Kelly Bly Acosta.
  In a statement Wednesday, the coroner’s office said Acosta died from a gunshot wound, and they ruled his death a homicide.
  Police said officers responded at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday to the parking lot in the 4000 block of South Crystal Circle on a report of people fighting. Police were also told shots had been fired. When office
  
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• Wrestling: Aurora 2017 Class 5A/4A state tourney results by wrestler

  23-02-2017 19:26
  
  Cherokee Trail teammates Zeke Silva, front, and David Rivera, top left, wrestle on the second day of the 2017 Class 5A state wrestling tournament on Feb. 17, 2017, at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The two combined for four wins over the three days of the tournament. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
  DENVER | Individual results for each of the 29 Aurora wrestlers who competed at the Class 5A/4A state wrestling tournament Feb. 16-18, 2017, at the Pepsi Center:Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor
  
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• No charges for drone operator who spooked horse, injured 3

  23-02-2017 18:26
  DURANGO, Colo. | Authorities in southwest Colorado say the operator of a low-flying drone that spooked a horse, causing injuries, will not face charges.
  The Durango Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2moThiV ) that San Juan County Sheriff Bruce Conrad said Wednesday that after reviewing Saturday’s incident, he concluded the pilot’s actions do not warrant local or state charges.
  Conrad said he will notify the Federal Aviation Administration of the incident so the agency can consider f
  
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• Judge says Denver’s airport must allow last-minute protests

  23-02-2017 18:26
  DENVER | A federal judge says Denver’s airport must accommodate last-minute protests like the one last month over President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
  Judge William Martinez ruled Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by two people who participated in the protest Jan. 28, the day after Trump issued his executive order regarding travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.
  The airport has required protesters to request permits seven days in advance, but Martinez ordered it to issue them
  
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• Investigators: Man shot by Commerce City police fired first

  23-02-2017 18:26
  DENVER | Authorities say an armed man wearing ballistic body armor was shot during a confrontation with Commerce City police.
  The Denver Post reports (https://goo.gl/zR2hDO ) 44-year-old Isaac Lesperance-Torres was shot Tuesday morning after running from police, who were trying to arrest him on outstanding criminal warrants.
  Police say he was hiding in a stairwell and threatening to kill himself when they saw that he had a gun. Lesperance-Torres opened fire, and officers shot him twice in t
  
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• Colorado town’s ban on topless women put on hold by judge

  23-02-2017 18:26
  
  DENVER | A Colorado judge has blocked a college town’s law against women going topless, saying the law is likely unconstitutional.
  U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson said Tuesday that Fort Collins’ ordinance is based on gender discrimination and issued an injunction against its enforcement.
  Fort Collins’ indecency code makes it a crime for women but not men to show their nipples.The law “perpetuates a stereotype engrained in our society that female breasts are pri
  
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• Professor has taken a selfie every day for the past 30 years

  23-02-2017 18:23
  
  BOSTON | Long before they were called selfies, Karl Baden snapped a simple black and white photo of himself. Then he repeated it every day for the next three decades.
  Baden’s “Every Day” project officially turns 30 on Thursday and he says he has no intention of stopping. The stark contemplation on mortality and aging has prompted some to dub the Boston College professor the unwitting “father of the selfie.”The 64-year-old Cambridge resident grumbles at comparis
  
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• Oscars still lagging in female and minority representation

  23-02-2017 18:23
  
  LOS ANGELES | The 2017 Oscar nominations were a banner year for black nominees both in front of and behind the camera, but other nonwhite groups and women were largely left out of the running. As #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign said, her hashtag was never about just black actors, but all communities marginalized in Hollywood including Asians, Latinos, and women.
  “We still have work to do,” said Gil Robertson, president of the African American Film Critics Association.
  This ye
  
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• Hearing in Roman Polanski’s long-running case delayed

  23-02-2017 18:23
  
  LOS ANGELES | A hearing to unseal testimony in Roman Polanski’s long-running underage sex case has been delayed.
  The Los Angeles Superior Court sent out a notice Wednesday stating that a hearing scheduled for Friday has been delayed a new date has not yet formally been set.The delay comes days after Polanski’s attorney filed a formal motion to unseal the testimony of a former prosecutor who handled Polanski’s 1977 unlawful sex with a minor case.
  Polanski fled on the eve of
  
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• AP Oscar predictions: What will win, what should win

  23-02-2017 18:23
  
  LOS ANGELES | Ahead of Sunday’s 89th Academy Awards, Associated Press film writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle share their predictions for a ceremony many expect will be a “La La Land” sweep.
  BEST PICTURE
  The Nominees: “Arrival,” ”Fences,” ”Hacksaw Ridge,” ”Hell or High Water,” ”Hidden Figures,” ”La La Land,” ”Lion,” ”Manchester by the Sea” and “Moonlight.”
  BAHR:
  Wil
  
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• Billy Corgan's former bandmate compares him to Donald Trump

  23-02-2017 18:01
  
  Billy Corgan's former bandmate said the Smashing Pumpkins frontman reminds him of President Donald Trump because Corgan's "got millions of dollars. He's got that kind of ego. He loves the bully mentality." "When the campaign was happening, I was like, 'Wow, Trump is so much like Corgan. Like, I'm...
  
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• FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS: Aurora refugees adapting to U.S. living — with some tweaks

  23-02-2017 17:48
  
  AURORA | Khokolah Sherzad isn’t very different from her peers at Gateway High School. The 17-year-old goes to school and is learning to drive, and she went to the Women’s March in Denver last month.
  But for the Afghanistan native, the details are what separate her from her classmates.
  Khokolah is learning to drive along with her mother, who wasn’t permitted to drive in Afghanistan due to her gender. The march in Denver was a new experience for the teen, who wouldn’t be al
  
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• Boys Basketball: Rangeview holds off Mountain Range, earns shot at top seed Eaglecrest in 5A playoffs

  23-02-2017 17:45
  
  Rangeview’s Ryan Ongala, left, Matthew Johnson, center, and Christian Speller cut off Mountain Range’s Mike Polson in the lane during the third quarter of the Raiders’ 72-64 win over the Mustangs in a 2017 Class 5A boys state basketball first round playoff game on Feb. 22, 2017, at Rangeview High School. Johnson scored 33 points to help the Raiders advance to a Feb. 25 second round contest against Eaglecrest. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
  AURORA | A postseason match
  
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• New software assists Aurora dispatchers in asking all the right questions

  23-02-2017 17:41
  
  AURORA | With a screaming and often hysterical caller on the other end of the line, it’s not always easy for 911 dispatchers to ask the exact questions first responders most need them to.
  “They’re having to recall, ‘What was it that they told me in training? What did they tell me to ask?’” said Diane Culverhouse, manager of public safety communications for the city of Aurora.
  Now, with the help of a new system that feeds dispatchers the appropriate questions
  
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• THAT’S A TAKE: Film school gives Aurora refugee students a chance to showcase their story through DAVA project

  23-02-2017 17:37
  
  AURORA | Hafsa Ali’s first meal in the U.S. was about as stereotypically American as it gets: McDonald’s french fries and a paper cup of crimson ketchup.
  “We were just sitting there all huddled up together and this guy from Somalia (who) worked at the airport started speaking Somali and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys must be hungry,’” said Ali, a 17-year-old student at Aurora West College Preparatory Academy and Junior Staff at Downtown Aurora Visual Arts. &
  
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• Police chief meets with essayist who wrote about being black in Naperville

  23-02-2017 17:27
  
  Sunday's meeting over coffee between Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall and former Naperville resident Brian Crooks was more than a half a year in the making. After communicating for months via phone and email, Marshall finally sat down with the man who shed a national light on what it was...
  
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• The Foundry in Aurora sold, to become new entertainment venue

  23-02-2017 16:58
  
  The Foundry, a large restaurant, bar and entertainment facility by Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, has been bought and will be turned into a new place called The Piazza. Robert Salerno, a member of the Salerno restaurant family that spans two generations in the Chicago suburbs, bought The Foundry at...
  
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• Colorado’s Gardner under fire: Republicans who won after rowdy town halls now avoiding them

  23-02-2017 16:06
  
  DENVER | Republicans who benefited from rowdy town halls six years ago and harnessed a wave of discontent with Democrats to win seats in Congress are learning a hard lesson this week as they return home: The left is happy to return the favor.
  Across the U.S., Democrats and their allies are spending this short congressional recess protesting elected Republican politicians who are avoiding the events that often turn into shouting matches.
  Just like the tea party sympathizers who vented agains
  
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• US-backed Iraqi forces enter Mosul airport, military base

  23-02-2017 16:01
  
  BAGHDAD | Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led international coalition fought their way Thursday into a sprawling military base outside of Mosul and onto the grounds of the city’s airport, taking control of the runway amid fierce exchanges of fire with Islamic State group militants.
  The two-pronged advance is part of a major assault that started earlier this week to drive IS from the western half of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city
  Iraqi federal police units, backed by regular
  
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• End of transgender bathroom rule gets conservative praise

  23-02-2017 15:58
  
  WASHINGTON | Conservatives are praising the Trump administration’s rollback of public school bathroom requirements for transgender students, saying the move corrects a legal overreach by the Obama administration that is best left for states to decide. Transgender rights advocates, meanwhile, are vowing to overcome a major setback.
  “We’re not discouraged. And we’re going to keep fighting like we have been and keep fighting for the right thing,” said Gavin Grimm,
  
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• Judge: Denver’s drug user ban in parks is unconstitutional

  23-02-2017 15:54
  DENVER | A judge says Denver officials violated due-process rights in their handling of a temporary ban of suspected drug users from parks.
  Parks director Allegra “Happy” Haynes, working with the mayor’s office and city attorneys, issued a temporary directive late last summer to suspend suspected drug users from the park in which they were cited for 90 days. But the notices took effect immediately, with the option to appeal the order later.
  County Judge Clarisse Gonzales ruled
  
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• Appeals court upholds conviction of man in DuPage arson death of ex-girlfriend

  23-02-2017 15:43
  
  An Illinois appeals court has affirmed the murder conviction of a former Villa Park man found guilty of lighting his ex-girlfriend's car on fire — a blaze that killed the woman when it spread to her house. The 2nd Appellate District Court on Tuesday upheld the DuPage County court conviction of...
  
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• Boys Basketball: Regis Jesuit cruises past Arvada West into rematch with Chaparral

  23-02-2017 08:37
  
  Regis Jesuit sophomore Matt Wheelock, right, looks to pass out of the post as three Arvada West defenders surround him during the third quarter of the Raiders’ 73-51 win over the Wildcats in a 2017 Class 5A boys state basketball first round playoff contest on Feb. 22, 2017, at Regis Jesuit High School. The Raiders moved on to the second round and will pay a visit to Chaparral on Feb. 25. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
  AURORA | Playing in the first round of the Class 5A boys stat
  
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• Boys Basketball: 2017 Class 5A state playoff scoreboard & schedule

  23-02-2017 08:09
  
  AURORA | Scoreboard and schedule for the 2017 Class 5A boys state basketball tournament, which began on Feb. 22, 2017. Aurora teams bold and uppercased:
  Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or [email protected]. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
  BOYS BASKETBALL
  2017 CLASS 5A BOYS STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
  LARRY FARMER REGION
  Second round (Saturday, Feb. 25)
  NO. 32 RANGEVIEW (16-8) at NO. 1 EAGLECREST (19-4), 2 p.m.No. 17 Vista Ridge (1
  
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• Aurora prep sports scoreboard, 2.22.17

  23-02-2017 06:01
  
  Regis Jesuit sophomore Samba Kane (23) is surrounded by Arvada West defenders as he looks to make a pass during the third quarter of the Raiders’ 2017 Class 5A first round boys state basketball playoff game against the Wildcats on Feb. 22, 2017, at Regis Jesuit High School. Kane tied for a team-high with 13 points as the Raiders won 73-51 to advance to the second round. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
  AURORA | The Aurora prep sports scoreboard for Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017:
  Courtn
  
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• Local educators say transgender policies won't change after Trump rollback

  23-02-2017 05:52
  
  The Trump administration announced late Wednesday it has rescinded a key Obama directive granting transgender students federal protections in public schools, though the impact in Illinois may not be as pronounced as elsewhere and many local educators said they will not roll back existing policies....
  
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• SANCTUARY AURORA? Some city officials balk at ‘sanctuary’ moniker but say cops won’t enforce immigration laws

  23-02-2017 03:55
  
  AURORA | Amid ongoing shakeups to the country’s immigration and detention policies, Aurora City Council members have re-upped the debate on whether the state’s third-largest city is, in fact, a so-called sanctuary city and what that title means for officials and residents alike.
  The newest discussion comes after the Trump Administration issued guidelines for deportation of illegal immigrants that appears to make it possible for the government to deport millions of immigrants, an
  
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• Dennis Hastert victim again argues for rest of hush money in court filing

  23-02-2017 03:30
  
  One of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert's sexual abuse victims argues he kept his end of the bargain to remain silent about decades-old misconduct in exchange for $3.5 million, and it was the disgraced politician who first disclosed the existence of their secret pact. In the latest filing...
  
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• Local educators say Trump rollback of transgender rule won't change policy

  23-02-2017 02:53
  
  The Trump administration announced late Wednesday it has rescinded a key Obama directive granting transgender students federal protections in public schools, though the impact in Illinois may not be as pronounced as elsewhere and many local educators said they will not roll back existing policies....
  
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• Death at Sylvan Lake ruled a suicide

  23-02-2017 01:37
  
  The death of a woman at Sylvan Lake in an unincorporated area near Mundelein was a mystery over the last few months, but investigators say they've closed the case and ruled it a suicide. Dispatchers received a 911 call the morning of Dec. 2 after a jogger spotted a body and crews rushed to the...
  
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• Naperville cops seek tuxedo-clad man claiming to be crime victim

  23-02-2017 01:09
  
  It sounds like it could be part of a stand-up comedy routine. A guy in a tuxedo walks into a gas station and buys a pack of cigarettes. He writes the clerk a note, saying "someone" has taken his wallet and "they" have a weapon. The guy then gets into an SUV and disappears. Naperville police say...
  
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• Man accused of killing mother '99 percent' certain he'll testify at trial

  23-02-2017 00:30
  
  A Downers Grove man accused in the shooting death of his mother said he will likely take the witness stand Thursday before jurors hear closing arguments at his trial and begin their deliberations. DuPage County prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of Michael...
  
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• Skokie trustees take action in support of immigrant rights

  23-02-2017 00:18
  
  The Skokie Village Board approved two measures and introduced a third Tuesday that officials say make up the village's new Comprehensive Immigrants' Rights Action. It comes in the wake of controversy over presidential executive orders intended to restrict immigration. "In recent weeks, regardless...
  
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