PUBLISHED: 09-22-08

In Other News

Hospital seeks to  expand

According to the Southtown Star, Christ Medical Center officials are seeking state approval this fall to expand. The $200 million-plus expansion would include a parking garage and a new, eight-story building with more than 200 hospital beds, half of those being new. By the end of the expansion, the center would then have more than 800 beds, including a mix of adult surgical and pediatric beds and intensive care beds, among others. If approved by the state, the expansion is expected to be completed by 2012.

Young workers worried

According to the Chicago Tribune, young suburban workers became concerned about evening work hours after a 17-year-old female was abducted and raped on Sept. 16. The young woman was working at T.J. Grinders sandwich store, 12250 S. Harlem Ave., when she noticed a “creepy” man watching her through the front store window at about 6:30 p.m., she told police. She then called a male friend to come pick her up. The offender then returned twice before he forced her into his black sedan, drove away, raped her in a remote area and then dumped her about a mile from her home. When the girl’s friend arrived at the shop minutes after he was called he found her purse and a pack of cigarettes on the floor. The friend called authorities to report her missing. The incident has parents and community members questioning whether or not teenagers should work late hours.

Former alderman dies at 90

According to the Chicago Tribune, the first African-American woman elected to the Chicago City Council died Sept. 17 at the age of 90 after losing a battle to lung cancer. Anna Langford was elected as alderman of the 16th Ward in 1971, one of only two women on the council. Losing her re-election bid in 1975, Langford didn’t return to the council until 1983, when she served two terms before retiring in 1991. Her son said his mother lived an active lifestyle up until her diagnosis.
Lanford is survived by her son, Larry, three grandchildren and a great-
grandchild.

Idea lifting off

On Sept. 18, O’Hare International Airport announced its airlines may receive a helping hand from a Des Plaines-based company offering a towing service for planes to help conserve fuel and money. According to the Chicago Tribune, a Boeing 757 burns 12 times more jet fuel per minute than the cheaper diesel fuel burned per minute by the German-made push-tractor UST Aviation Services had purchased. United Airlines has already purchased six of the push-tractors while Northwest Airlines evaluates the idea. “The new service can reduce daily fuel burn by 90 percent,” Mayank Tripathi, president of UST,  told the Chicago
Tribune.

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