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10 major stories of 2014 in the Northwest suburbs

Here's a look as some of the bigger stories this year in the Northwest suburbs:

Downtown plan dies

Developer Chuck Malk's vision of a $360 million overhaul of the center of Buffalo Grove to turn a golf course and the land around in it into a downtown filled with offices, condos, stores and theaters died this month after village officials said they couldn't see providing the $100 million in financial incentives Malk said the ambitious plan required.

But the plan, first proposed about two years ago, from the very beginning spawned a vigorous campaign to block Malk. Opponents packed meetings about the plan and pushed for a referendum. The ire that was stirred may yet change the face of village politics, as those who have been energized by the controversy turn their attention to the April municipal election.

Priest sex abuse

Decades in the making, the Catholic Church priest sex abuse scandal returned to prominence as outgoing Cardinal Francis George released thousands of pages of documents and touted church reforms in an effort to put the matter to rest as he retired to make way for incoming Archbishop Blase Cupich, who took office in November.

In January, the church released 6,000 pages of documents involving 30 priests as part of a settlement of a lawsuit with some abuse victims. In November, officials released another 15,000 pages related to 36 other priests.

The documents involved allegations going back decades, and covered all priests for whom the archdiocese had "substantiated" allegations of child sex abuse, except for files in two cases that still are ongoing.

The documents showed that in some cases the church failed to act on initial complaints, was slow to act, or took steps which weren't sufficient to prevent further problems.

The diocese also explained how it has overhauled its programs and procedures, so that all church employees and volunteers receive training in spotting and preventing abuse, and so personnel are in place for dealing promptly and effectively with any complaints of abuse.

Ye Olde Town Inn

After years of fighting with Mount Prospect officials over downtown redevelopment, Ye Olde Town Inn owner Tod Curtis won a form of vindication when the village agreed to a $6.5 million settlement to avoid going to trial on his racketeering lawsuit, which argued village officials had conspired with a developer to seize his land.

For years, Curtis had insisted he wanted to pursue his own plan to redevelop the site, but village officials wouldn't consider it. And when he won the settlement in August, he said he hoped to make pizzas for years to come.

But earlier this month, he closed the restaurant without advance notice, issuing a brief statement citing family concerns and thanking people who supported his business for 46 years, but declining further comment.

Palatine's cold case

Cases don't get much colder than that of Amber Creek, the troubled 14-year-old Palatine teenager whose body was discovered in a wildlife refuge in Burlington, Wisconsin, about two weeks after she ran away from a juvenile home in Chicago. She'd been sexually assaulted and suffocated.

But 17 years later, authorities arrested James Paul Eaton, 36, of Palatine, and charged him in Racine County, Wisconsin, with Amber's murder after a crime lab tech in Oklahoma going through cold cases matched up fingerprints left on a plastic trash bag at the scene of the 1997 murder with those in an improved FBI Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Eaton has yet to face trial on the charges.

Busse building fire

The historic Busse Building in downtown Mount Prospect was demolished in the wake of a devastating fire that started early Sunday, Feb. 9, in the basement of the Sakura Japanese Restaurant, 105 S. Main St. one of the building's business tenants. No one was injured in the fire, which also displaced residents of six apartments.

For months, village officials held out hope that part of the 89-year-old building could be salvaged, but in June, Dave Strahl, assistant village manager, conceded, "The building was a total loss."

While the restaurant was a total loss, other businesses that were damaged in the fire, including Central Continental Bakery, Picket Fence Realty and the chamber of commerce, relocated.

Meeske's Market was the anchor tenant of the Tudor-style brick building constructed in 1926 by William Busse, a Cook County commissioner and local businessman. Other original tenants included the Otto H. Landeck Men's Shop, the National Tea Company and a post office.

Order no protection

"I killed Roxana," Cristian Loga-Negru, 38, of Arlington Heights told his father, according to authorities who charged him with the November hatchet murder of his wife of four months in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

Prosecutors said Loga-Negru tracked his wife Roxana Abrudan, 36, to the home in Wisconsin where she had fled in fear after getting an order of protection against her husband. He attacked her with a hatchet in the driveway, dragged her body into a car and drove back to his motel, where police apprehended him, authorities said.

"This is as brutal a case as I think we will ever see," Racine County District Attorney W. Richard Chiapete said during a bond hearing for Loga-Negru has yet to go on trial. "The sad thing is, she did all the things we in the system ask people to do. She took steps to try to protect herself."

Palatine gang killings

When his parents kicked him out of their home for his gang lifestyle, Marco Lopez, 17, found a refuge with Palatine resident Segundo Reynoso, Palatine police say.

But Reynoso, 38, grew concerned about Lopez's influence on his teenage son and eventually blocked Lopez from staying at the home, police said.

Lopez returned to the apartment and opened fire on the father and his son, Luis, 15, while Luis' two younger sisters slept nearby, authorities said. Both died.

The two youths has been arrested in connection with a string of burglaries, and Lopez feared that Luis had become a police snitch, police and prosecutors say.

Police say Luis did not inform on Lopez, who had three pending juvenile court cases and had been arrested in a fourth at the time of the murders, according to prosecutors. The trial has not yet been held.

Music minister loses job

The longtime music director at the Holy Family Catholic Community in Inverness, who was fired last summer after announcing on Facebook his engagement to his male partner, filed discrimination complaints against the church this month in a bid to get his old job back.

Collette had worked at the church for 17 years and was a popular figure in the parish community. Dozens of parish members spoke in his favor at a town-hall meeting held soon after his firing become public knowledge, as well as at a prayer vigil outside Holy Family organized on his behalf.

"It has divided the parish tremendously," said Dolores Siok. "Being there for 25 years I would walk in and be welcomed by so many. Now I walk in and they kind of turn their head because they know you are in the other camp."

Collette met with former Archbishop Cardinal Francis George in September, but his attorney said further attempts to meet with George and new Archbishop Blase Cupich had been rejected.

Saving Metropolis

The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre notified Arlington Heights officials in September that it would close at the end of October unless the village provided it with $450,000 to operate until March 31 in addition to the $165,000 it had already received for the fiscal year.

"We've been putting Band-Aids on it for a long time now, so we're at the point where we have to decide," said Mayor Tom Hayes.

The village board in October approved the funding while it explored long-term solutions for the struggling theater. Including the $2 million the village spent to buy a portion of the Metropolis complex in 2005, the total investment so far is more than $5 million.

In November, the village board approved a $24,000 economic impact study to determine how important the venue is to the downtown's success. Options could include closing the theater, expanding it, selling it to a management company, or the village taking it over entirely. A decision is expected in the spring.

In December, Metropolis hired Joe Keefe, who worked for Second City for 18 years and has written and produced for a number of theatrical and television productions, as executive director.

Starving a baby

The parents of a 7-month-old girl who died of malnutrition and starvation Jan. 8 in Barrington were charged four months later with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment.

Authorities said that Markisha Jones, 19, and Gene Edwards, 22, hadn't taken Mya Edwards, who died, and her twin Mia, to a doctor since July or August 2013.

The parents kept their daughters in the basement of the small home in an area heated by a space heater. Prosecutors characterized the basement as looking like a "dungeon." Mia was placed in a foster home. The case has yet to go to trial.

In July, about 150 people, including 30 members of the Barrington police and fire departments, attended a funeral Mass for Mya, who was interned in a Barrington cemetery. Every part of the service, including the casket and the funeral plot, was donated. One family member was in attendance.

"We were able to show this young girl who wasn't loved in life and abandoned in death that she was loved," said Det. Sgt. Kevin Croke, the lead investigator.

• Daily Herald staff writers Matt Arado, Doug T. Graham, Eric Peterson, Christopher Placek, Melissa Silverberg, Katlyn Smith and Steve Zalusky contributed to this report.

  Meetings on developer Chuck Malk's grand vision for Buffalo Grove drew big crowds of unhappy residents. Steve Zalusky/szalusky@dailyherald.com November 2014
Tod Curtis, owner of Ye Olde Town Inn in Mount Prospect, received a multimillion dollar settlement from the village after years of fighting in court over how the village pursued a downtown redevelopment plan. In December, he unexpectedly closed his business. Daily Herald file photo/June 2006
  The Sakura Restaurant was destroyed in an early morning fire in Mount Prospect. Damage was so great the historic Busse Building which housed the restaurant eventually had to be demolished. Steve Zalusky/szalusky@dailyherald.com/February 2014
  This is the gravesite of Amber Creek at Holy Family Cemetery near Racine, Wisconsin. Seventeen years after her murder, James Eaton was charged in the crime. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
  This is the exterior of the Metropolis in Arlington Heights. The village is expected to decide in a few months on how best to secure the future of the struggling performing arts venue. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com October 2003
  Parishioners at Holy Family Parish in Inverness place their hands on former music director Colin Collette as a symbol of support during a prayer vigil at the church. Matt Arado/marado@dailyherald.com September 2014
  Barrington Fire and Police department members place roses on the casket of 7-month-old Mya Edwards, during her burial at Evergreen Cemetery. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com July 2014
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