Briefs: Motorcycle hits Obama van
Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, was involved in a traffic accident Tuesday as she rode to a rally in northern Iowa, organizers said. She was not injured. The Illinois senator's wife was among five people in a van that was hit by a motorcycle as the van attempted a left turn just south of Hampton, where she was to speak at a rally, said Tommy Vietor, Obama's Iowa press secretary. The motorcyclist, whose name has not been released, was injured and a medical helicopter was at the scene. Michelle Obama later told the crowd in Hampton that the rally would be rescheduled.
Bond set in stabbing
Bond was set at $100,000 Tuesday for a Mount Prospect man who authorities say stabbed a teenager in the abdomen during a fight at a party. Joshua D. Portwood, 27, of the 1200 block of Burning Bush Lane faces two felony counts of aggravated battery. Prosecutors said the 16-year-old victim suffered a punctured liver, underwent emergency surgery at Northwest Community Hospital and is expected to remain there at least five more days. The stabbing -- the culmination of an argument over a lost bracelet belonging to Portwood -- occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday at a party at 323 N. Main St. in Mount Prospect, police said. At Tuesday's bond hearing, prosecutors told Cook County Judge Kay Marie Hanlon that Portwood has a criminal history including a California grand theft case for which he's still on probation. Portwood, a mechanic, told the public defender he believes that probation is over. He also denied other criminal history descriptions that were read in court. His next court date is Nov. 2.
Daley's fine as underdog
Mayor Richard Daley says he'd rather be the underdog than the city everyone expects to win the 2016 Summer Olympics. Daley said Tuesday that being the front-runner in people's expectations would be bad. U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth has said Chicago is third or fourth in the race for the games. Ueberroth says Chicago needs to sell itself to the International Olympic Committee, which will pick a host city in 2009. Ueberroth has suggested using multinational companies based in Chicago to talk up the town to IOC members in the countries where they do business. Daley says the business community is promoting the city.
Pill helps alcoholics detox
A migraine pill seems to help alcoholics taper off their drinking without detox treatment, researchers report, offering a potential option for a hard-to-treat problem. The drug, Topamax, works in a different way than three other medications already approved for treating alcoholism. Experts said the drug is likely to appeal to heavy drinkers who would rather seek help from their own doctors, rather than enter a rehab clinic to dry out. The drug costs at least $350 a month, plus the price of doctor's visits. But side effects are a problem, and it's unclear whether the findings will make a dent in an addiction that affects millions of Americans. Addiction specialists not involved in the study said the findings are promising, although side effects such as trouble concentrating, tingling and itching caused about one in five people to drop out of the study. Drowsiness and dizziness are also problems. The study, published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, was funded by the maker of the drug, Johnson & Johnson Inc.'s Ortho-McNeil Neurologics. The researchers also reported financial ties to the company. Ortho-McNeil reviewed the manuscript, but did not change the results or interpretation, the researchers reported.
Marathoner's problem rare
The heart problem blamed in the death of a Chicago marathoner is rarely dangerous and people who have it shouldn't stop exercising, heart experts said. "People are not dying in the streets because they have mitral valve prolapse," said Dr. Phillip Watkins a cardiologist with a Birmingham, Ala., center that specializes in treating the problem. The condition is a birth defect that affects 2 percent to 5 percent of the population, heart experts said. Many people don't know they have it until a doctor hears a distinctive "clicking" through a stethoscope. The mitral valve controls blood flow on the left side of the heart, allowing it to flow from the upper heart chamber to the lower one. In severe prolapse cases, the valve leaks blood backward into the upper chamber, forcing the heart to work harder. Over time, damage can occur. Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Nancy Jones said Tuesday that 35-year-old Chad Schieber, a Michigan police officer and father of three, had "significant mitral valve prolapse." An autopsy found the death was not related to heat stress, and test results for dehydration are pending, her office said Tuesday.
Jesse Jackson in the news
The Reverend Jesse Jackson will spend tonight in a public housing complex on Chicago's South Side to bring attention to complaints from residents that they're being harassed by police. Jackson says police are using "Gestapo-style" tactics at the Harold Ickes Homes. He'll be staying in an eighth floor unit occupied by Vernice Sanders, a woman he met in 1973. Jackson got Sanders emergency housing at the Ickes Homes back then after her home was shot up and she was hit in the stomach. She was nine months pregnant at the time. She eventually delivered a healthy daughter. Chicago police have said anyone who thinks their rights have been violated should file an official complaint. In other Jackson news, authorities have dropped a criminal trespassing charge against the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson was arrested and charged in June after refusing to move away from the entrance to Chuck's Gun Shop in south suburban Riverdale during a protest there. The Cook County state's attorney's office dropped the charge Tuesday. Spokesman Andy Conklin says officials reviewed the evidence and determined they could not prove their case.