Briefs: Tollway gets eyes on traffic

Illinois tollway officials plan to buy new traffic-monitoring gear that will provide drivers more accurate drive times and early notice of delays. The new equipment, including 11 mobile cameras and four portable traffic monitors, will mostly be used at construction sites to forewarn drivers about backups. The equipment will cost about half a million dollars and should be in place by next year, said tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis.

Boxers missing in Chicago

Three athletes who were in Chicago for the World Boxing Championships have gone missing from the competition, organizers and authorities said Thursday. It appears the two Ugandan boxers and one Armenian boxer left their teams on purpose and were not the victims of a crime, said Chicago police spokesman John Mirabelli. The names of the missing boxers weren't immediately available. Police are conducting a typical missing persons investigation, Mirabelli said.

3 die in sailing accident

Three men died and a fourth was recovering after a 35-foot racing sailboat ran into a breakwater during strong winds and high waves on Lake Michigan, authorities said. The four men were sailing Wednesday night when one of them fell overboard while lowering the sails, said U.S. Coast Guard Boatsmate 1st Class Michael Arnold. The men were rounding the breakwater to enter Calumet Harbor and the river's mouth, he said. The three men remaining on board called the Coast Guard and local authorities, then began searching for the missing man themselves, Arnold said. As they tried to pull him from the water, the boat struck the breakwater and broke up in the 10-foot waves, Arnold said. The men had been in the 58-degree water for about 45 minutes. All four were wearing lifejackets, but rescuers were unable to resuscitate three of the men, Arnold said. Two were pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, and the third man was pronounced dead at Chicago's Advocate Trinity Hospital, officials said. The survivor, Joseph Sunshine, 34, of was treated at Advocate Trinity and released. Sunshine identified two of the victims as the boat's owner, John Finn, 45, and crew member Adam Kornen, 33, both of Chicago, said Indiana Conservation Officer Gene Davis. Sunshine did not know the name of the third man killed, who was the crew member who initially fell overboard, Davis said. Authorities were awaiting the results of autopsies to determine whether the men died of hypothermia or injuries related to the breakup of the boat, he said.

Berwyn toughens dog rules

Berwyn is imposing new rules and penalties on residents who own what the city considers to be dangerous dogs. Mayor Michael O'Connor says a dog must first be declared dangerous by the police chief. Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner explains a dog is not considered dangerous unless it menaces a person. The rules enacted yesterday will allow police and city officials to remove a dog from the community more quickly and to enforce high fines on residents who don't comply with the removal order. The new rules are amendments to an ordinance that was focused mainly on the removal of wild animals. O'Connor says the new rules will be effective in 10 days.