Briefs: Bond set in sex case
A 32-year-old Elk Grove Village man was ordered held on $75,000 bond Thursday on charges he carried on a two-year sexual relationship with a teenage girl. Fernando Morales-Arenas, of the 400 block of Maple Lane, faces two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, officials with the Cook County state's attorney's office said. The charges stem from alleged multiple sexual encounters with the girl in Mount Prospect, where he'd lived before, and at his new home in Elk Grove Village. The relationship began in March 2005, prosecutors said. The girl was 15 when it began, according to police. The girl, now 18, reported the situation this month, and Morales-Arenas confessed to police afterward, authorities said. He has no reported criminal background. His next court date is Dec. 14 in Rolling Meadows.
Residents being forced out?
A longtime Chicago public housing resident charged this week city police are harassing residents in an effort to force them from the housing and open the land for lucrative land deals. "It's awfully suspicious that after all these years, this is what's occurring," said Jacqueline Thompson, who writes for Residents Journal, a publication for and by Chicago Housing Authority tenants. "What other reason is there to be so hard on people?" Chicago officials deny there is a concerted effort to force tenants from the Harold Ickes Homes, where Thompson lives. Police acknowledge cracking down at Ickes, but say it is only to stem crime. "I have no idea what plans the CHA or the city has with any kind of property because that's not my domain," said Deputy Police Chief James Keating. "My mission is to ensure the safety of the citizens that live in that community."
AIDS probe expands
Federal officials said Thursday they are investigating what three hospitals knew and told four organ transplant patients about a high-risk donor who infected them with HIV and hepatitis. The investigation's new phase involves the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees organ procurement programs and hospitals nationwide. The stakes are high: If the agency finds any mishandling, and if the hospitals don't comply with any demands for corrective action, they could face penalties. The worst would be being ousted from Medicare participation, meaning a loss of crucial federal revenue. CDC officials a week ago visited the Elmhurst group that procured the organs, Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network. This week they started querying authorities at the three hospitals, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Grand jury convenes
The man who says he found Kathleen Savio dead in her bathtub three years ago says he's now been called by a grand jury convened to review her death. Steve Carcerano, a friend of Savio's ex-husband, Drew Peterson, spent hours at the Will County courthouse in Joliet after he said he was called by the grand jury but said he did not get to testify Wednesday and was told to return at a later date. Peterson's current wife, Stacy Peterson, is missing. Illinois State Police have said Drew Peterson's brother, Paul, also was subpoenaed by a grand jury, though the Will County state's attorney's office had declined to confirm the jury is convened to hear evidence in the Savio case. The courthouse appearances come as investigators await results of second autopsy performed after Savio's body was exhumed this week at the request by State's Attorney James Glasgow, who has said after examining evidence he believes her death was a homicide staged to look like an accident.