Cook County briefs
Palatine seat contested
A longtime Palatine resident has announced his write-in candidacy for the District 6 council seat. John R. Del Re, 45, will challenge incumbent Brad Helms in the April election. Del Re and his wife, Ruth, have four children and for the last five years have owned and operated Liberty Computer Centre in Des Plaines. Del Re said he's concerned about unsafe traffic patterns in the district, including the area around the train station. He also wants to explore economic development along Northwest Highway and in downtown Palatine. For more information, go to johndelre.com.
Barrington stranger alert
Police and school officials in Barrington urge parents and schoolchildren to exercise extra caution after a suspicious man has been twice reported near a school in the village in recent days. According to reports, the lone white man drives a green SUV and while sitting in the vehicle has made inappropriate comments to female students walking by. The two reported incidents occurred on Roslyn Road and also near St. Anne School. In a joint statement issued Thursday, Barrington-Inverness police, Barrington Unit District 220 and St. Anne School asked students and parents to be extra vigilant. Students are encouraged to travel and wait at bus stops in groups. If approached by a stranger, they should call 911 immediately and try to obtain a license plate number if the individual is in a vehicle. For further details, call police at (847) 304-3300.
Fire causes heavy damage
A Mount Prospect home took heavy damage after a fire swept through it late Wednesday night. Fire officials said no one was home when the fire began inside the two-story home on the 250 block of East Bonnie Brae Avenue. The fire ignited at about 11:30 p.m. on the first floor of the home, officials said. No one was injured in the blaze. Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control about 12:30 a.m., officials said. The fire was officially snuffed out about 1 a.m. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Mount Prospect Fire Department, with help from the Cook County sheriff's department and the state fire marshal's office. Firefighters from Des Plaines, Schaumburg, Buffalo Grove, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows and the North Maine Fire Protection District assisted in the fire.
Child porn trial set
A former Hanover Park and St. Charles gymnastics coach is scheduled to stand trial in May on child pornography charges. Vernor Gumila, 40, a former coach at St. Charles Gymnastics Academy and Gymkhana Gymnastics Club & Dance Studio in Hanover Park, was charged in October 2007 with nine counts of child pornography possession. On Thursday, Kane County Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon scheduled Gumila's jury trial for May 18. Gumila, of the 900 block of South Third Street, St. Charles, has pleaded not guilty.