Quirky crime doesn't overshadow Image Awards

At his request, I went to Elgin bond call with our police beat coordinator Gene Haschak on Thursday, just to see how it gets done and to help him out with any stories, if necessary.

It was at that bond call where Judge John Noverini set bonds for three people Elgin and Carpentersville undercover officers recently arrested on pimping and prostitution charges in an apartment 800 feet away from Larkin High School in Elgin.

Jesus Enriquez-Rodriguez, 25, was charged with pimping and operating a house of prostitution within 1,000 feet of a school, both felonies.

As well, Rosa Haydee Canjura-Garcia, 36, and Fabiola Peregrino-Acopa, 26, were each charged with felony prostitution within 1,000 feet of a school.

The nature of the story and the mug shots that ran with it made it the most-read article of the day on our Web site - Canjura-Garcia's arrest photo also ended up on www.thesmokinggun.com, probably because she wore a green T-shirt that read, "very kissable."

I hope they get the help they need to overcome the experience and make better life decisions, even if they do end up going to prison.

Anyway, our readers had a field day with this story and at last count, there were 210 comments posted on the story.

Hours after the story appeared on the Daily Herald Web site, Elgin held its annual image awards ceremony in which city leaders recognize people who have helped make the city a wonderful place to live.

That the story came out so close to the awards ceremony was bad timing and an unfortunate coincidence, said city spokeswoman Sue Olafson.

But it did not derail their evening, she said.

"Over 200 people ... were celebrating what people do really well here in Elgin, and that's volunteering," Olafson said. "People were excited. I don't think there was one mention of the crime that had taken place earlier."

Moreover, people who posted comments on the story that blasted Elgin, aren't recognizing all of the good that goes on in the city, Olafson said.

"It's not a good indicator about what Elgin is all about," Olafson said of the arrests. "People are entitled to their opinion and it's generally the people that don't even know, or really understand what's happening in the city."

Speak your mind: Algonquin's second public input session for the Randall Road Pedestrian Study will be held at 7 p.m. today inside the Jacobs High School auditorium.

Officials are holding this meeting before finalizing the project's plans, which they will present to the village board at a later date.

For information, call the village's community development department at (847) 658-4184.

Lenore Adkins covers Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Pingree Grove and McHenry County College. She lives in Elgin. To reach her, call (847) 608-2725 or e-mail ladkins@dailyherald.com