Lake County 2009 newsmakers

In Island Lake, Trustee Laura Rabattini raised a ruckus when she referred to a colleague as the "village blog Nazi."

At a busy intersection in Lakemoor, a tiger head fell from the back of a pickup truck and piqued curiosity about where it came from and where it was going.

What Rabattini and the tiger have in common is they made news on their own in Lake County in 2009.

The following are five faces, selected by the Daily Herald's Lake County bureau, that became familiar as newsmakers for different reasons.

Laura Rabattini:

Long known for political bickering, the Island Lake village board went at it again in July when Rabattini published e-mails from Trustee Donald Verciglio in a blog she operates.

Contending she was borrowing from the "Seinfeld" show that was popular in the 1990s, Rabattini referred to Verciglio as the "village blog Nazi" in her posting. She said putting Verciglio's e-mails in her blog was an attempt at government openness.

Verciglio objected to Rabattini's "Nazi" reference, citing his military service as a reason. He also said Rabattini disseminated incorrect information and questioned why she's still operating a blog on local politics.

"She can be a blogger or trustee, not both," Verciglio said.

Bill Coon:

Lake Zurich resident Bill Coon can eat what he wants again and is enjoying life.

That may not seem like a big deal, except Coon was fighting for his life in late October and received a new heart and kidney in separate procedures at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Coon, 20, is a junior at Columbia College in Chicago with a double major in marketing communications and radio broadcasting. He celebrated Thanksgiving by feasting on ham and mashed potatoes and visiting with about three dozen relatives.

"I never had a distinct thing to be thankful for, bit this year I obviously do," he said.

Coon was just 21 days old when he became the first infant heart transplant recipient in the Chicago area.

Tiger head

Maureen Lossman did a major doubletake when she was with a friend driving to Gurnee Mills on Feb. 26.

"I turned to my friend and said, 'Wait, what did I just see?'" said Lossman, 55, of McHenry. "It's a tiger head!"

Lossman spotted the beast's head in a blue plastic milk crate near the intersection of routes 120 and 12 in Lakemoor.

It turned out the head was from a rare domestic white tiger, an endangered animal. Lakemoor police said the head, valued at more than $10,000, fell off the back of a truck on the way to a taxidermist.

A Lakemoor police report did not cite the name of the tiger's owner or the place where it lived.

But U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said the tiger was being boarded at the Hawthorn Corp. Exotic Zoo near Richmond, which has proper permits from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Illinois to house large cats and other animals.

Officials reported the tiger died of natural causes.

Juan Rivera

Juan Rivera was convicted for a third time for the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old Waukegan girl.

Lake County Circuit Judge Christopher Starck presided over the Rivera case and - again - sentenced him to life in prison in June.

Rivera's family and attorneys vowed to fight for his freedom after he was convicted for the third time of raping and killing Holly Staker in an apartment where she had been baby-sitting two children.

Starck took notice of the fact Rivera has been convicted of the same crimes three times when defense lawyers sought reconsideration of the life sentence at a hearing in September.

"Not 12, not 24, but 36 citizens have found Mr. Rivera guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Starck said. "It seems abundantly clear that Mr. Rivera is the murderer of Holly Staker."

Tina Asmus

Lakemoor resident Tina Asmus made headlines not just in Lake County, but across the country for her refusal in May to remove front-yard flower planters made of two toilets and a bathroom sink.

Asmus called her use of the toilets "art piece planters." Lakemoor police didn't see it the same way and fined her $25 for violating a village ordinance.

Police said they were just enforcing the law and did not single out Asmus by leveling the fine against her. Authorities said Asmus was violating a law stating an item "no longer safely usable for the purpose for which it was manufactured" is prohibited.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=346988">Northwest suburban 2009 newsmakers <span class="date">[12/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=346982">DuPage County 2009 newsmakers <span class="date">[12/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=346390">Lake County 2009 newsmakers <span class="date">[12/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=346384">Fox Valley 2009 newsmakers <span class="date">[12/28/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>