Lake County's top news of 2010

Whew. What a year.

A horrific murder, a high-profile election and continued protests over an award-winning high school newspaper program were just a few of the stories that occupied headlines and had Lake County residents talking in 2010.

Not all of the news was sad, political or controversial. This summer, despite many doubts, a minor-league baseball team bearing the county's name took the field for the first time — and took our hearts in the process.

Here, then, are the Top 10 Lake County stories of 2010, as chosen by the Daily Herald's Lake County editorial staff.

Jerry Hobbs freed

Five years after he was arrested and charged with murdering his daughter and her friend, former Zion resident Jerry Hobbs was freed from Lake County jail in August.

Authorities had matched DNA evidence to a man convicted of a different crime in a different state. Hobbs later filed a civil-rights lawsuit in federal court against the police and other law enforcement officials who put him behind bars and kept him there without a trial.

No new charges have been filed in the deaths of Laura Hobbs, 8, or Krystal Tobias, 9.

Lora Hunt convicted

In a case that garnered national attention from motorcycle enthusiasts and people campaigning against distracted driving, a woman who crashed into and killed a Lake Zurich motorcyclist while painting her fingernails was convicted and sentenced to 18 months of periodic imprisonment in July.

Lora Hunt of Morris had faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the 2009 death of Anita Zaffke.

In handing down the sentence, Circuit Judge Fred Foreman said a message needed to be sent to motorists about the dangers of distracted driving.

He railed against people who text or check their e-mail while behind the wheel, among other distractions.

“In our society, distracted driving is becoming an epidemic,” Foreman said.

“(People) don't appreciate how dangerous that vehicle is or what they could do to other people.”

Fielders debut

It wasn't exactly on a field of dreams, but the minor league Lake County Fielders debuted in Zion July 2. The stadium planned for the Northern League team wasn't ready at the start of the season, so the team played its first 15 home games in Wisconsin. When they did play in Zion, they did so — at least at first — with no lights and fans on temporary bleachers.

But fans didn't seem to care. The team attracted 6,800 fans to its first game in Zion and averaged 3,700 fans per game for the season.

Schmidt beats Bond

Longtime Republican Lake County Board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt of Lake Villa unseated Democrat Michael Bond of Grayslake to win the 31st State Senate District seat. Schmidt's victory was an easy one, but also bittersweet — she openly wept about leaving the county board for the political perils and pitfalls of Springfield.

Schmidt won the seat in November but won't join the Senate until January. The county board will appoint someone to replace her as the 3rd District representative.

Police chief demoted

His attorney insisted the allegations were untrue, but Antioch Police Chief James Foerster was removed from that post by the mayor and village board in October.

Foerster was placed on paid administrative leave after a political candidate said Foerster left his chair with fists clenched and had to be restrained during a July 27 meeting in the chief's office.

The confrontation started after an Antioch police officer told the candidate's 18-year-old son and two friends they needed a permit to campaign in a neighborhood.

Mayor Lawrence Hanson said Foerster admitted drinking alcohol earlier in the day, before the confrontation.

Foerster was replaced by department veteran Craig Somerville.

Declan Sullivan dies

Twenty-year-old Declan Sullivan of Long Grove died in October when a lift from which he was filming a University of Notre Dame football team practice collapsed in high winds. The young man's death garnered national attention, putting the Notre Dame athletic program in a very critical spotlight.

Hundreds of people, including members of the Fighting Irish football team and representatives from the university, turned out for Sullivan's funeral. The university has taken the blame for Sullivan's death.

Statesman protests

Embroiled in a fight with administrators over censorship and other issues, seven editors of the Stevenson High School student newspaper quit the publication in January. The editor-in-chief and managing editor were among those who left.

The teens left their journalistic posts by withdrawing from the class that produces the Statesman, an award-winning monthly newspaper that had been the focus of several public controversies for more than a year.

A January 2009 story about teen sex led to more administration oversight because of what officials said were reporting problems. A few months later, Barbara Thill left her post as the newspaper's adviser.

Publication of the November 2009 issue was blocked by administrators because of content objections. School officials later forced students to publish the issue without two stories that had raised concerns. A story was pulled from the December issue because of administrative concerns.

Eventually, the school developed new guidelines designed to give the journalists clear expectations for their work.

New Costco opens

Overcoming a pair of lawsuits and some community apprehension, a Costco Wholesale store opened in November on Route 60, west of the Tri-State Tollway in Mettawa.

The 152,000-square-foot store is expected to generate $1 million in sales tax annually for the village. It also will employ about 200 people, certainly no small feat in this struggling economy.

Murder, manhunt

The April 1 murder of Vernon Hills resident Marina Aksman led to an interstate search for the woman's 20-year-old daughter, Kristina, and the daughter's boyfriend, Daniel Baker. Authorities eventually found the couple in Montana, and Baker — a 21-year-old Deerfield resident — was charged with first-degree murder.

Authorities say Baker beat the elder Aksman to death with a baseball bat while her daughter watched. Kristina Aksman, who authorities have said is mentally disabled, was not charged.

War memorial fight

Gurnee Trustee Kirk Morris and Mayor Kristina Kovarik spent much of the year fighting over a long-proposed memorial to soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The battle actually began in 2009 when Kovarik said Morris' foundation accomplished little in the five years it was unofficially in charge of building the memorial on the former Gurnee police station site on Old Grand Avenue.

Then, this January, Kovarik vetoed an agreement to allow the foundation to continue developing and raising funds for the partially built memorial.

Later in the month, Kovarik said the project would move forward, but without involvement from Morris, whose Marine son was killed in 2004.

Morris sued the village in February over the plans, insisting he and the foundation have a right to exclusive use of the “Heroes of Freedom Memorial” name, and that the village cannot prevent him from completing the project.

In September, however, a Lake County judge dismissed the suit, saying Morris' organization had no right to complete the memorial on public land. Morris vowed to appeal.