Top Fox Valley news of 2008

A puffer fish toxin, a deadly Halloween crash and a class action ruling topped the Fox Valley's local news in 2008.

Fishy find

In early July, Edward F. Bachner of Lake in the Hills was charged in federal court with possession of tetrodotoxin, a poison 1,200 times more deadly than cyanide. Also known as TTX, it is naturally produced and contained in the liver, ovaries and intestines of puffer fish.

There is no cure for tetrodotoxin poisoning, which appears as a white powder that is somewhat soluble, according to government safety guidelines. It is toxic if inhaled, swallowed or comes into contact with skin.

Investigators say he posed as a medical researcher to order the toxin. Bachner remains in federal custody awaiting trial.

U-46 class-action ruling

An Aug. 8 ruling granting the Elgin Area School District U-46 racial bias suit class-action status has turned more eyes than ever on the state's second largest school district.

If the Elgin families suing prevail, U-46 could be forced to implement districtwide changes, joining the ranks of other major Illinois school desegregation lawsuits in Rockford, Champaign and Freeport.

All current Hispanic and black U-46 students who have been subject to racial discrimination in school programs and services would receive remedies, Judge Robert W. Gettleman wrote in his 13-page memorandum opinion and order. Areas where racial discrimination may have occurred, Gettleman said, include instability of student assignments, assignment to non-neighborhood schools, assignment to overcrowded schools and transportation burdens. All current Hispanic U-46 students receiving bilingual services, those who have received those services in the past four years or those who should have but did not receive bilingual services would also receive remedies.

The suit, which stemmed out of the district's 2004 boundary changes, has cost U-46 more than $6.7 million. The sides participated in the first settlement conference in four years on Dec. 15.

Halloween crash claims four

The carefree revelry of Halloween night was shattered after four teens died in a head-on car collision that took place in unincorporated Burlington Township. Police say the crash occurred about 1 a.m. Nov. 1 when Erick Silva, 18, of Streamwood crossed the center line at Burlington and Plato Roads in his Pontiac Grand Am and struck a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix head on. Silva and the three other teens involved were pronounced dead at the scene, including the two passengers in the Grand Am, Christian Miguel Gody-Olvea, 19, and Andres Solis, 19, both of Streamwood, and the driver of the Grand Prix, Marco Leon, 19, of Elgin.

Police misconduct in Elgin

Several instances of police misconduct occurred this year, the most notable being the case of Officer Chris Darr, who pleaded guilty this summer to assaulting a suspect in a Jan. 1 hotel melee in the back seat of a squad car while Darr was off duty.

Darr resigned from the police force before admitting guilt, was fined $500, and given two years' probation. A $5 million lawsuit has been filed against Darr, the city and police department.

Huntley teachers strike

After seven months of negotiations and a two-day strike, the Huntley Unit District 158 school board approved a new three-year contract with the district's teachers Sept. 22. About 87 percent of the teachers voted in favor of the contract, according to the union. The contract, backdated to July 1 and expiring June 30, 2011, increases teacher compensation by more than 5.25 percent this year, next year and the year after that.

Humpfer avoids jail time

A Kane County Judge spared Carpentersville Trustee Paul Humpfer jail time in October for hitting his wife with a baseball bat. Instead, Judge James Hallock sentenced Humpfer to one year of conditional discharge on four misdemeanor domestic battery convictions stemming from a May 2007 altercation with his wife, Jacqueline. Humpfer also must pay a $1,000 fine, attend a 26-week domestic violence counseling course, refrain from contacting his wife and undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The sentence came more than seven months after Hallock found Humpfer guilty on charges related to a May 2007 incident in the couple's Carpentersville home. The charges alleged Humpfer struck his wife with a baseball bat after learning she had a sexual relationship with the son of a fellow village board member the same night Humpfer was sworn in on the village board.

Elgin teen convicted twice

An Elgin teen pleaded guilty in June to stabbing his consumer science teacher in an attack at Elgin High School. Angel Facio, now 17, was sentenced to a minimum of 18 months in a juvenile facility but could serve up to 17 years if he is ever found guilty of violating the sentencing terms. On Jan. 18, Facio attacked Carolyn Gilbert, stabbing her in the head and neck with a steak knife, police said. Gilbert was stabbed at least seven times, according to police. She suffered puncture in the right eye, head and neck, resulting in a loss of vision. Citing neglectful parents, a chaotic home life and unanswered cries for help, Judge Paul Stralka kept Facio's case in juvenile court, instead of charging him as an adult. Months later, Facio pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and was sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping and molesting an 8-year-old girl. Facio will be about 30 years old before he is eligible for release, Assistant State's Attorney Christine Bayer said.

Provena gets to heart of the matter

The open-heart surgery program at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin was rated the top program out of 62 Illinois hospitals for cardiac surgery and is in the top 5 percent of the United States for cardiac surgery and services. Christopher Boyer, a consultant at HealthGrades, said the company used Medicare patient data from the 2005, 2006 and 2007 in its rankings and assigned different weightings to patients depending on their risk factors. Two other factors considered were the number of operations and survival rate for patients afterward.

Staff writers Harry Hitzeman, Jameel Naqvi, Lenore Adkins, Larissa Chinwah and Chuck Keeshan contributed to this report.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=260824">The year's top stories across the suburbs</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260331">2008 in the Northwest suburbs</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260138">A little bit of everything in DuPage</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260531">Top Fox Valley news of 2008</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260250">Lake County's Top 10 stories of 2008</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260290">Looking back on 2008 in the Tri-Cities</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>