2008 in the Northwest suburbs

How will we remember 2008? Nationally, the historic elections and plunging economy will remain the biggest stories, but there are other memories, too, more centered on our homes here in the Northwest suburbs.

Here's a look at 10 of the top stories that interested the Northwest suburbs in 2008.

10. The bizarre, tragic case of the victim who wasn't

It started out as a strange incident and became progressively more bizarre and tragic. Ari Squire, a Lake Barrington man, was thought to have died on Feb. 23 after the truck he was working on fell and crushed him.

Later, authorities discovered it wasn't Squire under his car at all; it was 20-year-old Justin Newman of Arlington Heights.

Newman had done nothing wrong; he was tragically in the wrong place when Squire needed a victim to pull off his life insurance scam. Squire hired Newman to finish a job at his house; and instead murdered him and faked his own death.

He took on Newman's identity and fled, but the scam quickly unraveled. When police tracked him to a Missouri hotel a week later, Squire shot himself to death. The whole scheme was reportedly hatched to bring in $5 million of life insurance money.

9. Switched horses midstream, but Froehlich rides on

State Rep. Paul Froehlich's startling decision in 2007 to leave the Republican party in the middle of his term and become a Democrat had a lot of people predicting his demise in 2008.

The Schaumburg representative was tested twice - first in the February primary and again in the November general election. Republicans repudiated him for his defection; Democrats questioned his bona fides.

Maybe because it was an overwhelming Democratic year, but Froehlich proved his mettle by winning the 56th District seat in November.

8. The battle for the 12 Oaks apartments

In June, a battle raged between a property owner and the city of Rolling Meadows over police barricades that were put up as "checkpoints" at the 12 Oaks at Woodfield apartment complex.

The police said it was done to curb criminal activity, over complex owner Michael Sparks's objections. Several residents also said they felt like they were bring treated like prisoners.

Sparks sued, saying police were violating the civil rights of the 2,000 residents who live at 12 Oaks by checking them every time they entered and left the area.

The barricades were taken down after the lawsuit was filed, but the city stands by its reasons for putting them up in the first place.

7. Driver sentenced in crash that killed Corey Diamond

One chapter of a tragic accident closed in August when Ralph Lewis was sentenced to 45 years in jail for the death of 16-year-old Corey Diamond.

In July, a jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder in the 2006 crash that led to Diamond's death and serious injuries to one other Buffalo Grove High School student.

The boys were running an errand when Lewis's fleeing car, with police in pursuit, ran a red light and slammed into their car at Dundee and Schoenbeck roads in Wheeling. Diamond was killed and Elliott Cellini suffered a traumatic brain injury. A third boy, Brandon Forshall, had minor injuries.

The accident rocked the tight-knit BGHS community. Family members expressed intense relief after the court rulings.

"It's been two really long years," said Diamond's mother, Melanie.

6. Suburbs lose two iconic homebuilders

The Northwest suburbs lost two of its namesake homebuilders in 2008 as well as a housing developer that shaped much of the region.

David Hill, the son of homebuilding giant Kimball Hill, died in July. He had taken over the family business in 1969; Kimball Hill Homes was basically responsible for bringing about the city of Rolling Meadows in the 1950s.

In December, the Kimball Hill company itself announced that it will close its doors permanently in 15 months, ending 55 years of business in the suburbs. The end was a reflection of a declining housing market nationwide.

On Dec. 16, Jack Hoffman, the man whose name graced the village of Hoffman Estates when it incorporated in 1959, died.

5. Randhurst closing ends an era

The region's first enclosed shopping mall, Randhurst, closed its doors this fall after 46 years - in preparation for a new, $150 million lifestyle center called Randhurst Village.

While anchor stores on the periphery of the structure remain open, the mall is being gutted to make way for new restaurants, a hotel and 25 smaller buildings. The new center is expected open by spring 2010.

The mall opened in 1962 and was a crown jewel for Mount Prospect for many years. The economy's decline and the changing tastes in shopping led to its downfall.

4. Sales tax sparks talk of secession

The uneasy truce that existed between the Northwest suburbs and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger blew up last spring with passage of a 1 percent county sales tax increase.

Cook County communities that border Lake and DuPage counties took particular umbrage, arguing that the tax would push too many customers out of Cook County and away from its businesses. In Palatine, Trustee Jack Wagner resurrected the decades-old proposal for spinning the county's northwest arm off into "Lincoln County."

After one false start, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger came to Palatine to discuss the tax increase with residents, and argue that Northwest suburbanites benefit from county services too.

3. The CN/EJ&E merger

Nothing has polarized towns in the Northwest suburbs like the prospect of a Canadian National and EJ&E merger.

In gaining control of the EJ&E, CN would reroute some freight train traffic from its city and inner suburban rails and onto the scantly used EJ&E tracks that ring the Chicago region from Waukegan through Barrington and on to Joliet.

Interest in the merger continued to crescendo throughout 2008 as Barrington and its neighbors started considering what an increase in freight traffic would mean to their way of life and their emergency services. At the same time, communities like Des Plaines and Buffalo Grove were contemplating how welcome a reduction in freight traffic would be.

As 2008 closes, the parties are awaiting a decision from the Surface Transportation Board on the $300 million purchase.

2. The water rises

In Des Plaines, it was the worst flooding since the record-breakling disaster of 1986. Relentless, hard-driving rains pushed the Des Plaines River rose almost to that level, flooding streets, destroying property and displacing thousands of residents.

But this was also a regional flood, where the water flowed down streets in Schaumburg and Palatine and into basements in Bartlett and virtually ever other Northwest suburb.

The downpour also resulted in one reported death, when Alan Byrd, of Rolling Meadows, drowned after attempting to swim in a swollen retention pond in Arlington Heights.

1. NIU: Shock, despair, grief

It happened in DeKalb, but the consequences and effects of the Feb. 14 shootings at Northern Illinois University left a permanent mark on the Northwest suburbs - on panicked families, grieving alumni and on heartbroken people everywhere.

Five students died after a gunman opened fire that day inside a lecture hall at Cole Hall: Gayle Dubowski of Carol Stream; Catalina Garcia of Cicero; Julianna Gehant of Mendota; Ryanne Mace of Carpentersville and Dan Parmenter of Westchester.

Others were injured, some severely, as they escaped. Ryne Erickson of Des Plaines was shot, as was former Rolling Meadows High School football player J.D. Donohue and Brian Karpes of Rolling Meadows.

The shooter, who fatally shot himself after the rampage, had lived for a time in Elk Grove Village.

And amid the horror, stories of incredible acts of bravery and heroism. And in the aftermath, people from all over the region, including the Northwest suburbs, tried to reach out. A large memorial service drew students and alumni from across the region.

Although the effects will be felt for a long time, students have tried to move on while still preserving the memories of those lost.

<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>