Naval recruit killed by train

The Lake County coroner says the blood-alcohol level of a Navy recruit who was stuck and killed by a Metra commuter train was more than triple the legal limit. Twenty-two-year-old Matthew Hicks of Alabama was crossing railroad tracks in Highwood at about 2 a.m. Saturday when he was struck by a northbound train. Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis says Hicks was one of three men who crossed in front of the train in an area that was not a designated crossing. Hicks was the last to cross the tracks and was struck. Lake County Coroner Richard Keller says Hicks' blood-alcohol level was .285 percent. Keller says the victim's friends told authorities they had been at a nearby Highwood bar and were walking to the train stop to return to the Great Lakes Naval Station.