Cook County Digest

Cop awarded $150,000:

A federal jury has awarded $150,000 in damages to a Chicago police officer for suffering harassment when she became the only woman on an undercover gang unit. Ann McDermott testified that she found porn in her mailbox on her first day on the job and got new pictures every day for the next six months. She said she was ridiculed by fellow officers after she complained. "I told the jury exactly what happened and the Chicago Police Department, including one commander, one captain, two lieutenants and seven sergeants all tried to say I wasn't telling the truth and the jury saw through it," McDermott said. The federal jury also ordered the city to pay $500,000 in legal fees for McDermott's lawyers. Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the Internal Affairs Department, which had dismissed most of the complaints brought by McDermott, will revisit them.

Something stinks:

Officials in Carpentersville are working with representatives from Hexion Specialty Chemicals to determine the source of an odor in the Old Town area near the company's chemical plant at 100 E. Cottage Ave. To help pinpoint the source of the smell, the village has posted on its Web site phone numbers for two Hexion officials residents can call when they detect an odor. Residents can call Robert Usab at (847) 280-1943 or Chuck Doebler at (630) 631-3450 with details such as time of day, location, wind speed and direction. An Illinois Environmental Protection Agency supervisor said the agency has received one call about an odor and will conduct tests next week based on the complaint.

Language tutors needed:

Volunteers are needed to tutor in both basic reading and English as a Second Language. No special education or foreign language skills are required. The Literacy Connection will be holding a free orientation session from 9 to 10:30 a.m. today at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. in Elgin. Training workshops will follow from 9 to 11:45 a.m. Aug. 6, 9, 14, 16, 21 and 23 at the same location. Once trained, tutors are matched with a student for tutoring at a time and place of their choosing.

'Senior Idol' auditions:

Senior citizens can compete in the "Senior Idol" contest at the 12th annual Senior Lifestyle Expo slated for Sept. 5-6 in Oak Brook. The deadline to enter is Aug. 15 or until all slots are full. "Senior Idol" is open to people who will be 60 or older by Sept. 5. Auditions will be from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sept. 5 and from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oak Brook. Audition times must be scheduled in advance and there is a $10 entry fee for individuals. The cost is $20 for a group of up to four. For details or an application, call Connie Kobitter at (630) 293-5990 or e-mail crkevents@ageguide.org.

Supposed dancer acquitted:

A Wayne man has been acquitted of a disorderly conduct charge, four months after police said he donned tight-fitting spandex shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt and posed as an exotic dancer in a Schaumburg eatery. Cook County Judge Hyman Riebman found ThomasÃ…'F. Heffernan not guilty after a bench trial this week, prosecutors said. Police arrested Heffernan on March 22 after they said he walked into a Woodfield Shopping Center restaurant and told a girl there he was an exotic dancer who'd been hired to perform for her. The girl told police Heffernan tried to lure her out for a private show.

Honoring military mothers:

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton wants to bring back federal recognition for mothers who lose sons or daughters in combat. The freshman Republican introduced a resolution to honor "Gold Star Mothers," a tradition that dates to 1940, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt named the last Sunday in September as the date to honor the sacrifices war mothers had made. Roskam noted that in the 6th Congressional District, Georgette Frank of Elk Grove Village lost her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Phillip Frank, in the Iraq war in 2004.

State graduation rates 13th:

About three of every four students who begin high school leave with a diploma, according to a national report released Wednesday. A study by the Washington D.C.-based Education Trust shows 79.4 percent of Illinois high-schoolers graduated in 2005, ranking the state 13th nationwide. Drawn from data collected by the U.S. Department of Education, the report calls for higher standards and accountability that will challenge all students to learn. State education officials, meanwhile, peg the state graduation rate at 87.4 percent. The eight-percentage point gap reflects different measures used. State officials count how many freshman come in and how many graduates leave four years later. The national survey considers how many freshman become sophomores, juniors and seniors.