MM_042618

14 | April 26, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger NEWS
mokenamessenger.com
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Former Andrew running back hopes
to have name called for NFL draft
Tinley Park native Jarvion
Franklin plans to don his cap and
gown, and head to Miller Auditorium
on the campus of Western
Michigan University on April 28.
In the near future, he hopes to don
a helmet and pads at an NFL camp.
The former Andrew running
back could find out about his football
future while he is in Kalamazoo
graduating with a university
studies degree.
The NFL Draft opens for business
on April 26 with the first
round. The next day is the second
and third round. It is to wrap up
April 28 with the final four rounds.
It appears Franklin will not go in
the first three rounds. And if that is
the case, he could find out if he is
one of 256 (including compensatory
picks) drafted athletes before, during
or after his “Pomp and Circumstance”
ceremony.
“That could be great news,”
Franklin said. “I could get a double-dose
of great news.”
One projection is that he will be
drafted 197th by Carolina. Another
thinks he will be undrafted and
latch onto a team via free agency.
Franklin, who plans on coming
back to Tinley Park on April 27 for
a graduation/NFL party, is grateful
to be in this position.
“My thinking is just that I am
blessed to be in this situation,”
Franklin said. “You can work as
hard as you can to get to this point,
but there are a lot of factors that our
out of our control.”
Reporting by Jeff Vorva, Sports Editor.
For more, visit TinleyJunction.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Bedroom damaged but no one
injured during apartment fire
A fire reportedly damaged a bedroom
the morning of April 17 in an
apartment building in the 15700
block of 86th Avenue, but no one
was injured.
The fire was reported around
8:19 a.m., according to a press release
issued the same day by the
Orland Fire Protection District.
A resident was in the apartment
at the time but closed the door to
the bedroom and evacuated the
building safely, according to the
press release.
Orland Fire Protection District
firefighters reportedly arrived to
find smoke in the apartment. The
fire was contained to the back bedroom
of the apartment, according
to the release.
The fire was extinguished
“quickly,” and one resident was
checked for smoke inhalation but
declined transportation to a hospital,
according to fire officials.
Fire damage was limited to the
one unit, but some smoke and water
damage was sustained in the
surrounding units, according to the
release.
No cause was determined as of
the afternoon of April 17, and it
remained under investigation, according
to district spokesperson
Ray Hanania.
Reporting by Bill Jones, Editor. For
more, visit OPPrairie.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Students learn about rainforest
conservation at show
Instead of lions, tigers and bears,
there was a lemur, a toucan and a
boa constrictor April 17 at Walsh
School.
Mike Kohlrieser, founder and
director of Understanding Wildlife,
took Will County School District
92 students and their parents into a
rainforest experience.
“The kids are at the perfect age
to teach them about saving the
rainforest,” Kohlrieser said. “They
are impressionable. They will go
home and lean on mom and dad
to recycle — something simple as
recycling aluminum cans, which
have bauxite, which is mined from
the tropical rainforest. As I’m holding
this beautiful bird in my hand,
I can tell the kids when you recycle
aluminum cans you are helping animals
just like this. Now they have
a reason to recycle.”
Kohlrieser has been putting
shows on like this for 26 years.
“We learned about the problems
in the 1980s that the animals in the
rainforest were having,” he said.
“We acquired a few animals, and
started going to schools. Within
three years, we were going coast
to coast. We have a waiting list in
every state that we go to.”
As the show continued, Kohlrieser
made sure to put an emphasis
on saving the Earth.
“I don’t think we know how bad
it’s going to be,” Kohlrieser said.
“The rainforest has been described
as the lungs of the Earth. The whole
breathing, the whole oxygen carbon
dioxide exchange, that’s important
stuff. It’s not like you can replant
the rainforest in 10 or 20 years. We
are going to suffer if we lose our
rainforest.”
Reporting by Mary Compton,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
LockportLegend.com.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
New Lenox arcade brings virtual
reality to life
Josh Schoeling is living the
dream. After an unfruitful stint in
college, the New Lenox resident
set his sights on a new reality — a
virtual reality.
Schoeling, 22, is the owner of
Genesis VR, a new arcade in town
with a 21st century twist.
“We are a virtual reality arcade,”
said Schoeling, who graduated from
Lincoln-Way West High School in
2013. “We have four rooms dedicated
to virtual reality, and we have
two coin-operated arcade machines
and four retro consoles.”
The retro consoles — Nintendo
64, Nintendo Entertainment System,
Sega Genesis and the original
Playstation — line the sleek main
room of Genesis VR, located at
416 Nelson Road. There, gamers
can kick back and play childhood
favorites like Sonic and Mario before
stepping it up to virtual reality
games, like “Metal Assault” and
“Battle of Kings.”
Genesis VR offers more than 40
games or, as Schoeling calls them,
“experiences” to players of all
ages.
“There are so many different
things we can offer,” he said. “Not
all of them are games. Some of
them are experiences, so to speak.
We have things like height experiences,
downhill skiing, haunted
houses, escape rooms. There are
tons of different things you can do
inside these games.”
It costs $25 per hour to rent one
of the four VR rooms, which can
accommodate groups of up to four
people. Each room has one gaming
headset and a monitor showing
others in the group what’s going on
inside the headset.
Reporting by Jonathan Samples,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
NewLenoxPatriot.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Local athlete recognized by
Frankfort Village Board
During its April 16 meeting, the
Frankfort Village Board presented
a proclamation honoring Hickory
Creek Middle School eighth-grader
Dominic Adamo, who made
school history this year by winning
Hickory Creek’s first state wrestling
title.
In March, Adamo wrapped up an
undefeated 37-0 season by winning
the 155-pound title at the 2018 Illinois
Elementary School Association
state wrestling tournament
at Northern Illinois University
in DeKalb. His state tournament
record was 4-0, including a victory
over two-time state wrestling
champion Maurice Edwards during
the final match.
“You’ve brought great credit to
the Village of Frankfort,” Mayor
Jim Holland said.
Several Village trustees offered
their congratulations to Adamo,
as well, and Trustee Cindy Heath
called Adamo’s championship an
“outstanding achievement.”
“My husband wrestled all
through high school and college,
and so I know how hard it is always
trying to make weight,” she
said. “You’re out there by yourself.
… When I heard that you’re never
nervous, that’s really statement of
your character, that you can just go
out there and do that. And 37-0 is
just incredible.”
Adamo said he was honored,
and thanked his family, Hickory
Creek coach Josh Napier, Hickory
Creek Principal Will Seidelmann
and Frankfort School District 157-
C Superintendent Maura Zinni for
their support throughout the year.
“I was in fifth grade when they
started a wrestling program at Hickory
Creek Middle School, and since
that day I imagined myself on the top
of the podium,” he said. “On March
10, I wasn’t imagining; I was on the
podium receiving my medal.”
Reporting by Nuria Mathog, Editor.
For more, visit FrankfortStation.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Project created by Homer resident
and 33C students launched into
space
After three years of preparation,
Dr. Sandra Rogers and four Homer
33C students got to see all of their
hard work pay off this month,
when their project was launched
into space and headed for the International
Space Station.
Rogers, a Homer Glen resident,
and her two children, Matthew
Peszek and Christian Rogers — both
students at Young School — along
with Homer Jr. High students Quintin
and Cooper Hamann, as well as
high school and college students,
have been working on a Alzheimer’s
disease prevention research project.
Rogers, an associate professor at
Calumet College of St. Joseph in
Whiting, Indiana, submitted a proposal
to the National Design Challenge,
which is “a research competition
that facilitates authentic
student research and experimental
design with selected projects being
sent to the ISS,” according to
its website.
The group of students worked
with the Alzheimer’s beta-amyloid
peptide, which is the initial enzyme
that has been found to clump
together and result in the death of
brain cells, leading to Alzheimer’s.
The instrument they created,
called a fluorescence spectrometer,
uses light waves to determine what
happens to the peptide in an antigravity
setting. The instrument will
be in space for 28 days, giving off a
reading every 15 minutes to gather
data on how the peptide is changing
in space.
According to Rogers, if the antigravity
setting proves to be a preventative
measure, in the future antigravity
chambers could potentially
be used to combat Alzheimer’s.
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
HomerHorizon.com.