NL_062818

16 | June 28, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot NEWS
newlenoxpatriot.com
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Dead rabbit found in Tinley Park
infected with rare disease
A dead rabbit found on June 13 in
the 7500 block of West 161st Street
in Tinley Park tested positive for
tularemia, according to the Illinois
Department of Public Health.
Caused by the bacterium Francisella
tularensis, the uncommon
infectious disease can affect humans
and animals, with rabbits,
hares and rodents being especially
susceptible. People can be infected
from exposure to infected animals,
according to Cook County Animal
and Rabies Control.
“If you have been exposed to a
dead rabbit or handled a dead rabbit,
contact your doctor,” said Mark
Rosenthal, deputy director of Cook
County Animal and Rabies Control.
Dr. Connie Austin, a state public
health veterinarian and infectious
disease epidemiologist, said tularemia
is a rare disease with only 1-10
cases reported in the state per year.
It can be transmitted from direct
skin contact with infected mammals
(most often rabbits), from inhaling
the organism (most often from running
over a dead infected rabbit with
a lawnmower), and from the bites of
an infected tick or deer fly. The bacterium
is present in some wildlife in
northeast Illinois, and some animals
do not show any signs, but can be
carriers and remain unaffected.
Symptoms of the disease in humans
range from mild to life-threatening
and are usually accompanied
by a fever, flu-like symptoms, rashes
or red lesions on skins, while animals
can experience fever, enlarged
lymph nodes, abdominal pain, jaundice
and lethargy, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Residents are advised to monitor
pets while outside.
Reporting by Editor, Cody Mroczka.
For more, visit TinleyJunction.com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Social Security workshop offers
retirement strategies
Approaching retirement can be
intimidating for some. They may
be faced with difficult decisions
that could significantly impact
their financial futures.
Representatives from two financial
services companies sought to
help them understand one aspect of
retirement in a workshop held June
19 at the Mokena Community Public
Library.
Bob Diamond, from Diamond
Financial Services Inc., and Jennifer
Turkos, from Nationwide Financial,
spoke to attendees at the
workshop in an effort to educate
them on how they can improve
their retirement plan and get the
full benefit of Social Security.
Some people may not know how
to begin filing for Social Security
and what benefits they can get.
“It’s real important to understand
all the ins and outs of Social Security,”
Diamond said. “There are 2,800
different rules. Some people need
the money at 62, but if you don’t
and you wait until your full retirement
age — depending on when
you were born, it’s either 66 or 67
— if you can wait from full retirement
to age 70 you get an 8 percent
raise every year if you don’t take it.”
“Most people file at the earliest
age possible; 33 percent of people do
take their income from Social Security
at age 62,” Turkos added. “Most
people do that because they need the
money. The second biggest reason is
because someone told them to.”
Reporting by Cynthia Freeman, Editorial
Intern. For more, visit Moke
naMessenger.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Bat found on Homer Glen driveway
tests positive for rabies
A bat found June 12 on the driveway
of a Homer Glen residence has
tested positive for rabies, bringing
the total number of rabid bats in Will
County this year to four, according
to a June 18 press release from the
Will County Health Department.
The bat was found alive outside
a home on 163rd Street in Homer
Glen, according to the release. Will
County Animal Control was contacted
to take the bat, which was
confirmed as rabid the next day at
the Illinois Department of Public
Health’s laboratory.
It also was determined that three
residents living in the Homer Glen
home did not have exposure to the
bat and did not need treatment, according
to the press release. An indoor/outdoor
cat living at the home
was sent to the veterinarian for a
rabies booster and follow-up treatment
as a precautionary measure.
On June 14, residents at a Joliet
home also noticed a bat flying
around, per the release. That bat
was reported to Will County Animal
Control and also tested positive
for rabies the following day at
the IDPH laboratory.
The two previous rabid bats this
year were discovered in Joliet and
southern Naperville.
Health officials said any bats
discovered in Will County should
be immediately reported to Will
County Animal Control at (815)
462-5633. The Will County Animal
Control program has a 24-hour
answering and emergency pickup
service for confined stray animals,
injured animals and stray biters.
Reporting by Thomas Czaja, Editor.
For more, visit HomerHorizon.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Village of Frankfort recognizes
Griffins volleyball team after state
win
The Lincoln-Way East varsity
boys volleyball team was honored
during the Frankfort Board of Trustees’
June 18 meeting after winning
a state title two weeks earlier.
On June 2, the team clinched a
20-25, 25-21, 25-22 victory over
Neuqua Valley during the Illinois
High School Association state
championship game in Hoffman Estates.
The win marked East’s second
state championship in five years,
and the team has made seven state
finals appearances in total, including
four in the past five years.
The volleyball team was the second
Griffins varsity team to earn
a state title during the 2017-2018
school year; in November, the football
team secured the Class 8A state
championship with a 23-14 win
over Loyola Academy.
Frankfort Mayor Jim Holland
presented the players and coaches
with a commemorative plaque and
read out loud a proclamation praising
the team for its “remarkable”
39-3 season and the titles they accrued:
Warren Township Invite
champion, undefeated Southwest
Suburban Conference champion,
IHSA regional champion and IHSA
sectional champion.
“You bring great credit to our
community, and it’s appreciated,”
Holland said.
Several trustees also took time
to congratulate the team for the accomplishment.
“It’s a family effort,” Trustee Keith
Ogle said. “You have to get them to
practice when they’re little until they
can start driving, and then there’s a
big commitment on it, too. You’ve
made your parents and your families
and friends and your coaches and the
community very proud.”
Reporting by Nuria Mathog, Editor.
For more, visit FrankfortStation.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Three generations of Lockport
family graduate from podiatry
school
Looking back six generations, the
Caneva family can pinpoint how it
all started.
Reno Caneva’s father owned a
men’s clothing store in Lockport in
1924, which also sold shoes, meaning
he had to fix or create them as
needed. Before his father moved
to Lockport, his great-grandfather
and generations before him were all
cobblers.
“From then on, we’ve been working
with feet; it’s kind of interesting,”
Reno said. “So that’s where
we come from.”
Reno, 82, was a podiatrist for 45
years before retiring in 2006 from
his private practice Caneva Foot
and Ankle Clinic. He graduated in
1959 from Dr. William M. Scholl
College of Podiatric Medicine at
Rosalind Franklin University of
Medicine and Science in Chicago.
Twenty-nine years later, his son Daryl
followed in his footsteps, graduating
from his father’s alma mater
in 1988. The father-son duo has
now become a trio, with Daryl’s son
Andres graduating from Scholl College
June 1 and becoming a third
generation podiatric physician.
Andres shared a special moment
with his father and grandfather as
they hooded him on his commencement
day, representing a family
whose history is rooted in Scholl
College.
“It felt really great to have them
[there],” Andres said. “I know I
had other family in the audience
watching, but just to have them at
my side, it was truly remarkable.
I know they were really proud of
me. For me, I was so happy to have
them up there so I could share that
moment with them.”
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit LockportLegend.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Concept study to take an early
look at feasibility of I-80, Wolf
Road interchange
V3 Companies, of Woodridge, is
to perform a concept study for an
Interstate 80 and Wolf Road interchange.
The interchange is part of the Village’s
2040 Strategic Transportation
Plan. And while there is $300,000
budgeted in capital projects for a
feasibility study, the board voted 5-1
during its regular meeting June 18
to approve $42,500 go to V3 for the
professional engineering services associated
with the concept study.
This concept study does not follow
the formal Illinois Department
of Transportation Access Justification
Report process and will most
likely not be formally reviewed by
IDOT or the Federal Highway Administration,
according to Village
documents. But Village staff and V3
are to meet with IDOT representatives
prior to beginning the feasibility
study to confirm study approach
and methodology.
In general, the land directly north
of I-80 is part of Orland Park’s jurisdiction,
while the land directly to
the south is part of Mokena. Orland
Park Mayor Keith Pekau said there
have been conversations with Mokena,
but the neighboring Village
Board has not discussed it publicly
at recent meetings and has not yet
taken a vote of its own.
“Having some facts on the table
may help them,” Pekau said.
Trustee Carole Griffin Ruzich
said she thought it was worthwhile
to move forward with the study,
noting, “this is important to our I-80
corridor development.”
“We thought it was a good idea
with or without Mokena’s involvement,”
she said.
Trustee Michael Carroll cast
the lone dissenting vote against it.
Trustee James Dodge was absent
from the meeting.
Reporting by Tia Carol Jones,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
OPPrairie.com.