MM_062818

16 | June 28, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger news
mokenamessenger.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 lifethreatening
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 NEW LENOX PATRIOT
D122’s iCan Bike gets children off
the training wheels
New Lenox School District 122
held its second annual iCan Bike
camp that wrapped up June 15.
The iCan Bike program was
created by the international nonprofit
charitable organization,
iCan Shine. Its purpose for being
started was for children
with disabilities to learn how to
ride a conventional two-wheel bicycle.
This year, there was an overall
total of 18 students participating,
from New Lenox as well as surrounding
areas such as Mokena
and Frankfort. In addition, a small
percentage of families came from
Indiana. Each day included a
75-minute session for children to
ride the bikes.
“It was a program that was
previously hosted by our local
cooperative and a few years ago
stopped being offered in our area,”
said Amanda Novotny, assistant
director of special education of
D122.
This year, the iCan Bike program
was gifted the help of the
Lincoln-Way Central football
team. Close to 40 players were being
sent to help out each and every
day the camp was in session.
Reporting by Cynthia Freeman,
Editorial Intern. For more, visit
NewLenoxPatriot.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
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.
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 greatgrandfather
and generations before
him were all cobblers.
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.”
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 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.