HO_062719

12 | June 27, 2019 | the homer horizon News
homerhorizon.com
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Group of women hosting
major fundraiser for late
friend
A group of New Lenox
women are pulling together
to help the family of
their friend Sheri Sievert,
who died in April after a
short battle with cancer.
Barbara Nowland and
Sievert had been part of
a group of friends that included
Jayme Luna, Julie
Overcash, Cheryl Lovejoy
and one other woman, who
did not wish to be named
for this story.
“We did everything together,”
Nowland said.
“We barely had time to
wrap our minds around
her being sick and then she
was just gone.”
Sievert was diagnosed
with a rare form of pancreatic
cancer in January after
going to the hospital for
severe abdominal pain. On
March 19, she underwent
surgery, and her doctors
discovered that most of the
aggressive tumor could not
be removed because it was
wrapped around a vein.
When Sievert returned
home from the hospital 10
days later, she was determined
to continue fighting
the cancer, and was,
according to her daughter
Lexie, 21, remaining extremely
positive. Sheri
died at home on April 28.
She was 48 years old.
Nowland said the group
was devastated by the diagnosis
and immediately
began planning a fundraiser
to help pay for the family’s
medical bills.
The fundraiser is being
held from 3-8 p.m. July
13 at Ingall’s Park Athletic
Club in Joliet.
Anyone interested in
purchasing tickets for the
fundraiser, donating to
the family, or contributing
prizes for the raffle or auction
is encouraged to reach
out to the group at sheribenefit2019@yahoo.com.
Reporting by Jessie Molloy,
Freelance Reporter. For
more, visit NewLenoxPatriot.
com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
New Frankfort Village
clerk appointed
Frankfort Plan Commissioner
and longtime
village resident Eugene
Savaria was sworn in as
the newest Village clerk
during the June 17 Frankfort
Village Board meeting.
In April, former Village
Clerk Adam Borrelli
was elected to the Village
Board, creating a vacancy
for the position.
Frankfort Mayor Jim
Holland said he had not
yet asked the Village’s legal
team if the position of
clerk and plan commissioner
were incompatible,
but the Village planned to
appoint a new member to
take over Savaria’s spot on
the commission anyway.
“We think that’s the
right thing to do in our
community,” Holland
said. “People who are
closely connected to the
Village in one way or another,
I think it’s a good
idea that we have other
people on the Planning
Commission.”
Savaria, who has served
on the Frankfort Plan
Commission since 2017,
is a 24-year resident of
Frankfort, where he lives
with his wife, Jeri, and
three children. He works
in global risk oversight
for Bank of America, is
a United States Air Force
Veteran and holds a degree
in finance from the
University of Illinois at
Chicago.
Reporting by Nuria Mathog,
Editor. For more, visit Frank
fortStation.com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Hospice care center helps
patients with end-of-life
care
We have but one certainty
in life: death.
It may be the hardest
truth there is, but it is a
truth we all must face.
Oasis Hospice & Palliative
Care Inc. — located at
10010 W. 190th Place in
Mokena — wants people
to know that they have
options when it comes to
end-of-life care.
Hospice care is available
to anyone for whom
aggressive intervention of
a disease is no longer viable.
Staff at Oasis want focus
on the patient’s quality of
life when he or she is at
that final stage by offering
a team approach of access
to physicians, nurses, social
workers, spiritual support,
music therapists and
hospice aides.
Unfortunately, many
patients and their families
turn to hospice care only in
the final days or weeks of
life because of the fear of
accepting death as a natural
part of the life cycle,
according to Sade Bello,
owner of Oasis.
But, if that taboo can be
lifted, then death doesn’t
have to be synonymous
with suffering, Bello said;
a person’s journey along
the path to the end can be
made more comfortable
and more gratifying for the
patient and the family.
Reporting by T.J. Kremer
III, Editor. For more, visit
MokenaMessenger.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Law enforcement aims to
educate, empower senior
community
Dozens of senior citizens
from Will County
crowded into the Lockport
Police Department’s community
room on June 19 to
learn about how to protect
themselves against fraud
and con artists.
“Silver Beat,” the June
TRIAD meeting, was operated
through the Attorney
General’s Office, and
Officer Jeren Szmergalski
with the LPD began by introducing
two correspondents
from the office. The
correspondents presented
on numerous topics, including
different types of
fraudulent phone calls,
scams and how to protect
themselves from identity
theft.
Szmergalski described
TRIAD, a nationwide program,
as a combination of
local law enforcement, senior
community members
and “other types of businesses
or social service
that might deal with senior
needs and issues.” She said
they tailor the meetings to
the interests, questions and
concerns of the senior citizens.
Moving forward, the
TRIAD community is to
meet at 9 a.m. every third
Tuesday at the Lockport
Township Supervisor’s
Office, 1463 S. Farrell
Road in Lockport.
Reporting by Alex Ivanisevic,
Editor. For more, visit Lock
portLegend.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Police: School bus driver
sexually abused three
boys, inappropriately
touched two more
A school bus driver for
American School Bus
Company, employed by
Orland School District
135, allegedly sexually
abused three male students
and inappropriately
touched two others, all
between the ages of 7
and 11, over the past few
months.
Arnold L. Monteclar,
57, of 25736 Daffodil
Lane in Monee, was
charged with three counts
of aggravated criminal
sexual abuse, a Class 2
felony, and two counts of
battery, a Class A misdemeanor,
according to a
press release issued June
20 by the Orland Park Police
Department.
D135 notified police on
May 30 that it had received
information regarding
“possible inappropriate
contact” between the driver
and a student, according
to the release. D135
had the driver immediately
removed from the
route, and Monteclar was
subsequently suspended
from his job, police said.
Detectives conducted
a “lengthy and comprehensive”
investigation
and determined the driver
made physical contact,
above the clothing, with
three male students, according
to the release.
That contact rose to the
level of aggravated criminal
sexual abuse, police
said.
The driver also made
“inappropriate physical
contact” with two male
students, again over clothing,
which led to the battery
charges for “inappropriate
unwanted contact,”
police said.
The incidents were
“brief” encounters with
the students as they entered
and exited the bus,
police said. They reportedly
occurred “randomly”
between March and May
of this year. All five of the
students were from D135,
Cmdr. Tony Farrell confirmed.
Anyone with more information
is asked to contact
the police department
at (708) 349-4111.
Reporting by Bill Jones, Editor.
For more, visit OPPrai
rie.com.