Thursday, January 10, 2013
Several lost their lives in the 1943 inferno that resulted when a freight train rammed into the little orange-red train called the Dinky
The Dinky was appropriately named. It was a quaint gasoline powered car with the crew in front, baggage car next and the passengers in the rear. It could be seen carrying mail and passengers on two daily trips from Aurora to Streator and back again until it was discontinued in the 1950s. About a year ago I wrote a few paragraphs about the 1943 smash-up of the little orange-red train called the Dinky with a freight train south of Montgomery. That brief story was just the tip of the iceberg. It was all that I could discover at the time, but now that I have more details, I know how uninformed I was about the extent of the horror that resulted. So many lives were ended or forever altered that day! The accident was attributed to human error. …
Thursday, December 6, 2012
A Joliet man injured when he crashed his car into a bull is blaming the animal's owner.
A Joliet man is suing the owner of a bull for allegedly letting the animal walk out on a Kendall County road and into the path of his Toyota. The lawsuit filed on behalf of Joliet resident Ghulam D. Butt claims that after running head-on into the bull Butt crashed into a ditch and was injured. Butt's son directed questions about the crash and lawsuit to his attorney. But the lawyer who filed the lawsuit, Mark T. Schneid of Naperville, failed to return calls for comment. According to the lawsuit, Butt was heading south on Ridge Road in Na-Au-Say township on Aug. 30 when a "bull animal walked into the roadway directly in front of (his) vehicle causing a severe frontal impact to (his) vehicle and causing (Butt) to lose control and crash into …
Monday, September 10, 2012
Truck, two cars involved in accident on Route 126 in Plainfield Monday.
UPDATED, 9:45 a.m. Monday Illinois State Police confirmed one man was killed in a three-vehicle crash on Route 126 west of County Line Road. Plainfield Deputy Fire Chief Jon Stratton said the crash occured just before 6 a.m. A four-door Mercury and a Kia were heading east on Route 126 when the Mercury crossed over and hit a box truck in the westbound lane, Stratton said. "The truck tried to avoid him and couldn't," state police Sgt. Martez Malone said. "It went into the ditch, came out, crossed over and struck the other vehicle." The driver of the Mercury was extricated and taken to Rush-Copley Hospital in Aurora, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The man's name and age have not been released pending notification of the family, …
41.60773
-88.25781
State Route 126 & County Line Rd, Plainfield, IL
/articles/update-man-killed-in-route-126-crash
/locations/7761847
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Amber Davis, 18, of Montgomery remains in serious condition at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove after a three-car crash on Route 30 on June 10.
One of the three victims of a June 10 crash on Route 30 remains in the hospital, officials said Wednesday, but her condition has improved. Amber Davis, 18, of Montgomery, was a passenger in one of the cars involved in a three-car accident on Route 30 at Douglas Road around 9:30 a.m. on June 10. She was taken by emergency helicopter to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where she was initially listed in critical condition. A media spokesman at Good Samaritan said Wednesday that Davis is still in the hospital, but her condition has been upgraded to serious. Davis was the passenger in a car driven by Anthony Halstead, 19, of Oswego, who collided with a second car driven by James Biever, 50, of Big Rock. A third vehicle driven …
Friday, June 15, 2012
The crash remains under investigation, Oswego police said.
The 18-year-old Montgomery girl injured in a Sunday crash on Route 30 remains in critical condition, according to a spokeswoman at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. The crash occurred around 9:30 a.m., when two cars, one driven by James Biever, 50, of Big Rock, and the other by Anthony Halstead, 19, of Oswego, collided near the intersection of Route 30 and Douglas Road, police said. Davis was a passenger in Halstead’s car, police said. Davis was flown to Good Samaritan. Halstead was taken to Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, where he was treated for injuries and later discharged, according to a spokeswoman there. The driver of a third vehicle involved in the accident, Ariana Stone, 18, of Aurora, remains at Rush-Copley…
Friday, May 11, 2012
A fundraiser has been scheduled for May 23, and an account set up at Harris Bank for the family of 16-year-old Jennifer VanEtten, who lost her life in an accident in Montgomery on Tuesday night.
UPDATE: According to Ellen Stephens-Kahl, Olive Garden restaurants in Oswego and Naperville will donate all the food for the May 23 benefit dinner, and provide servers as well. Tragedy has a way of defining a community, of bringing people together to help the healing process in any way they can. The story of Jennifer VanEtten is no different. Ever since news broke of the devastating accident on Tuesday night in Montgomery that claimed the life of the Big Rock 16-year-old, people have been rallying around the family, hoping to find a way to help. Here are a couple of ways you can do just that. Family members have organized a spaghetti dinner at the Plano American Legion Post 395, at 510 E. Dearborn Street in Plano, from 5-8 p.m. on …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Officials at the DuPage County Coroner's Office confirmed that Jennifer VanEtten, 16, of Big Rock, died at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Officials in the DuPage County Coroner’s Office have confirmed that Jennifer VanEtten, the 16-year-old driver of the minivan in Tuesday night’s crash in Montgomery, died Wednesday afternoon. Vanetten died at 12:30 p.m. at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, officials said. A cause of death has not yet been determined, according to the coroner’s office, and the investigation is ongoing. The Montgomery Police Department confirmed her death Thursday morning. Police released information Wednesday afternoon that VanEtten was in critical condition at the hospital. VanEtten, of Big Rock, was driving a 1994 Chevrolet Astrovan north on Orchard Road at the Route 30 intersection around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday when a semi truck owned by ABF Freight …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Alonzo Varela of Aurora was taken to Loyola University Hospital after crashing his car off of Route 25. He was charged with drunken driving, police said.
An Aurora man remains in critical condition after crashing his car into the Fox River Trail Bridge in Boulder Hill Saturday morning. Alonzo Varela, 20, of the 200 block of South Spencer Street in Aurora, was driving south on Route 25 at 9:50 a.m. when he left the road and crashed into the bridge, Kendall County Sheriff’s deputies said. He was taken to Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora with “major injuries” to his left leg and midsection, police said. He was then transported to Loyola University Hospital, where he remains in critical condition, hospital personnel said. Varela was charged with drunken driving and improper lane use, police said.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Plainfield police say Brian Orick struck a median and was thrown from his Harley-Davidson.
A Montgomery man was killed early Sunday morning after the motorcycle he was driving struck a concrete median on Ridge Road, Plainfield police said. Brian Orick, 39, of Briarcliff Road, Montgomery, was transported to Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, where he was pronounced dead. Plainfield police received the call about a crash on Ridge Road, south of 127th Street, at 1:16 a.m., according to a media release issued by the department. Based on a preliminary investigation, it's believed Orick was driving north on Ridge Road, collided with the median and was thrown from his 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the release said. Ridge Road was closed for four hours while the department's crash reconstruction unit investigated the accident.
41.65062
-88.2692
Ridge Rd & 127th St, Plainfield, IL
/articles/montgomery-man-killed-in-early-morning-motorcycle-crash-on-ridge-road
/locations/4812002
Saturday, March 26, 2011
No one was hurt in the early-morning crash, but the damage to the home on the 400 block of Crane Avenue is extensive.
When Aurora Township firefighters arrived in the 400 block of Crane Avenue at around 1:20 a.m. Saturday, they found a sight to behold. A driver had smashed his car into the front of a house on that block (in unincorporated Aurora Township, just north of New York Street), crashing through the front window and causing untold damage to both the exterior and interior. According to Fire Chief Rob Watermann, four people were in the house at the time—the two homeowners were in the living room, and two adult daughters were asleep upstairs. “The man was in the recliner,” Watermann said, “and it was hit with such force that he literally flipped up and somersaulted into the air.” Watermann said none of the home’s occupants were injured in the crash. …
GenQuad4
9:01 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
So the driver is at fault here? more ›