Accountant accused of bilking Chicago State
A Chicago State University accountant is accused of stealing close to $4,000 in cash from the university. Laverne Sanders, 52, of the 7600 block of Calumet Ave., faces felony theft charges. Working in the university’s cashier’s office, she collected more than $15,000 in checks and $3,985 in cash payments from students, prosecutors said. She was responsible for depositing all the money but instead kept the cash, prosecutors said. When she was asked by her supervisor and later an arresting university officer about the missing money, she confessed to taking $800 but said she didn’t know what happened to the rest of the money.
West Side fire leaves two homeless
Firefighters responded Wednesday to a West Side fire that affected two adjacent two-flat homes, one of them vacant, and left two people homeless, a fire spokesman said. The fire was reported about 5:30 a.m. in the 3000 block of West Warren Boulevard and put out about an hour later, said Cmdr. Will Knight, the spokesman. No injuries were reported, Knight said.
Bandits come up empty in attempt to steal ATM
Two masked bandits tied up a half dozen employees at a North Side recycling facility Wednesday and tried to carry off an ATM there, police said. But it was too heavy, and they left empty-handed. Police were called to Sims Metal Management, Inc., 1509 W. Cortland St., about 6:45 a.m. after the employees managed to free themselves. None of the employees were hurt. Police were hunting for the would-be robbers, who drove off in a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee with temporary Illinois tags.
Cage-free eggs at House of Blues
The House of Blues concert venue chain is making the switch Jan. 1 to cage-free eggs in all its venues, a company rep said. The Humane Society of the United States — which helped develop the new policy — announced the change in a news release Wednesday. House of Blues uses more than 2 million eggs each year for its dining menu, according to the release.
