NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2012 CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

19

THE KILLING OF DAVID KOSCHMAN

County OKs Koschman probe bills

BY TIM NOVAK AND CHRIS FUSCO
Staff Reporters

WE REMEMBER
| ANDREW A. NELLES~FOR SUN-TIMES MEDIA

The Field of Honor parade memorializing the 9/11 attacks moves through Carpentersville on Sunday.

Sept. 11 events

BY TIM WEST
Sun-Times Media

Tuesday marks the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that stunned the world, sent the U.S. into a global battle against terrorism and changed the way we live on many fronts. Across the Chicago area, people will keep their Never Forget promise made in the days after the attacks that toppled the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon and killed nearly 3,000 people. In Naperville, hometown of U.S. Naval Cmdr. Dan F. Shanower, people will gather at a memorial erected to the 40-year-old who died at his desk at the Pentagon when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building. The ceremony honoring all the 9/11 victims will begin at 5:30 p.m. behind the municipal center in Naperville and will feature speaker Joe

Gurnee Police and Fire color guard members take part in a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Gurnee on Sunday. | JOHN KONSTANTARAS~FOR SUN-TIMES MEDIA
Dittmar, who was on the 105th floor of the World Trade Centers south tower when the attacks began. He was one of the few who survived by immediately walking down a stairwell after the north tower was attacked, allowing him to be beneath the impact when his tower was hit. Dittmar, who regularly speaks at engagements throughout the country, founded The Always Remember Initiative to keep the voices, spirits and memories of the 3,000 vanquished victims of that fateful day alive, always remembered and never forgotten by all Americans,

particularly the youth of our country who are our future and our hope for a better world. Other events around the area include: Evanston (7:30 a.m.) Memorial ceremony at Firemans Park at corner of Simpson Street and Maple. Chicago (8:30 a.m.) Truman College hosts a remembrance ceremony. Skokie (8:58 a.m.) Moment of silence and bell ceremony at three fire stations around the village. Darien (9 a.m.) The DarienWoodridge Fire District will hold a short ceremony at 7550 Lyman Ave. Palatine (9 a.m.) A ceremony will be held at Palatines Firefighters Memorial at the corner of Brockway and Slade. Niles (9:30 a.m.) Notre Dame College Prep hosts a mass for first responders. North Riverside (9:45 a.m) Fire and police departments host a 9/11 ceremony at 2331 S. Des Plaines Ave.

County Commissioner John P. Daley joined the rest of the Cook County Board in voting Monday to approve paying more than a quarter-million dollars in legal bills for the special prosecutor investigating the death of David Koschman, who died in 2004 after being punched by Richard J. R.J. Vanecko, a Daley nephew. Daley, chairman of the boards Finance Committee, and the other commissioners approved paying David two bills totaling Koschman $255,213 that special prosecutor Dan K. Webb submitted for the first 10 weeks of his now 4-month-old investigation. Koschmans mother, Nanci Koschman, had asked for the appointment of a special prosecutor in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times investigation into Koschmans death, which was classified an unsolved homicide for seven years. She suggested that Vanecko wasnt charged because his uncle, Richard M. Daley, was the mayor at the time of her sons death. Cook County Circuit Judge Michael P. Toomin granted her request in April, appointing Webb to investigate whether criminal charges should be brought against any person in connection with the homicide of David Koschman . . . and whether, from 2004 to the present, employees of the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County states attorneys office acted intentionally to suppress and conceal evidence, furnish false evidence and generally impede the investigation into Mr. Koschmans death.