7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Sheriff Fighting Roll Back of Cemetery Reforms
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is calling ``unconscionable'' an effort by a Chicago Democrat to roll back reforms instituted in reaction to the digging up of bodies by cemetery workers and reselling burial plots.

A measure sponsored by Sen. Emil Jones III would have the state license only privately held cemeteries while exempting religious, municipal, fraternal, national and family cemeteries from stricter regulations. It passed the Senate and is pending in the House.

Jones says the 2009 reforms are ``overbearing'' for smaller cemeteries, adding Burr Oak was an ``isolated situation.''

Four former workers at Burr Oak in Alsip face a variety of charges, including dismemberment of bodies and desecration of graves.

Dart and Chicago Rep. Monique Davis say the reforms are aimed at holding all cemeteries to a higher standard.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
05 12 11 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.