COUNTY

System helps communication In emergency situations

Smart911 – that gives important information to a public safety dispatcher and emergency response team when seconds count – will be available to all communities in DuPage County, starting May 1.

Smart911 is a free, secure service that automatically displays pertinent and potentially life-saving information to 911 dispatchers when an emergency call is placed. Smart911 users create an online profile that provides household information about family members, their home, pets and vehicles.

A Smart911 profile can contain any information that the user thinks may be needed in an emergency, including:

• Family members’ ages, photos or physical descriptions,
• Medical information, such as medications, medical conditions or disabilities,
• Special considerations like language restrictions, restraining orders or rescue notes, and
• Information about their home, including address, utility shutoff valves and key holders

Users decide what they want to include, and the confidential information is only available to 911 dispatchers during an emergency call. The service is available to anyone who lives in, works in or visits DuPage County. Smart911 is a national service, and one’s profile will follow anywhere Smart911 is available.

The rise in cell phone use has made the service especially valuable. A Smart911 profile displays the phone’s listed address and can track the call via GPS, even if the call is disconnected.

And the service helps first responders in many other ways. If a caller is unable to speak, first responders can be informed if there’s an underlying medical condition. In case of a fire, a profile can list family members, photos, bedroom locations and even pets to help firefighters quickly locate all members and rescue them safely. Profiles also can include children’s photos, which can be distributed quickly if the child goes missing.

Learn more about Smart911 or register for the free service on the DuPage County ETSB webpage at www.dupageco.org/smart911. Additional information can be found at www.smart911.com.

Highway, trail construction announced

Repairs to the Highland Avenue bridges over Interstate 88 and Route 56 highlight DuPage County’s 2016 spring construction projects.

The project will include repairs to both bridges, median and curb repair, patching and resurfacing Highland Avenue from the Interstate 88 bridge to south of 31st Street. The project is expected to cost $1.4 million and is anticipated to be completed in early September.

This spring, various types of other construction projects will be performed across the county, including road resurfacing, road patching, pavement crack-sealing, road re-striping, intersection improvements, lighting upgrades, traffic signal upgrades, new landscaping, sidewalk repair and construction of a new salt dome.

The 2016 highway and trail construction projects will be paid for using a combination of county and federal funds.

For more information about individual construction projects or the Division of Transportation’s 2016 highway and trail construction program, visit http://www.dupageco.org/dot/construction.

ELMHURST

Local man is named Illinois Super Lawyer

Super Lawyers, a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, has chosen an Elmhurst resident as a 2016 Illinois Super Lawyer. Frank A. Sommario is a partner with Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, where he practices in plaintiff’s personal injury and workers’ compensation. The law firm also specializes in personal injury and medical malpractice.

The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

Super Lawyers Magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys, and is distributed to attorneys in the state or region and the ABA-accredited law school libraries. Super Lawyers is also published as a special section in leading city and regional magazines across the country. Lawyers are selected to a Super Lawyers list in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Sommario’s inclusion in the prestigious Super Lawyers list follows six consecutive years on the Illinois Rising Star list, a compilation of the best lawyers under age 40 or who have practiced law fewer than 10 years.

He is currently first vice president and president-elect of the Justinian Society of Lawyers and is a past president of the Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association (WCLA). He is also a member of the national and state trial lawyers’ associations, as well as of the alumni associations of DePaul University, DePaul University College of Law and Fenwick High School. He recently became a member of board of governors to the Synapse House in Elmhurst, which helps injured parties that have traumatic brain injuries.

DOWNERS GROVE

Bookstore honors longtime teacher

Avery Coonley School first-grade teacher Linda Ward is the local winner of the My Favorite Teacher Contest, chosen by Barnes & Noble of Naperville.

The longtime Downers Grove teacher and Naperville resident was presented with the award during a ceremony earlier this month at the store.

One of Ward’s former students, Rose Yuanhong Benas, nominated her for the award and also received a certificate of recognition. Benas, a freshman at Saint Ignatius College Prep, wrote the winning essay on how Ward inspired her passion for writing.

Ward taught Benas in first grade and encouraged her to write about her experience as an adopted child and her Chinese heritage.

Ward has taught for 36 years at Avery Coonley, a Downers Grove private school for preschool to eighth-grade students.

As the local winner of the Barnes & Noble contest, Ward will move on to a regional competition to win a $500 Barnes & Noble gift card and a Nook. If selected as the regional winner, she will have a chance at being the national winner, which includes a $5,000 donation to the winner’s school.

–DuPage County News Briefs–