A River Forest man who took in dozens of foster children and formerly headed Chicago Catholic Publications was ordered held in lieu of a $50 million cash bond Saturday for allegedly sexually assaulting two girls. Robert L. Gaskill, 63, molested the minors over a period between 1996 to 2009, according to Cook County prosecutors. Gaskill, who was arrested at his home Thursday, has operated a foster care service with his wife in their three-story frame home, as well as a foster care support system called Tapestry Chicago, officials said. He also served on the board of the River Forest Youth …

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle recently dispatched senior staff to the troubled medical examiner’s office to straighten up the place amid reports of bodies stacking up and employees complaining about unhealthy working conditions. Yet, for the last year an investigator directly under her authority has been checking in on the morgue regularly, the Sun-Times has learned. Carmine Ruffolo was assigned to check on the Stein Institute, 2121 W. Harrison, and other county offices under Preckwinkle’s authority, to keep an eye on timecards and employees’ comings and goings all over the building, according to sources and Preckwinkle’s office. Asked whether …

A judge has issued warrants for the arrests of the wife and nephew of Cicero Town President Larry Dominick after both failed to show up in court and pay their fines when they were ticketed in connection with a jet ski accident last summer near Dominick’s lakefront vacation home, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. A Boone County judge issued an arrest warrant a little more than a month ago for Dominick’s wife, Elizabeth, who Dominick hired as the town’s health department director after they were married in December 2006. The same judge issued a warrant for the arrest of their …

Between 2000 and when he left office last May, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley and agencies under his control approved roughly $20 million in payments to an architectural firm co-owned by his cousin’s husband. That cousin — Theresa Mintle — now is chief of staff to Daley’s successor, Rahm Emanuel. But city officials say Emanuel won’t be following Daley’s lead in approving new work for VOA Associates Inc., run by Mintle’s spouse, Michael Toolis. “While Theresa serves as the chief of staff for Mayor Emanuel, . . . VOA will not bid on or receive new business from the city or …

Callous burglars allegedly tortured a 70-year-old man with a red-hot spoon and stole the van he uses to transport his disabled son. BT Gregory says he had popped out to get his 17-year-old son a snack from a nearby hot dog stand Friday afternoon when two burglars armed with a gun barged into his high-rise apartment in the 1300 block of North Cleveland. The burglars, who were rifling through his possessions when he came home, duct-taped him to a chair at gunpoint and threatened to kill him, he said. “I thought we were going to die,” he said. “They turned …

A downtown museum will host a public memorial Wednesday night for Don Cornelius, the South Side native who created the legendary TV show “Soul Train.” The tribute will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, 360 N. State, and will be broadcast live on WVON-1690. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. Cornelius grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood and graduated from DuSable High School. Cornelius, 75, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound last week. Michael Lansu …

LAS VEGAS — Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney cruised to victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday night, notching a second straight triumph over a field of rivals suddenly struggling to keep pace. “Thank you NV!,” his campaign tweeted as the results were announced. “Our message of restoring America’s greatness continues to resonate through the west & across the country.” The former Massachusetts governor held a double-digit lead over his nearest pursuer as the totals mounted in a state where fellow Mormons accounted for roughly a quarter of all caucus-goers. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul vied …

Mayor Rahm Emanuel refused to weigh in Saturday night about allegations of racial discrimination levied against ThyssenKrupp, a German conglomerate that last week agreed to make Chicago its North American regional headquarters.

Fred Herzfeldt proposed with no words. With just a sign, he knelt down on his right knee with a diamond ring in his hand. Within seconds, JoAn Vargas’ expression changed from shock to happiness. A hug and a kiss later and the two were engaged. “I’m so embarrassed. I’m so embarrassed. I’m so embarrassed,” Vargas said bashfully to the uniformed National Guard staff sergeant in a packed North Riverside drill room Saturday afternoon. The Herzfeldt family diamond placed on her ring finger, Vargas finally noticed her closest friends and family were there, coming toward her. It was Herzfeldt’s idea, but …

Is it another sign the economy is improving? The number of private planes flying into Indianapolis for the Super Bowl Sunday is expected to be at an all-time high. More than 1,000 aircraft have made parking reservations at various airports in the region as of Friday, according to Sean White, a member of the Super Bowl Host Committee’s General and Business Aviation Subcommittee. If all those aircraft show up, it will be an increase of about 64 percent over the previous high of 611 aircraft that flew to Dallas last year to see the Green Bay Packers defeat the Pittsburgh …

A Hammond, Ind. man was killed when he lost control of his van and crashed into a truck on the Indiana Toll Road early Saturday. Pierre Louise DeVaugh Smith was driving his 1999 GMC Savannah westbound on the Toll Road near the Portage Toll Plaza/exit when he lost control on the icy roads, according to Indiana State Police. The van, which had been traveling in the right lane, spun out into the left lane where a 2007 Freightliner semi pulling a flatbed trailer hit the van on the driver’s door. The Freightliner, owned by Burnham Trucking Company out of East …

Thomas Lewickyj, 34, wants to thank the half-dozen police officers that carried him and his wheelchair down six flights of stairs to safety after a fire broke out in his Lake View apartment building Friday night. Five others, including a 3-year-old girl, were injured in the fire.

It’s a couch potato’s dream come true — and just in time for the Super Bowl! The Chicken Wing cupcake — the brainchild of Coccadotts Cake Shop in Albany, N.Y. — eliminates the need to dash into the kitchen for dessert and risk missing a key touchdown or interception. Now, you can get a complete meal in one neat little package, or as the cake shop boasts on its web site: “Go wild with our savory Chicken Wing cupcakes! With a buttery corn bread base and bleu cheese frosting, the only thing that makes these better is the amazing chicken …

David Stewart and Sharon Wilkins learned at least two lessons during their year of terror: Get to the door quickly and always keep plenty of cash on hand. Week in and week out, a band of rogue Chicago cops showed up at Wilkins’ mother’s Roseland home in 2004, smashing down the door if no one answered and then getting really nasty if the residents didn’t cough up enough money. “They would rough us up, put us all down in handcuffs — handcuff my old, sick mother — point guns at people, kick you,” Wilkins, 44, recalled Friday, one day after …

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s latest internal polls show him still popular with voters all over town despite some controversial budget moves, according to information his political operation is providing to supporters. Half the 600 likely voters surveyed last month thought the city was moving in the right direction, up from 31 percent who felt Chicago was moving in the right direction in Sept. 2010 when Richard M. Daley was still mayor, according to a memo obtained by the Sun-Times. Emanuel’s approval rating stands at 70 percent, down from 79 percent shortly after he took office. But Emanuel’s political organization told supporters …

Ondelee Perteet’s dreams of becoming the next Michael Phelps were shattered when the high school swimmer was shot and paralyzed at a West Side birthday party. Robert Sansberry, 17, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime.