It’s that time of year. The time of “Pomp and Circumstance,” and of closing one chapter and beginning another.

And as the Class of 2012 makes its exit from all four Plainfield high schools, most parents are bursting with pride.

So why not share your graduate’s accomplishments by posting them here?

You can click to upload photos of your grad to this article, or post an announcement to let everyone know about everything your student has achieved. 

It’s easy: 

First, make sure you are a registered user of your Patch (if you aren’t, click on Sign Up in the top right corner of the home page). Once you are logged in, scroll to the bottom of the home page and under Contribute on the right side, click “Announce something to everyone.“

In the announcement template, fill out all the fields, and make sure you choose Graduation as the category. When you are done, you can add photos and video of your graduate to make the post really special.

Then scroll to the bottom and click “Post my announcement,” and you’re done.

Finally, don’t forget to send the link to all your friends and family so they can share in your proud moment.

If you have any problems, let me know and I’ll be glad to help you get your item posted. You can reach me at shannon.antinori@patch.com.

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A memorial visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of funeral service at noon Saturday, at Bolingbrook-McCauley Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, 530 W. Boughton Road.

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Plainfield residents who take the train, bus or drive to work in downtown Chicago should be prepared for delays as world leaders convene for the 2012 NATO summit at McCormick Place from May 20 to May 21.

For the first time, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will be holding a summit in an American city other than Washington, D.C. In addition to global leaders, more than 2,000 journalists and countless demonstrators and activists are expected to inundate the Chicago region.

Use Patch’s convenient resources to monitor traffic on the roadways and find the best gas prices.

We’ll also post the latest traffic, train or bus delays on the Patch Facebook page, and we invite our readers to do the same.

Like Plainfield Patch on Facebook and tell your friends to like us, too.

To help you navigate your way around the NATO summit, here’s some helpful information on mass transit schedules and road closures. Plan ahead!

Metra BNSF

At this time, Metra is not planning to close any of its system-wide rail lines during the week of May 13 through May 21, except for the Electric Line (more on that below). The Heritage Corridor line is expected to operate on their regular schedules, but Metra is advising riders to anticipate delays.

Commuters can also sign up to receive Metra email alerts should delays or changes occur.

While service is scheduled to remain the same, Metra riders taking the train between May 19 and May 21 will be subject to enhanced security restrictions, similar to airports.

According to Metra:

1. Riders may be subject to search and/or screening before boarding or while en route.
2. Riders may carry only one bag not exceeding 15 inches square and 4 inches deep. Boxes, parcels, luggage, backpacks and bicycles will not be allowed on trains. Banned items cannot be stored at Metra stations. They must be removed or they will be disposed of.
3. Riders may not carry any food on the trains. Liquids and personal effects (such as makeup) must be less than three ounces in size. This includes coffee and other beverages. Breast milk can be carried but is subject to inspection and should be declared during any screening.
4. Riders may not carry any type of tools, pipes, stakes, wood or weapons, including pocket knives and pepper spray, on the trains.
5. Law enforcement personnel must identify themselves and present their credentials and any weapons. Security guards will not be allowed to carry any weapons onboard.

Failure to comply with these safety measures or instructions from law enforcement personnel, or attempted avoidance of screening, will result in ejection from the station or further police action.

Metra Electric Line Service

The Metra Electric line will be not be making all of its usual stops from May 19 to May 21. The line passes under the McCormick Place, so passengers will therefore undergo even greater security scrutiny than on other lines.

Passengers are encouraged to arrive about 15 minutes prior to departing to allow for longer boarding time.

The South Water Street entrance to Millenium will be closed all three days.

Read through Metra’s full rundown of security measures, station closures and other information about the NATO Summit on their website.

CTA Rail/Bus

CTA Bus/Rail will remain in operation during the week leading up to and throughout the NATO summit, but be prepared for rerouting of buses and trains, and possible delays. If you take the CTA Orange line to work or school, sign up to receive CTA email and text alerts.

Road Closures

Portions of I-55 (Stevenson Expressway) and Lake Shore Drive will be shut down during the summit. Other roads and interstate highways may also experience intermittent traffic delays during the week of May 13 through May 21.

Beginning Saturday, May 19, until Monday, May 21, expect intermittent traffic delays and temporary road and interstate closures and throughout downtown Chicago for motorcades traveling to and from McCormick Place and other event sites.

If you need to use the regional expressway system to get to work, school or other cultural events, affected routes include:

• I-90/94 East and West between downtown Chicago and I-55;
• Roosevelt Road, 18^th Street, and Canal Port Avenue access from I-94 West (Dan Ryan Expressway);
• Ohio Street from I-90/94 to Fairbanks Court/Columbus Drive;
• Ontario Street from Fairbanks Court/Columbus Drive;
• I-90 East and West (Kennedy Expressway) between O’Hare International Airport and downtown Chicago.

Saturday, May 19 through Monday, May 21

Other road closures and pedestrian restrictions will be implemented beginning midnight Saturday, May 19 (Friday midnight into Saturday). Affected roadways below will re-open for evening rush hour on Monday, May 21:

• Northbound and southbound Lake Shore Drive between E. Balbo Avenue and E 39^th Street;
• Northbound and southbound I-55 between I-90/94 to Lake Shore Drive.

Museum Campus

If you were planning to visit the Art Institute, Adler Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium—all three will be closed the weekend of May 19-21 for the NATO Summit. The Field Museum will remain open.

Source: Chicago Police Department, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Secret Service.

Chicago 2012 NATO Summit

To follow the summit, information on events open to the public and other NATO facts, visit the official Chicago 2012 NATO website.

Want the news delivered? Sign up for our daily email newsletter and breaking news alerts.

Do you think the NATO summit is a pain in the neck or a boon to the Chicago region?

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Wheaton attorney Harry Smith testified more than two years ago that just before she vanished, Stacy Peterson paid him a visit about divorcing her husband, Drew Peterson, and asked, ”Could we get more money if we threatened to tell the police how he killed Kathy?”

“Kathy” was Drew Peterson’s previous wife, Kathleen Savio, and Drew Peterson has been in jail since May 2009 on charges he killed her.

But Will County Judge Edward Burmila ruled Thursday that Smith cannot tell a jury about his supposed conversation with Stacy Peterson. And lawyers representing Drew Peterson in the murder case have filed a complaint with the state seeking to have Smith punished for relating the conversation at all.

“He should be ashamed of himself,” said Peterson attorney Steve Greenberg, who accused Smith of violating attorney-client privilege.

“The most basic of ethical duties — he just drove a truck through it,” Greenberg said of Smith. “Damn everything.”

Trial date set

Besides barring Smith from testifying about what Stacy Peterson supposedly told him, Judge Burmila set a July 23 date for jury selection in the Drew Peterson murder case and scheduled the trial itself to begin the following week.

Asked by the judge if he was comfortable with that timetable, a shackled, bearded Peterson said, “I’ve been in solitary confinement for three years … ” before Greenberg grabbed his shoulder, cutting him off and telling him to keep quiet.

Divorce, death and disappearance

Stacy Peterson was not the only Drew Peterson wife to consult Smith about getting a divorce from the 58-year-old disgraced former Bolingbrook cop.

Savio actually hired Smith and he guided her through a divorce that was about to be finalized when she was found drowned in a dry bathtub in March 2004.

Despite the animosity between Savio and Drew Peterson, and the very likely possibility that she was on the verge of claiming the bulk of their marital assets, the state police immediately declared Savio’s death an accident and closed the book on her case.

The state police were forced to reopen that book when Stacy Peterson vanished in October 2007. State investigators declared that they had changed their minds and decided Savio was the victim of a homicide, and eventually charged Drew Peterson with murder.

The state police also announced that the missing Stacy Peterson was the victim of a “potential homicide” and named Drew Peterson the sole suspect in their investigation. He has yet to be charged with harming her.

Savio statements

While Smith is forbidden to discuss his visit from Stacy — and may be disciplined for testifying about it during a pretrial hearing in February 2010 — it has yet to be determined if he can share conversations he said he had with Savio.

Smith testified at the pretrial hearing that “throughout the whole (divorce) case she told me that, if I died, you have to go to the authorities and tell them Drew did it.”

Smith said he did go to the police after Savio died but they did not bother talking to him.

During the 2010 pretrial hearing, Smith also testified that Savio told him “Drew had broken into her house. That he was all dressed in black, that he had threatened her with a knife, that he threatened to kill her and make it look like an accident unless she got this divorce going.”

Smith also represented Savio when she was charged with battering Drew Peterson while their divorce was pending. Smith won acquittals for Savio and the cases have since been expunged from her record. Drew Peterson accused Smith and Savio of coercing his son Kris, at the time age 8, to lie on the stand.

Smith could not be immediately reached for comment following Thursday’s hearing.

Decision pending

Burmila will decide on June 6 whether to allow Smith to testify about the Savio statements.

Burmila also entertained a laundry list of motions from the defense during the Thursday hearing. His decisions are not expected to impact trial strategy or the case, but Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky said the defense team has even more pretrial motions in store.

Even though the Savio statements to Smith remain up in the air, Greenberg argued passionately that they should be kept out, and said prosecutors know it.

“The state should have said, ‘We can’t use this,’” Greenberg said. “Instead, they embraced it. They went running into the grand jury with it.”

“If the judge finds he violated his privilege, he’s got big problems,” Brodsky said after the hearing. Defense co-counsel Joseph “Shark” Lopez said of Smith, “He wanted his 15 minutes of fame.”

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Marco Vizcaino served parts of two years in Iraq. A new court created in Will County can help him avoid doing up to three years in prison on a drug charge.

“All the things are coming together here like a perfect storm,” State’s Attorney James Glasgow said as he submitted a petition to Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes to establish a specialized veterans and servicemembers court in Will County.

Policandriotes approved the petition and accepted Vizcaino as its fist applicant.

Vizcaino, 31, was up on a class 4 felony drug charge. He also has a case in DuPage County for the alleged “attempt to foil or defeat (a) screen test by spiking or substitution.”

Glasgow said he would be in touch with the DuPage County state’s attorney to see if the veteran’s court can take care of that case as well.

“I think we can strive to the point where Marco can walk out of here without a felony conviction,” he said.

That would be a good break for the Naperville resident, who served 9 years in the Army, reaching the rank of sergeant. Vizcaino was in Iraq in 2007 and 2008.

The veterans and service members court, which was announced Wednesday by Policandriotes, Glasgow and Chief Judge Gerald Kinney, was designed to provide critical treatment, counseling and assistance to local veterans and servicemembers who have struggled with mental health and substance abuse disorders since returning home from military operations.

“We enjoy extraordinary freedoms because of heroic sacrifices by veterans and servicemembers from all branches of our Armed Forces,” Glasgow said. “Thousands of veterans are returning home today suffering from substance abuse problems or mental health disorders, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or depression. When they come in contact with the criminal justice system, we have an obligation to acknowledge their service and provide them with the treatment and counseling necessary for them to regain their lives.”

Only veterans with honorable or general discharges, or current members of the military, are eligible for the program.

“While presiding over Drug Court over the past six years, I have handled many cases in which veterans who bravely served our country would benefit from specialized counseling and treatment to address their very specific needs,” Judge Policandriotes said. “Our Veterans and Servicemembers Court will address their concerns by working in partnership with a variety of federal and state agencies that specialize in veterans affairs.”

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A good friend of ours told the story of how she had to wean her then 2-year-old son off their evening nursing routine. She was deeply saddened, but felt it was time.

When we first had Liam, I thought that two years old seemed extensive. I never expected to nurse him for a full 18 months. (A very healthy child, his first antibiotic wasn’t until he was 25 months!)

The head-turning Time Magazine cover of a mom nursing her 3-year-old son also has tongues wagging. How old is too old for a child to breastfeed?

My husband says if the boy can walk, talk, and shave, he’s too old. Other friends say they’ve witnessed drive-by-nursings — when kids run over and pull up their moms’ shirts to latch on for a quick drink in between game playing. That’s not my speed.

For many families, breast feeding an older child is usually part of the bedtime routine. The kids eats normally throughout the day. Then at night, or before a nap, there is a special moment when mom and child bond.

After the first three months of nursing Liam, an overbearing family member tried to brow beat me into quitting. She accused me of keeping my son on a liquid diet, claiming nursing wasn’t good for either of us. She was relentless. As a new (and still hormonal) mom, I was in tears. Not to mention, she was totally wrong, in addition to being hurtful.

According to the countless doctors and nurses we met, research is showing that breast milk is exactly what a child needs — the more the better. It reduces cases of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and countless other ailments. Our pediatrician constantly remarks how our children will sail through minor illnesses because they’ve been breastfed.

Plus, I’ve read that instances of women’s cancer are lessened in those who have breastfed their babies.

The list of benefits keeps going on and on and on. The more breast milk children receive, the healthier they are.

But the question remains: How old is too old? The answer is: As long as each individual mother and her child feel is necessary. UNICEF and the World Health Organization encourage nursing until at least two years old.

Like many children, Liam naturally decided when he was done nursing.

I applaud Jamie Lynne Grumet for being brave enough to be on a national magazine cover. She said she wanted more people to see breastfeeding so it would become more common. Good for her.

No, I’m not a fan of drive-by-nursings. However, if our children will be healthier on countless fronts, I am willing to feel bovine for a little longer. And maybe, just maybe, Grumet’s bravery will give hurtful people like my family member just a little less ammunition.

Mothers, we need to make our own choices for our own children. No one knows your kid like you do.

So thanks, Time Magazine. Your cover is — like the song (sort of) goes — a thing that makes us go “moo.”

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Jet trails occur rather naturally when the exhaust of a jet plane meets with the atmosphere.

“It’s a reaction of the atmosphere to the jet exhaust being let out,” Richard Castro, National Weather Service meteorologist said. “They’re basically artificial clouds.

“They’re triggered by water vapor in the exhaust of the aircraft engines.”

Castro said a lot of good information on contrails can be found here.

“They almost actually become clouds, almost,” Castro said.

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May 14

DUI charge

Mark L. Bouhuys, 45, of the 14000 block of South Oregon Avenue, Plainfield, was taken into custody by Will County Sheriff’s police on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal transportation of alcohol, disobeying a traffic control device or officer and driving on an expired license, according to the sheriff’s office.

Plainfield woman charged with theft

Jessica Leigh Perkins, 27, of the 15000 block of Wood Farm Road, Plainfield, was arrested by Plainfield police, charged with retail theft and transported to the Will County jail, police said.

Court no-show

Webster M. Jones, 24, of the 1100 block of John Hancock, Bolingbrook, was arrested by Plainfield police on warrants for failure to appear in court on misdemeanor charges, according to the sheriff’s office. Bond was set at $2,000.

May 13

No valid license

Juan Loza, 39, of the 1700 block of Kedvale, Chicago, was arrested by Plainfield police at 8:11 p.m. at Lockport Street and Wallin Drive and charged with driving without a valid license, police said. Bond was $1,500.

May 12

Suspended license

Shelly Heitman, 41, of the 13000 block of South Cambridge Circle, Plainfield, was arrested at 7:45 p.m. at Oak Street and Route 59 and charged with driving on a suspended or revoked license. Bond was $1,500.

May 11

No license

Tauheedah Edwards, 24, of the 200 block of Gladiolus, Romeoville, was arrested by Plainfield police at 10:22 a.m. at Bartlett Avenue and Lockport Street and charged with driving on a suspended or revoked license, police said. Bond was $2,000.

May 7

Suspended license charge

Derek Lohrmann, 22, of the 22000 block of West Prairie Crossing, Plainfield, was arrested by Plainfield police at 8:27 a.m. at DesPlaines and Main streets and charged with driving on a suspended or revoked license, police said. Bail was set at $2,000.

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May 13

Man charged with battery

Kenneth J. Ristich, 50, of the 24000 block of Ambrose, Plainfield, was arrested by Plainfield police, charged with domestic battery and taken to the Will County jail, according to booking records.

Retail theft charges

Early A. Atterberry, 22, of the 100 block of Stryker, Joliet, was arrested by Plainfield police, charged with retail theft and taken to the Will County jail, police said.

Lawrence D. Cummins, 20, of the 3100 block of North Christiana, Chicago, was also arrested by Plainfield police, charged with retail theft and taken to the Will County jail, according to Will County Sheriff’s Office records.

May 10

Suspended license

Shaun Vankley, 26, of the 15000 block of LeClaire Avenue, Oak Forest, was arrested by Plainfield police at 8:35 p.m. at 135^th Street and Route 59 and charged with driving on a suspended or revoked license, police said. Bond was set at $1,500.

Brian Hohe, 34, of the 1000 block of Timber Lane, Darien, was arrested by Plainfield police at 10:50 a.m. at 135^th Street and Van Dyke Road and charged with driving on a suspended or revoked license, according to police. Bond was set at $1,500.

May 9

No valid license

Oscar Zamarripa-Garcia, 33, of the 5800 block of South Tripp Street, Chicago, was arrested at 6:50 a.m. at 135^th Street and Route 59 and charged with driving with no valid license, police said. Bond was set at $2,000.

May 2

Drug charges

Ryan Knudsen, 21, of the 23000 block of West Chicago Street, Plainfield, was arrested by Plainfield police at 10:36 p.m. at Fort Beggs Drive and James Street and charged with possession of less than 10 grams of cannabis and possession of drug equipment, police said. Bail was $120.

Ryan Hughes, 20, of the 1500 block of Somerfield Drive, Bolingbrook, was arrested by Plainfield police at 7:41 p.m. at 12001 Naperville Road and charged with possession of less than 10 grams of cannabis and possession of drug equipment, police said. Bail was $120.

Jonathan Fogelman, 18, of the 1700 block of Raleigh Trail, Romeoville, was arrested by Plainfield police at 10:36 p.m. at Industrial Drive and Route 59 and charged with possession of drug equipment, police said. Bail was set at $120.

April 22

Underage drinking

Peter Bednarz, 18, of the 12000 block of South Waterford, Plainfield, was arrested by Plainfield police at 12:44 a.m. at 143^rd Street and Van Dyke Road and charged with illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor, according to police. Bail was set at $120.

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