YouTube Video Features Hero Pooch from Plainfield

Footage captures aftermath of fire that destroyed a home in the 16000 block of River Road.

A dog that alerted his sleeping family to a fire at their Plainfield home is getting the star treatment on YouTube. In a video filmed by Todd Sherman of Northern Illinois FireGround Photos, Peyton the yellow Labrador is credited with saving Sharon Berger and her two sons, Alex and Matt, from the fire on May 25, 2012. READ: DOG ALERTS PLAINFIELD FAMILY TO LATE-NIGHT FIRE THAT DESTROYED HOME The dog woke up 13-year-old Alex, who looked out the back door to see that a garbage can was on fire. “I saw the red glowing,” the teen told Patch this summer, adding that he was then able to alert his mom and his little brother. The watchdog’s efforts helped the family get out unscathed before the fast-spreading fire consumed the house, located in the …

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Will County Board, Other Meetings Shown on YouTube

Will County resident has created a site where county meetings and others can viewed by computer.

Dear Editor; I have created a YouTube site on which viewers can watch videos from Will County meetings at their leisure: http://www.youtube.com/user/wcvideos1 Among the meetings being taped are the Will County Board and committee meetings, Planning and Zoning Comission, Land Use Committee, Northern Will County Water Agency and the Lockport Township Fire District Board of Trustees. Grant Spooner Lockport

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Never-Publicly-Shown Video Shows Plainfield Tornado Forming in DeKalb

Student used professional camera to film the supercell that would spawn the deadly tornado that struck the village on Aug. 28, 1990.

Anyone who lived through the Aug. 28, 1990, tornado, which devastated Plainfield and killed 29 people, knows the "supercell" that spawned it began its formation in DeKalb. Earlier this month, video of that cell coming together -- described as "never-before-seen footage" -- was posted on YouTube along with an account on the storm-chaser Web site, www.stormtrack.org. It's a small taste and a scary reminder of what Plainfield experienced 21 years ago. Member Gilbert Sebenste posted this account of how the video was shot and how he learned of its existence. On a very hot and extremely humid late August day in 1990, a thunderstorm rapidly became a supercell and produced at least two known tornadoes. One was near an Illinois State Police outpost…

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Insular Life 'Broadens' in Wake of 9/11

Life has changed in many ways for Heidi Kelly, who after the terrorist attacks joined the local emergency management agency and Operation Welcome You Home, and created a widely viewed video honoring a fallen Plainfield soldier.

Editor's note: As the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, Plainfield Patch wants to tell the stories of local residents, like Heidi Kelly, whose lives were affected by the terrorist attacks or have changed as a result in the subsequent decade. Share your story in the comments below or by emailing locla editor Karen Sorensen at karen@patch.com." Heidi Kelly hadn’t given it much thought, but life was fairly staid before Sept. 11, 2001. She worked for Plainfield School District 202’s technology department, was close to her family and had a small circle of friends. It would take a terrorist attack to shake her out of that insulated world. First she volunteered for the Plainfield Emergency Management Agency. Then she joined Operation …

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We Asked

We Asked: Are You Tired of the Weiner Scandal?

We asked these Average Joes and Janes if they think the media coverage of Weinergate is too little, too much or just right.

Social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter can be powerful tools. Revolutionist across Northern Africa and the Middle East are using social media sites to fuel opposition to autocratic governments. But while such sites can create new governments, they can also do damage. Case in point: U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-New York). On June 1, conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a lewd photo that he said he downloaded from Weiner’s Twitter account. At first Weiner denied sending the photo, but later admitted that he had lied as more photos became public. He has since taken a leave of absence from Congress and said he would seek professional help. Members of both political parties have called on Weiner to resign. Every news …

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