Cancer scare, stem cells and reality tv

Crestwood residents are worried the cancer cluster, apparently caused by contaminated water, will ruin property values. A local woman who was the nation's first recipient of experimental stem cell transplant for CIDP is healthy five years later. South Siders are needed for a new reality show, ala Jersey Shore. Adam Kinzinger takes a swing at Debbie Halvorson. Finally, will Oak Lawn find favor with Google?

The region's must-reads, in this week's GuidePosts.

Cancer scare in Crestwood: Frank Caldario worries the water he drank for years without knowing it was contaminated caused his kidney cancer. The 30-year-old office worker told the Chicago Tribune, which broke the Crestwood cancer story, that surgeons removed a gumball-size tumor and about 40 percent of his right kidney. "I can't help but wonder if what happened to me had something to do with the water," says Caldario. "It's just unreal for someone my age to get that." The state released a report Friday suggesting toxic chemicals in Crestwood water could have contributed to the town's cancer rates.

Stem cell transplant: On April 1, Jennifer Osman celebrates a new chance at life, reports columnist Donna Vickroy. That day marks the close of a five-year clinical trial to treat the chronic disease that brought her to death's door. In 2005, the 38-year-old Plainfield mom became the first in the nation, and second in the world, to undergo an experimental stem cell transplant for Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, an inflammation of the nerves that leads to a loss of movement or sensation. "This was my first hope for life," she says of the groundbreaking transplant.

Go ahead, embarrass your mom: South Siders and south suburbanites who want to become reality-TV stars should be "buff, hot, sexy, crazy, fun, outgoing," and "love to make things exciting." Well, that pretty much describes the staff of Southland Savvy! If you fit this description, send an e-mail to Chicago@oconnorcasting.tv with your full name, address, phone number, three recent pictures of yourself, and "a brief description of your awesomeness." You might end up in a South Side reality TV show, just like "Jersey Shore."

Give the money back Debbie: GOP congressional candidate Adam Kinzinger wants incumbent U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson to return campaign contributions from New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, now embroiled in an ethics controversy that forced him to give up his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means committee. Kinzinger, the GOP nominee for Halvorson's 11th District seat, says Halvorson should donate all tainted campaign donations, totaling $60,000, to Haitian relief.

Meanwhile, columnist Phil Kadner is wondering whether Kinzinger will stand up to the extreme elements of his party whose views Kinzinger doesn't necessarily share.

Let's Google, says Oak Lawn: It appears Oak Lawn may be trying to get residents in on Google's project to deliver ultra-high-speed Internet service, says Casey Cora.