Morton Man Honored For Heroism

Governor Bruce Rauner has honored a 75-year-old Morton chess instructor who fought off a knife-wielding man threatening to kill children at a library. Rauner was in Morton on Monday, when he declared it James Vernon Day, calling Vernon ``a true American hero.'' The Army veteran was instructing 16 children on Oct. 13 when authorities say 19-year-old Dustin Brown entered the room with two knives. The children were able to escape the room after Vernon put himself between Brown and the door. The struggle left him with two slashed arteries in his hand and damaged a tendon in his finger. Brown is charged with attempted murder, armed violence and aggravated battery.