Free Republic

The city filed a lawsuit today against the owners and managers of the apartment building where 13 people died in a weekend porch collapse, arguing that the porch was too big, built with the wrong materials and lacked the proper construction permit. The city asked for hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties. Also today, hundreds of friends and family members attended funerals for several of the victims, remembering them as kind, caring and helpful. According to the city's lawsuit, the porch jutted out 11 feet from the building -- 1 foot more than is allowed under city codes. It...

<p>The porch that collapsed early Sunday killing 13 and injuring more than 50 in Lincoln Park was built illegally without a city permit, Buildings Commissioner Norma Reyes said Monday.</p> <p>Kelly Pagel, of Minnetonka, Minn., the 13th fatality, died Monday at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.</p> <p>After making no public statements about the tragedy earlier Monday, Reyes appeared at a late afternoon news conference and said the owner of 713 W. Wrightwood Ave., Philip J. Pappas, applied for permits for heating, cooling and plumbing improvements in 1998 but then renovated the entire building without permission.</p>