Metro BRIEFINGS

COYOTES ON THE PROWL: Animal control officers investigated tworeported sightings of coyotes on the Northwest Side near O'HareAirport. Police said sightings were reported Friday and Saturday inNorwood Park east of Harlem Avenue and north of the Kennedy Expy.One caller reported a family of coyotes. Another reported seeing twoadult coyotes. Police speculated that the coyotes came from nearbyforest preserves. ASSETS FROZEN: Attorneys representing two children of a slainHighland Park woman won a court order freezing her alleged attacker'sassets. Mary Beth Kerulis was found stabbed to death in her HighlandPark home on April 4. Her children's lawsuit seeks compensatory and$5 million in punitive damages from Juliann E. Martin of HighlandPark, who is charged with the murder. A $5 million award to thechildren, ages 5 months and 20 months, would depend on reversal of anIllinois law that precludes punitive damages in a malicious murder. PHONE COMPANY TO PAY: An Illinois long-distance company accused ofswitching customers to its service without their consent has agreedto pay $500,000 to the federal government. The FederalCommunications Commission said Cherry Communications Inc. did notadmit liability by entering into the consent decree. Cherry hasbetween 300,000 and 400,000 customers in 21 states, including NewYork, Illinois, and New Jersey, said attorney Michael Hayes, whorepresents the company, based in west suburban Westchester. The Region `NEGLECT' AT DRESDEN: A burst pipe in a closed Commonwealth Edisonnuclear plant shows a "progressively worsening pattern of managementneglect," regulators said. The Nuclear Regulatory Commissionfaulted Edison for inattention to the Dresden Unit 1 plant nearMorris, Ill., since it closed Oct. 31, 1978. Edison found Jan. 25that 55,000 gallons of water had leaked in the unheated basement ofthe building housing the reactor. "We agree with the NRC that moreattention should have been paid," Edison spokesman Art Massa said.