Judge approves partial settlement of $1.5M in nightclub stampede

Wire Services CHICAGO (AP) - A Cook County judge approved a partial settlement of $1.5 million to be paid to the families of 21 people killed in a 2003 nightclub stampede in Chicago, attorneys for both sides announced Thursday. Under the settlement approved Wednesday by Circuit Court Judge Kathy M. Flanagan, the owners of the defunct E2 nightclub and the building where the club was located agreed to pay the money into a fund established for the plaintiffs, and were dismissed as defendants in the continuing civil litigation. Agreeing to the settlement were club owners Calvin Hollins and Dwain Kyles and building owner Lesly Benodin, said Melvin Brooks, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. Brooks noted that Kyles; Hollins; Hollins' son, Calvin Ho