MARENGO, Ill. — An Illinois man who was one of the better-known atheists in the country and an activist for keeping religious and government affairs separate died in a plane crash last week, officials said Monday.

The McHenry County coroner said an autopsy Monday revealed that Robert I. Sherman, 63, of Poplar Grove, died from multiple crash injuries. Authorities said Sherman was piloting a small plane that crashed into a cornfield either Friday night or Saturday morning. The crash is under investigation. Sherman was an outspoken atheist and critic of using state money for religious purposes and having religious displays in public spaces. He also hosted a radio show and ran for public office several times.

“He was a proud fighter for religious freedom and the separation of church and state. He was a great activist and a great person,” David Silverman, president of American Atheists Inc., said in an email to the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve flown with him in that very plane when he gave me a tour of Chicago. He loved that plane and loved flying it.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

An 11-year-old girl told police a green taxi driver molested her after she ran away from her Queens home, cop sources said Monday.

The girl, who lives in Ridgewood, slipped out of her house at about 1 a.m. Sunday to go to her cousin’s place in Astoria because she was distraught about being bullied in school, sources said. She got lost in the subway system, though, and headed to Manhattan before returning to Queens and getting out at the 61st St.-Woodside 7 train station.

She told cops a cabbie pulled up next to her near 30th St. and 30th Ave. in Astoria at about 4 a.m. and commanded her to get into the front seat, then fondled her chest, police sources said. The cabbie took her phone, cops said, but she grabbed it and got out of the cab when it stopped at a light on 31st Dr. near 12th St. She then called 911.

The girl also said she got the driver to let her go by convincing him to meet her later in the same spot, police sources said. The preteen gave police two possible license plates, and video shows her leaving a cab.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

At least 12 city EMS workers are expected to surrender to authorities early Tuesday — the first in a wave of disability fraud busts orchestrated by city and state law enforcement, the Daily News has learned. The initial dirty dozen were nabbed as part of a wide-ranging health insurance scam that focused on double-dipping EMS workers in the Fire Department, sources said.

More arrests are expected to follow and could include firefighters, sources told The News. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office and the city’s Department of Investigation are leading the probe. Authorities arranged for the implicated EMS workers to surrender themselves voluntarily on Tuesday morning.(nydailynews.com)…[+]