Patch Roundup: Accused Killer To Be Own Counsel, Geneva Mom Fights Privacy Invasion

Another Batavia police officer suspension and a controversial St. Charles development gets approval from P&D committee.

The Batavia Police Department might want to consider requiring their officers to  take a driver’s ed class, as a second officer is suspended for involvement in a car crash.  And one Geneva mom gets national attention from MSNBC with her blog criticizing her daughter’s school for forcing her to expose her Facebook page. What follow is a lot of discussion on just how far school officials should go and are legally entitled to go in questioning kids and checking cell phones.  More news from around the ‘burbs this week:  Batavia —Second Batavia Police Officer Suspended for Separate Crash — An officer was suspended for two days following his collision with a police vehicle in April. Another officer received a suspension for an unrelated crash on…

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Groundhog Day 2012: Woodstock Willie Says 'In Your Face' to Punxsutawney Phil

On this anniversary of the big blizzard of 2011, we're seeing warm weather and Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow. But Woodstock Willie, bless him, does not. So it's winter in Gobbler's Knob and party time in our neck of the woods.

This just in: Woodstock Willie rules! Yes, our Woodstock champion says we're done with winter, while the "famous" Punxsutawney Phil says it's six more weeks. I'm willing to say, as my daughter Tricia sometimes does, "We win." Yes, the next time you think about calling it "dense fog," try picking a kinder adjective, because that's what kept Willie from seeing his shadow this morning, Feb. 2, Groundhog Day, in beautiful downtown Woodstock. Phil, meanwhile, saw his shadow, read some bad poetry and proclaimed that the reports of winter's demise are greatly exaggerated. "Many shadows do I see, six more weeks of winter it must be," says the guy in that funny hat in the YouTube video attached here. And while PP says we'll see six more weeks, I'm …

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Patch Poll: Should Brett Favre Become a Bear?

Does it make sense for the Bears nemesis to take over as quarterback this late in the season? Would it be a miracle, a sideshow or something in between?

ESPN Chicago says Brett Favre will listen if the Chicago Bears want to make him an offer to play quarterback for the balance of the season—and, who knows, beyond? As Adam Jun points out in his blog, there's been a lot of talk lately about the Bears seeking some veteran help, either in the form of Favre or Donovan McNabb, the Chicago native and former Pro Bowler. But it's the Favre connection that perhaps is most intriguing. How many times have we watched Bears-Packers games in the past when we thought, "Boy, if that guy was our quarterback, we'd be going to the Super Bowl." On the flip side is the Bears-Packers rivalry (Do we really want the legendary Packers QB doing the signal calling for Da Bears?) and the possible humiliation of a …

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Best of Beth Bales: RIP Steve Jobs—You Changed My World

Put Steve Jobs in the same category as Walt Disney. They were magic-makers of the first order.

  When the world found out in February 1999 that Walter Payton needed a liver transplant, I was not particularly moved. It just didn’t pertain much to my life. Then, a few weeks later, film critic Gene Siskel died. “I am so very, very sad,” I told my husband when he delivered the news. “That’s the way other people feel about Walter Payton,” he said, mildly, but with import that has stuck all these years.  That sadness I felt when Siskel died doesn’t BEGIN to cover how I felt when my middle daughter, the child who loves all things Apple, who convinced me that giving her dad an iPad for Christmas would be a fabulous, if extravagant gift, who couldn’t wait to order the MacBook she received for her high school graduation, called Wednesday …

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forest barbieri

3:34 pm on Friday, December 2, 2011

Thanks Tony! Well said! As Sir Winston once said to Lady Astor when she admonished him for being drunk, "Lady Astor, I may be drunk tonight, but tomorrow I will be sober and you will still be ugly." Some people just do not get it.   more ›

Jeff Ward: Notes on West Suburban Civilization

Jeff Ward: The Internet, Sales Tax and an Off-the-Mark Tribune Editorial

Am I the only one with a keen perception of the obvious?

I’ve gotta stop reading that Chicago Tribune op-ed page because it’s making me crazy. There was a time when, of the five newspapers arriving daily on my driveway, the Trib would be the first freed from its overstretched plastic prison. Now the Sun-Times is No. 1. And here’s one of the reasons for that top-five shift. In a Nov. 18 editorial, the Tribune tackled the touchy topic of Internet sales tax by coming out in support of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s “Marketplace Fairness Act,” which mandates attaching sales tax to every Internet purchase. Considering individual states’ prior boondoggle-ish attempts to collect that tariff, the editorial did manage to get one thing right. Durbin’s streamlined bill is head and shoulders above anything …

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Jeff Ward: Notes on West Suburban Civilization

Jeff Ward: Why I Won't Set Foot in Chicago

A commuter tax? What will they think of next?

I refuse to set foot in the city of Chicago. Even if it means having to endure a decade long yearning to gaze upon that Wrigley Field ivy, I won’t do it. That’s how serious I am. I may miss the Lyric and long to see Mr. Muti and his crew, but they, the Planetarium and the Field Museum will just have to get along without me. My aversion to the “City that Works” started with the installation of 200 red-light camera intersections, most of which have seen their yellow light times reduced to the legal three-second minimum—or less! It continued with privatized street parking rates that make the most hardened loan shark blush, and it ended with a 10.25 percent sales tax, the highest in the nation. The only force on the planet that can make me …

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MaryfromIL

5:58 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013

Jason, It is a myth that CPS test scores aren’t improving. According to the state in 2012, C.P.S. has steadily improved in all areas of the ISAT test. In fact, in 2002 the overall picture was 41.1%, which is failing. In 2012 C.P.S. leaped to 74%. That is an 80% increase in 10 years! http://www.examiner.com/article/chicago-public-school-test-scores Here is the State Report Card link for those test…   more ›

Mark Kirk to Business Leaders: It's Time to 'Cherry-Pick' Best Ideas

Speaking at Tuesday's legislative breakfast, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk offers short-term action to turn the economy around.

Before a crowd of hundreds of local business leaders on Tuesday morning, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk offered his ideas to turn the economy around. The Illinois Republican was the guest of a dozen chambers of commerce, who organized Tuesday’s legislative breakfast at Pipers Banquets in Aurora. And though Kirk led off with some dire words about our current economic situation, he did come to the table with several ideas. Kirk has already introduced one of them, the Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act, in Congress. Co-authored with Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren, from Illinois’ 14th District, the bill removes roadblocks to public/private partnerships in the rail, highway and aviation industries. The idea, he said, is to get those projects …

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Jeff Ward: Notes on West Suburban Civilization

Jeff Ward: Patchland! Rise Up and Throw Off Those Red-Light-Camera Shackles!

George Orwell was right!

All that whooping and hollering you just heard was me! I couldn’t help but get a little excited over Houston, TX, removing every last one of its 70 red-light cameras. Despite a despicable legal attack and being outspent 10-to-1, a citizen’s group started by two brothers got the removal measure on the ballot and then prevailed. Not one to admit defeat, the camera company tried a last-ditch legal end run and, when the city council wouldn’t buckle, sued Houston for $25 million. It’s all about safety, isn’t it! That second round of loud applause you heard was also me. After calling every single West Suburban Patch police department, I was astonished to find that only four cities—Geneva, St. Charles, Lisle and Western Springs—employ the heinous…

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Rachel Abata

12:05 pm on Friday, December 23, 2011

That guy that panhandles by the Walmart is harmless, if you've known he's been there for 2 years you should know he NEVER approaches vehicles unless someone rolls down their window to help this man. I understand that maybe your mother didn't know that, but don't blame the man that panhandles for your mothers ticket...the law is the law, look at you blaming everyone for her ticket...what the hell …   more ›

Officials: Kane, DuPage Juvenile Jail Merger Could Save $1 Million a Year

Kane and DuPage chairmen tout proposal to close DuPage's juvenile detention facility and send inmates to Kane.

DuPage County could save $1 million per year by closing its juvenile jail and transferring inmates to Kane County’s regional detention center, County Board Chairman Dan Cronin asserted Wednesday. Cronin and Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay announced a proposal Wednesday that would add DuPage County’s juvenile detention program to Kane’s facility, which already houses juvenile offenders from Kane, DeKalb, Kendall and McHenry counties. Neither county board expects to vote on the proposal before Dec. 1, Cronin said. Both detention centers are under-used: DuPage holds an average of 23 inmates in a 60-bed facility, and Kane holds about 48 inmates in an 80-bed facility. Combining the programs would reduce overhead and lower the cost…

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Daily PatchCast

Daily PatchCast: Decisions Under The Gun, Theft From DuPage County Court Parking Lot, CBS 2 Reporter Finalist

A roundup of the region's news for April 18.

Here's a look at the news that's happening around you: — Split Decisions, Under the Gun — Electronics Worth $1,400 Stolen From DuPage County Judicial Center Parking Lot — Geneva's John Trierweiler: My Audition for CBS 2 Traffic Guy — VIDEO: Dozens Spin for Young Life

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Sabrina Wu

7:25 pm on Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Thank you, Julie!   more ›