Holly Madison: On My Baby’s Name

March 8, 2013, 6:45 pm

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Holly Madison is defending her daughter’s unusual name. Following the announcement that she has chosen the name Rainbow Aurora for her newborn, the 33-year-old mom took to her Celebuzz blog to explain her decision. She wrote: I got my nails done Rainbow colors to celebrate my new daughter’s name! I have always loved the name...Read more» Reported by Celebuzz 19 hours ago.

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Holly Madison Gives Baby Girl 'a Unique Name'

March 8, 2013, 6:51 pm

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The former Playboy model picks a colorful and out of ordinary name for her baby girl, Rainbow Aurora. Reported by AceShowbiz 19 hours ago.

Water Main Break Left Businesses Without Water

March 8, 2013, 9:01 pm

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Patch Fox Point-Bayside, WI --

“[We] started at 7 p.m.” Paul Haugen said after emerging from a small swimming pool-sized mud pit, behind Burghardt’s Sporting Goods, 8625 N. Port Washington Road, on a chilly Thursday morning.

With mud covering his clothes and bags under his eyes, Fox Point’s water utility foreman explained the village’s water utility crew worked through the night to repair an emergency water main break beneath the sporting goods store.

“Fresh Market and Aurora Health Care are out of water,” he said.

Only moments passed before he climbed back down into the pit to return water to the businesses that need it.  Reported by Patch 17 hours ago.

Students From Elmhurst Earn Dean's List Honors and More at College

March 9, 2013, 2:45 am

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Patch Elmhurst, IL --

Lots of college students from Elmhurst are making news around the country for earning good grades, degrees, musical recognition and more. Proud of your college student and want to share the good news? Send an email to Elmhurst Patch editor Karen Chadra at karenc@patch.com.

The following Elmhurst students were recognized at their respective universities:

*Gabriela Williams*, a 2012 York graduate, made the dean's list for the fall term at Western Illinois University.

*Jessica Labunski* earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Marquette University, Milwaukee.

Three students from Elmhurst made the honor list for the fall semester at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Mo.: *Elizabeth Irene Nolte*, a sophomore studying ceramic engineering; and freshmen *William Dining* and *Trevor Robert Jordan*, both majoring in engineering.

*Matthew Mordini*, a senior political science major at Augustana College in Rock Island, toured the East Coast with the Augustana Choir last month. Established in 1931, the Augustana Choir has performed in some of the most storied venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall and the Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden. Unique to this tour is the choir's participation in the Maryland Music Educators Conference.

The Augustana College Symphonic Band recently returned from its 2013 tour of the Midwest. *Luke Lampo*, a sophomore majoring in geology, participated in the tour.

*Morgan Pruitt* was named to the dean's list for the fall semester at Aurora University.

*Catherine Navarro* was named to the dean's list for the fall semester at University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.

*Marco Cufar* was named to the dean's list for the fall semester at Michigan Technological University, Houghton. He is a computer science major.

*Sara Becker*, *Megan Polsley* and *Tracy Van Zandbergen* were named to the dean's list for the fall term at Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais.

*Austin Abelarde* and *James Sullivan* were named to the dean's list for the fall semester at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb. Abelarde is a fourth-year student in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, and Sullivan is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Lewis University in Romeoville opened its newly constructed art gallery with the President's fifth annual art show featuring the work of Lewis students and alumni. *Audrey Heiberger* and *Kendra Mills* participated in the show. Heiberger's "Monarch" earned honorable mention, as did Mills's "Origami Eruption and Roger Federer."

The following Elmhurst students were named to the dean's list at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb: *Nicholas Fisette, Rebecca Griffith, Marielle Ostling, Benjamin Tregler, Yvonne Utomi, Jeremy Van Denack* and *Jessica Vandyck.*

*Matthew Johnson*, son of William and Debra Johnson, performed in Lawrence University's Fred Gaines Student Playwright Series, which features three student-written, one-act plays. Johnson portrayed a cheerful bookstore employee in "Shifts," a heartfelt examination of relationships set in a used book store.

*Kathryn Leigh Grimmer*, a business major, was named to the president's list for the fall semester at the University of Iowa. Students on the president's list achieved a grade point average of at least 4.0. The following students were named to the dean's list for the fall term at UI for achieving a 3.5 GPA or higher: *Jacob Calvin Bogolia*, business; *Ryan Scott Cronister*, liberal arts and sciences; *Rachel Lynn Gentile*, liberal arts and sciences; *Lauren Elise Grimmer*, business; *Kathryn Ann Sadowski*, liberal arts and sciences; and *Elizabeth Wise*, liberal arts and sciences.

*Matthew Graziano* was named to the dean's list for the winter quarter at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Reported by Patch 11 hours ago.

Lawyer: Gun Emails To Colorado Lawmaker Not Threats

March 8, 2013, 8:54 pm

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DENVER -- A man accused of threatening a Colorado lawmaker pushing for stricter gun control measures plans to challenge the charges filed against him.

Franklin Sain's lawyer told a judge Friday that Sain admits calling and sending emails laced with profanities and racial slurs to state Rep. Rhonda Fields. Lawyer Siddhartha Rathod said that while the messages were offensive, they were not threatening. They were constitutionally protected political speech, he said.

Rathod also said Sain, 42, was not responsible for a letter sent to Fields that said "There Will Be Blood!" and listed Fields and her daughter.

He said he would file a motion challenging the two charges filed against Sain – attempting to influence a public official, a felony, and harassment based on ethnicity, a misdemeanor.

Fields is a Democrat who represents Aurora, where a gunman killed 12 people in a movie theater in suburban Denver. She is black. Sain, a technology executive who was suspended after his arrest, is white.

"The question before this court is whether these emails were criminal, and they're not as they are protected by the First Amendment," Rathod said.

Sain nodded and said "thank you" as the judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 27. He declined to comment after his first court appearance in the case.

In one message, police say Sain told Fields he hoped someone would "Gifords" her, an apparent reference to the 2011 shooting and wounding of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. A police affidavit said Sain apologized for his comments.

Colorado is not the only state where lawmakers are fielding angry – and sometimes threatening – messages as a result of heated debates over gun restrictions. Earlier this week, an Oregon state senator said she cancelled a town hall meeting about gun control because she had received hostile and threatening emails. A California man suspected of threatening a state senator over a bill limiting the reloading of assault weapons was arrested. And a Minnesota lawmaker sponsoring an assault weapons ban said she has been receiving threatening messages.

If found guilty, Sain could face up to six years in prison. Reported by Huffington Post 17 hours ago.

Aurora theater shooting: James Holmes loses insanity plea challenge

March 8, 2013, 11:37 pm

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The judge in the Aurora movie theater shootings murder case  has rebuffed an effort to declare Colorado's laws for insanity pleas unconstitutional, just days before suspect James Holmes is Reported by TwinCities.com 14 hours ago.

Let's Make Guns as Cool as Smoking

March 9, 2013, 2:07 am

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Patch Hamden, CT --


Remember when everybody smoked?

Think about the imagery associated with smoking, making it cool, as admirable and desirable as the rugged American cowboy.

According to an op-ed published in The New York Times, the rates of Americans who smoke have dropped dramatically since the 1960s — less than 20 percent of American adults smoke now, and it was more than twice as much fifty years ago. What’s more, the  rate amongst younger smokers aged 18-24 is on the decline as well.

A lot of that happened because of aggressive marketing and awareness campaigns about the dangers of smoking cigarettes, both to smokers and victims of second-hand, “passive” smoke. There are now graphic warnings on cigarette packages; who can forget the advocacy ad campaigns picturing bodies lying on the New York City streets outside of tobacco company headquarters, representing the hundreds of thousands of people who died each year from smoking?

These efforts helped tremendously when cigarette manufacturers had to admit to Congress their efforts to conceal the dangers of the products they manufacture.

Know what else helped? Legislators heard from their constituents, and that made them feel brave enough to stand up to lobbyists and campaign donations from the big money tobacco industry.

Now if we can only get similar campaigns to hit hard at the gun lobby and gun industry. For it’s clear that the parallels run deep — the gun industry trades on making billions of dollars at the expense of 30,000 people who die each year due to gun violence, including eight children in the U.S. every day.

Supporters of laws aimed at making it harder to access military-style guns and ammunition were heartened when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the SAFE Act, strengthening his states already strong gun laws. Clearly a threat to the big business of gun manufacturing, the NRA has stepped up its attacks on Cuomo, even though the law does not require gun owners to turn in their assault weapons, only register them. It did limit the sale of magazines to seven rounds within the state of New York, and strengthened background check requirements, among other changes.

Word coming out of Hartford isn’t as encouraging. Legislators had promised that legislation on gun safety and related security issues would be quick to come following the gun massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012. The self-imposed deadline of the Newtown task force has come and gone, with little to show but frustration with — and amongst — Connecticut lawmakers.

So, too, is frustration growing with Congress amongst supporters of stronger, more comprehensive gun laws. Clearly, legislators who have been traditionally supported by NRA lobbyists are getting braver in their resistance, let alone less worried about how it look to voters as time passes since the shooting in Sandy Hook.

Case in point: Sen. John McCain answered a question about an assault weapons ban from a woman whose son was killed in the Aurora movie theater shooting. While he did express his sympathy to her, that condolence was followed by him saying, “I can tell you right now you need some straight talk. That assault weapons ban will not pass the Congress of the United States.”

[Author's note: While there’s been some back-and-forth in the press coverage of how video editing portrayed the Senator during the exchange and exactly how rude McCain was or wasn’t, I’d argue that no matter what, the parent of a gun massacre victim deserves more than the usual amount of restraint and courtesy, and I think the full clip shows the Senator was less respectful than he could have been.]

On March 13, there will be an event in Washington, DC, called “Moms Take The Hill,” led by a growing grassroots organization, Moms Demand Action. Their full title is actually “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America,” and their mission emphasizes just that — common sense. They want to appeal to lawmakers to act on three very simple solutions to address rising gun violence in the United States, according to their website:

· Ban assault weapons and ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds
· Require background checks for all gun and ammunition purchases
· Report the sale of large quantities of ammunition to the ATF and ban online sales of ammunition

If you can’t make it to Washington on the 13th, there’s still a way for you to get involved. Cut out and decorate eight paper dolls, representing the eight children who are shot and killed in America every day. There is a concerted social media campaign as part of this, to flood legislators emails and offices with images of the paper dolls, and you can find out more details by clicking here.

I began this column by writing, “Remember when everybody smoked?” Wouldn’t it be great if someday I could write a column that starts, “Remember when it was easy to buy a gun?”

Hopefully it won’t take as long as 50 years to see the gun violence rates drop as dramatically as smoking rates did. Reported by Patch 12 hours ago.

Marian Wright Edelman: An All-American Crisis

March 9, 2013, 2:35 am

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“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote these words in his April 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, in the same passage with his well-known warning that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” A few months later, Dr. King wrote that the same culture of violence that killed Medgar Evers in Mississippi in June 1963 and four little Black girls in Birmingham in September 1963 had finally killed President Kennedy in November 1963 reminding us that it’s not possible to confine injustice, hatred, or violence to one group or community. What is tolerated in one place will eventually infect and affect everyone.

When many people think about gun deaths in America, the first stereotype that comes to mind is urban gun homicide—a crisis that disproportionately affects the Black community. As a result, too many people assume that despite recurring cases of often labeled “isolated” or “unpredictable” mass gun violence primarily committed by White male shooters, “ordinary” gun violence is mostly a Black problem that is or should be the Black community’s responsibility alone to solve. This is simply not true, although the Black community must mount a much stronger and more persistent voice against gun violence. The fact is that most Americans killed by guns are White, and most Americans who kill themselves or others with guns are White and our nation’s gun death epidemic is not simply a White or Black crisis but an American crisis.

Between 1963 and 2010, 73 percent of gun deaths in America were among Whites—over one million deaths. Large numbers of White parents have borne the terrible burden of losing their child to guns: Whites comprised 62 percent of child and teen gun deaths between 1963 and 2010—exceeding 100,000 deaths. In 2010, 65 percent of gun deaths among Americans of all ages were among non-Hispanic Whites, as were 34 percent of gun deaths among children and teens. Gun deaths were the second leading cause of death for non-Hispanic White children and teens that year, second only to motor vehicle accidents, and the fourth leading cause of death among non-Hispanic Whites ages 1 to 64 after cancers, heart disease, and non-gun accidents. Eighty-three percent of White gun deaths were suicides, 14 percent were homicides, and two percent were accidents. Among White children and teens, 63 percent of gun deaths were suicides, 26 percent were homicides, and nine percent were accidents.

The state with the highest overall number of gun deaths among non-Hispanic Whites in 2010 was Texas, with 1,620, followed by Florida, California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, Arizona, and Michigan. The ten states with the highest rates of gun deaths among non-Hispanic Whites were Nevada, New Mexico, Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia.

The total of 31,328 people of all ages who died from guns in 2010 included 20,427 Whites, 7,291 Blacks, 2,943 Latinos, 378 Asian-Americans, and 289 American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Where do all of these deaths leave us? Fifty years later, it leaves us right back with Dr. King: there is no point making gun violence just one group’s problem because we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality without a place to hide from pervasive guns and gun violence. Gun violence is a White problem because most gun death victims in America are White. Gun violence is a Black problem because Blacks are disproportionately more likely to be gun death victims. Gun violence is a Latino and an Asian-American and an American Indian and Native Alaskan problem because shamefully children and people of all races are dying from guns.

Gun violence is an urban problem that devastates cities like Chicago, and Detroit, and Tucson, Arizona, and Washington, D.C. Gun violence is a suburban, small town, and rural problem that devastates places like Newtown, Connecticut, and Conyers, Georgia, and Littleton and Aurora, Colorado, and Pearl, Mississippi. Gun violence is a problem in states with strong gun laws because guns still travel in from states next door. Gun violence is a problem for parents who would never dream of owning a gun and for parents whose guns are stored responsibly and safely because their children share the same playdates and parks and schools and universities and movie theaters and streets as children and adults who do have access to guns and whose family members and friends do not store them safely.

Gun deaths are a tragedy for families whose loved ones are murdered. Gun deaths are a tragedy for families whose loved ones commit suicide. We should take our blinders off because when the 2010 gun death rate for non-Hispanic Whites in the United States was nearly eight times higher than the average gun death rate in 25 other high income countries—and the overall gun death rate for all Americans was seven and a half times higher than the average gun death rate in those countries—and when children are killed or injured by guns every 30 minutes, gun violence is an all-American crisis. Other countries have already made the decision to say no more. It is time for all Americans to stand up, speak up, work together and do the same for our children and all of us. Reported by Huffington Post 11 hours ago.

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Will County DUI Arrests: March 9

March 9, 2013, 6:57 am

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Patch Bolingbrook, IL --

**Bolingbrook**

*Feb. 23 *Eric Thurmond, 46, 327 S. Central Park Blvd., Chicago, was arrested at 2:55 a.m. and charged with DUI, following a traffic stop at Boughton Road and Barbers Corner, police said. 

*Feb. 21 *Claudia Calvo, 41, 16 West 481 Bonnie Brae Ln., Willowbrook, was arrested at 1:53 a.m. and charged with improper turn at intersection, speeding, and DUI, following a traffic stop in Lot S of Beaconridge Drive, police said. 

**What to keep up on crime news from around the area? Like our Crime-n-Shame Facebook page**

**Joliet**

*March 3  *Bianca R. Bolyn, 25, 1006 Cypress, Joliet, arrested by the Manhattan Police Department and booked into the Will County jail on March 3 on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, transporting or carrying alcoholic liquor, failure to drive on the right side of the road and improper traffic lane usage.

*March 2 *Gregory D. Lee, 27, 2446 Walsh, Joliet, arrested by the Joliet Police Department and booked into the Will County jail on March 2 on charges of driving under the influence of drugs, driving under the influence of drugs with a child passenger, endangering the life/health of a child, possession of 2.5 to 10 grams of cannabis and driving on a revoked/suspended license.

**Plainfield**

*March 7 *Petra Grigelova, 22, of the 5000 block of Sun Valley Drive, Plainfield, was arrested by Plainfield police at 1:49 a.m. at Newkirk Drive and Route 59 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding, police said.

*March 1 *Mona Goeken, 81, of the 24000 block of Renwick Road, Plainfield, was arrested by Plainfield police at 10:05 p.m. at Renwick Road and Route 59 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, police said.

**Romeoville**

*Feb. 15 *Daniel Pierce, 22, 2928 Bar Harbour Road, Aurora, arrested by the Romeoville Police Department at about 6:25 a.m. Feb. 15 at Weber Road and Windham Parkway and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, possession of cannabis, possession of drug equipment, no insurance and expired driver's license.

*Feb. 9 *Juan Sanchez-Delapaz, 36, 607 Summit St., Joliet , arrested by the Romeoville Police Department at about 8:25 p.m. Feb. 9 in the 0 to 100 block of Independence Boulevard and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, resisting an officer, no insurance, improper traffic lane usage and driving on the wrong side of the road.

*Feb. 3* James Hall, 55, 1861 Ashbury Circle, Joliet, arrested by the Romeoville Police Department at about 1:35 a.m. Feb. 3 at Route 53 and Ashbury Circle and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, hit and run, failure to reduce speed and improper lighting.

**Channahon**

*March 2 *Cesar R. Ramirez, 33, Chicago, arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, following too closey and failure to yield turning left.

**State police**

Charges have been filed in the fatal wrong-way crash on Interstate-80 that claimed the life of 66-year-old Abed M. Bader of Bridgeview, according to a Sun-Times News Group report.

Rodgerick Marsh, 30, of 6710 S. Maplewood Ave. in Chicago was charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol after state police received a warrant for his arrest, according to the report.

Marsh allegedly was driving the wrong way on I-80 between mileposts 106 and 107 at about 12:05 a.m. Saturday (March 2) when his vehicle struck head-on a vehicle driven by Bader. A third-vehicle involved in the accident—a semi-tractor trailer—then pushed Bader's vehicle 200 feet down the road.

Marsh has been treated at two hospitals for injuries he sustained in the accident. His arrest warrent carries a $500,000 bail, according to the Sun-Times News Group report.

Police report information is provided by local police departments. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.

*Check out recent DUI reports from around Will County.*

· *Will County DUI Arrests: March 2*
· *Will County DUI Arrests: Feb. 23*
· *Will County DUI Arrests: Feb. 16*

· *Will County DUI Arrests: Feb. 9
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· *Will County DUI Arrests: Feb. 2*
· *Will County DUI Arrests: Jan. 26*
· *Will County DUI Arrests: Jan. 19*
· *Will County DUI Arrests: Jan 12*
· *Will County DUI Arrests: Jan. 5*
· *Will County DUI Arrests: Dec. 28* Reported by Patch 7 hours ago.

State GOP Meeting To Oust Pro-Gay Marriage Chairman Canceled

March 9, 2013, 8:17 am

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CHICAGO -- The Illinois Republican Party central committee has canceled Saturday's scheduled meeting in which it was to consider firing party chairman Pat Brady.

Some committeemen wanted to oust Brady, largely because he publicly supported gay marriage when a bill was before the state Legislature earlier this year.

Republican state Sen. Jim Oberweis of North Aurora said Saturday that members wanted more time and wanted to be sure Brady, who is out of town, could attend.

It was unclear if the committee had enough votes to fire Brady.

Several prominent Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and state House Republican Leader Tom Cross, had recently weighed in on the issue, saying it would be a mistake. They also say if the party is going to grow it needs to be more inclusive. Reported by Huffington Post 5 hours ago.

David Dent: Drone Filibuster Overtaken by Gun Debate in Colorado

March 9, 2013, 10:41 am

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Colorado hardly appeared to be drone-obsessed this week, which may seem odd if you consider the state's Libertarian heritage; the Libertarian Party was actually founded in Westminster, Colorado in 1971. You may also have heard friends of Rand Paul pointing with pride to the Drone filibuster as appealing to Libertarians across the country. However in Larimer, a Bush-Obama county in Colorado, Libertarians are far from rare, but seemed uninterested in Paul's theatrics. "We have a reader call-in line, where readers can give their opinions on any topic," says Jeff Stahla, Managing Editor of The Loveland News and Herald in Larimer. "There have been no calls that I have heard about Rand Paul's filibuster, or drones in general. Right now, the gun control issues in Colorado are sucking all the air out of the room and are front and center on every political mind in the state."

State lawmakers are debating legislation that could set a standard as the toughest guns laws passed by a Mountain West state. The reasoning is not hard to follow when you consider Columbine High School in 1999 and the Aurora movie theater shooting last July. "There are seven major bills that are addressing gun issues. They run the gamut. I would say probably the one that's a little bit more progressive than we've seen in many years would attach a liability to manufacturers and sellers if a gun is used in a crime."

In traveling across the state, I have found people who are not blindly jumping on either side of the issue. I have met many gun owners who want tougher laws and are NRA members, and they are far away from the NRA on the issue. However many are equally frustrated with hardliners on the other side of the debate who are not focused enough on mental health issues. "The way we treat the nation's mentally ill has not kept up with other healthcare initiatives that have occurred in the last 30 years," says Stahla. "That there's a lot more awareness of cancer and heart disease and all these other diseases, but we have not, in the same breadth, moved forward with funding for mental health treatment, which is a big part of the gun issue here. I think the people are frustrated by some of the disconnects between some of the gun control measures versus comparing them to the data of what really is occurring, at not only the mass shootings but also just in the lower-profile shootings nationwide. Whether the solutions that are being offered are solutions to identifiable problems that have occurred, or something that were taken out of the back of the trunk of an agenda that might be 20 or 30 years in the making. In other words, I hear a lot of frustration from my readers, asking 'Where's the science? Where's the data to back up new control measures versus what's actually occurring out on the street?"

You can't view gun control through the easy red-blue lens in Colorado, reflecting the purple wave in partisan logic in many corners of the state where both parties appear to be losing solid blocks of support. The emerging portrait indicates that Colorado will easily remain a quintessential swing state again in 2016. "There are many, many, many more people registering as Independents than as party members," asys Stahla. " And many members of both parties, switching to Independent status. That has made the primaries more interesting. I hear it more from my Republican friends who don't like the direction that their party is going, but they'll never be a Democrat. So they declare themselves Independent. But what that does is make it easier for marginal candidates to win the party's nomination. It's fascinating to me, just kind of in terms of where we're seeing our local politics go... Our candidates have gotten more conservative over the past decade. Actually, the National Review came out with the recent ranking of the most liberal and conservative senators. And Colorado's two Democratic senators were both between 40 and 50, the 40th or 45th most liberal. So in other words, very middle of the road. And what we're finding, is that the Democrats that are getting elected out here are tacking toward the middle to get that vote in the statewide races. However in the smaller districts, where there is less heterogenous voters, they don't have to do that. And so you're seeing, more stark division starting to come down to the local level in some places." Reported by Huffington Post 3 hours ago.

Holly Madison Baby Name - Rainbow Aurora Rotella

March 9, 2013, 11:50 am

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Celebrity baby watch - Holly Madison has named her baby girl Rainbow Aurora Rotella. The Playboy model turned actress welcomed her first child into the world at 11.59am on Tuesday morning at a Las Vegas hospital with her fiance Pasquale Rotella by her side and the couple have now revealed the unusual moniker for the baby. She told E! News: “I wanted to give my daughter a unique name. Growing up, there was a girl... Reported by The National Ledger 2 hours ago.

Holly Madison Blogs About Baby Rainbow Aurora's Unique Name: "I Want My Daughter To Be Proud of Who She Is"

March 9, 2013, 12:41 pm

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Reported by US Weekly 56 minutes ago.

Watch Live: Special 308 Board of Education Meeting for Charter Schools

March 7, 2013, 6:55 pm

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Patch Oswego, IL --

The Oswego 308 Board of Education is hosting a special meeting tonight to discuss an online charter school's application to the district. 

Illinois Virtual Charter School at Fox River Valley's wants to apply to be District 308 to be an online charter school.

Virtual Learning Solutions of St. Charles, which would be the charter school’s governing board, has submitted applications to 18 school districts about an online academy it plans to launch next fall, including the districts West Aurora, East Aurora, Kaneland, Batavia and Plainfield, according to the Aurora Beacon.

The meeting is informational only between board members and no decisions will be made. On Tuesday, March 19, another special meeting will be held where the charter presents and answers questions. 

Watch the presentation live on the Patch through a live videostream provided by Oswego 308. Reported by Patch 3 days ago.

MOVIE REVIEW: 'Oz The Great and Powerful' Trailer and Reviews

March 9, 2013, 7:13 pm

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Patch Roswell, GA --

Ever wonder how that Man Behind the Curtain got to Oz in the first place?

Director Sam Raimi's new movie fills in the back-story of Oscar "Oz" Diggs, an unctuous charlatan in a traveling sideshow. He flees from an unsympathetic crowd in a hot air balloon, gets caught up in a tornado--what a cool idea!--and lands in the magical land of Oz. There, he meets three witch sisters, Evanora (Rachel Weisz), Glinda (Michelle Williams) and Theodora (Mila Kunis). And a cute, flying monkey and a China doll, who may be the movie's best characters. The witches try to convince Oscar that he is the foretold Wizard who will restore order to Oz and put a very wicked witch in her place.

*The film is rated PG and runs 130 minutes. It is playing at **Aurora Cineplex or Studio Movie Grill in Roswell. For more theater information, show times and pricing, click the links above. *



Here's what the critics are saying:

As a series of sights, which movies like these are, "Oz the Great and Powerful" is more like "Oz the Digital and Relentless." Certainly this is true in its final half-hour, which seemed to me to be all explosions. The script comes from Mitchell Kapner, who concocted the story, and David Lindsay-Abaire, hired on to bring some style and a few jokes. I laughed a few times, mostly at Graff's voice work for the animated monkey with the goo-goo eyes. I suspect there's just enough heart in this sleek Tin Man of a project to connect with an audience. Preteens, however, may freak out whenever Theodora's simian minions reappear, fangs at the ready. It's best to consider "Oz the Great and Powerful" as the bombastic 21st-century prelude to the 20th-century "Oz" we know. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Oh, it has its moments of movie magic, in moving scenes where the orphaned miniature porcelain China Girl -- the film's best character -- appears. But too often, "Oz" caves to blockbuster conventions, preoccupied with creating a visual template to make Oz magnificent when Oz's magnificence has more to do with the heart and the soul rather than the spectacle of large blooming flowers and cascading waterfalls. Randy Myers, Contra Costa Times

Like Oscar, though, the picture is better at misdirection than at making magic. Raimi, who launched his career with the cheapo horror mini-masterpiece The Evil Dead before helming the blockbuster Spider-Man trilogy, can’t infuse the story with much verve or joy. Opening in black-and-white and in the old-timey Academy screen ratio of the 1939 film, Oz the Great and Powerful expands to glitzy color and widescreen 3-D when it arrives you-know-where, but the switch doesn’t pop; it just sort of seeps. With all the advances in effects technology, the tornado here can’t match the one that spirited Garland’s Dorothy to Oz. Richard Corliss, Time Magazine

The new spinoff from L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz may not be great, exactly, but it is powerfully entertaining. A prequel that imagines the origins of the famous wizard character, Oz the Great and Powerful reveals his humble carny beginnings in Kansas and continues through his vaunted existence in the Emerald City. Oz is respectful to Victor Fleming's beloved 1939 film classic, incorporating famous lines and retaining plot points that audiences know well. Claudia Puig, USA Today



*Don’t miss any Roswell news. **Subscribe to Roswell Patch’s free newsletter**, **like us on Facebook** and **follow us on Twitter**.* Reported by Patch 19 hours ago.

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Where Will Police Stop You on St. Patrick's Day? They're Not Telling

March 9, 2013, 6:53 pm

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Patch Batavia, IL --

Want to know where police will be doing random stops on St. Patrick's Day weekend?

You might get a Breathalyzer test, but don't hold your breath waiting for an answer to that one.

Kane County law-enforcement agencies will work with the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office on a No-Refusal operation during the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

“This office has a responsibility to prosecute DUI offenders, and to educate the public not to drive when they drink,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said. “As has been our practice, I will not say which municipalities will participate. I only will announce when we will have the No-Refusal operation.

“We believe that in past No-Refusal operations, prior publicity has helped to reduce drunken driving. Our goal is to keep Kane County roads safe. Have fun, but don’t drive drunk,” McMahon said.

The initiative is designed to thwart suspected drunken drivers who refuse to submit to a breath test after a DUI arrest. Through the No Refusal strategy, police officers are able to expedite the DUI booking process. With guidance from an assistant state’s attorney, police officers can quickly obtain a search warrant to compel a DUI suspect to submit to a lawfully requested blood or breath test as required by Illinois’ Implied Consent statute.

Illinois courts have consistently held that there is no right to refuse chemical testing when probable cause exists. Anyone who declines to submit to chemical testing after a search warrant has been obtained could face additional charges.

The operation will be the 12^th No-Refusal since the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office began the program in 2008. In the 11 prior No-Refusals, 105 drivers have been charged. Most have pleaded guilty to DUI, although many cases are pending.

It will be the third No-Refusal held in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day. In 2009, three drivers were charged in the operation held March 14 and March 17 in  St. Charles. In 2012, 22 drivers were charged in the operation held March 16-17 in Aurora, Batavia, Carpentersville, East Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Gilberts, Montgomery, St. Charles, South Elgin, and West Dundee, with assistance from Illinois State Police District 2 and the Kane County Sheriff.

 

SOURCE: Kane County State's Attorney's Office Reported by Patch 19 hours ago.

Naperville DUI Arrests, March 10

March 10, 2013, 5:37 am

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Patch Naperville, IL --

*March 4: *

· William G. Hood, 58, was arrested at 8:42 p.m. near Hobson Road and Washington Street, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted bond.
· Jorge Flores-Medrano, 40, was arrested at 11:33 p.m. near Liberty Street and Route 59, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted bond.

*March 3: *

· Tamara Abbaszadeh Tavassoli, 51, was arrested at 1:19 a.m. near Diehl Road and North West Street, police said. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. She posted bond. 
· Nicole Elizabeth Comis, 37, was arrested at 2:17 a.m. near North Avenue and North Loomis Street, police said. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. She posted bond. 
· Eric Michael Oyster, 20, was arrested at 2:59 a.m. near Chicago Avenue and South Loomis Street, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted bond. 
· Alexey Ferapontov, 31, was arrested at 7:28 p.m. near Mill Street and Diehl Road, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted bond. 
· Michael George Alanis, 24, was arrested at 9:17 p.m. near Aurora Avenue and South Webster Street, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted bond. 
· Carlos S. Hoyos, 53, was arrested at 11:44 p.m. near Chicago Avenue and South Wright Street, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted bond.

*March 2: *

· Chanise Rochelle Spencer, 35, was arrested at 1:45 a.m. near Jefferson Avenue and South Route 59, police said. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. She posted bond. 
· Kaily Kristine Deblock, 37, was arrested at 2:25 a.m. near Washington Street and West Bauer Road, police said. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. She posted bond. 
· Steven Joseph Cooper, 29, was arrested at 3:13 a.m. near Sara Lane and South Naper Boulevard, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted bond.

Also see a log of DUI arrests throughout the rest of DuPage County.

*Are you a fan of true crime? "Like" the Crime-n-Shame page on Facebook and get clued in on mischief making and weird crime throughout the Chicago area.*

Police report information is provided by the Naperville Police Department. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome. Reported by Patch 10 hours ago.

Local Resident Wins Chevrolet Sweepstakes

March 10, 2013, 7:35 am

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Patch Montgomery, IL --

We've all at some point likely entered one of those free car giveaways with the idle hope that we might actually win.

A lucky Aurora resident did.

Warren Thomason recently won the  Family Ride of a Lifetime sweepstakes presented by Chevrolet. The contest was open nationally and thousands of entries were submitted

He was presented with a 2013 Chevrolet Traverse at local Chevrolet dealer Ron Westphal and he and his family were flown to Orlando, Florida to see the  Justin Bieber concert in late January. He also received an autographed Justin Bieber guitar.

Maybe it's time to start filling out those entry forms again?

*Photos provided by General Motors East Region Communications* Reported by Patch 8 hours ago.

Woman Dying Of Motor Neurone Uses Her Thumb To Write Book On Her IPhone

March 10, 2013, 4:53 am

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A mother of three dying of motor neurone disease has written an 89,000 word book on her iPhone, using the only part of her body below the neck that she can still move – her right thumb.

For more than 20 years, Susan Spencer-Wendel's job was about telling other people's stories, recounting tales of tragedy and perseverance and winning awards with her writings about justice and injustice.

Juggling a career as a newspaper reporter with the demands that go with being a married mother of three, she felt lucky and happy, never considering that her expectations of watching her children grow up, graduate and wed, or her dreams of grandchildren and retirement, would be anything but plain sailing.

But in the summer of 2009, her ordinary life turned extraordinary when she suddenly noticed that her left hand was withered. The subsequent diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or motor neurone disease, delivered in 2011 after the symptoms had begun to creep through the rest of her body, brought with it a death sentence.

It left her with one more story to write. Because while the neurological disease would go on to paralyse her muscles, robbing her of her mobility and reducing her speech to a heavy slur, the year or so she had left would be about "living with joy, and dying with joy and laughing a helluva lot in the process", she resolved.

Her refusal to face death with fear was made all the more remarkable by the manner in which she committed her memoirs to the record. Determined not to be beaten by her crippled body, but to leave behind an inspirational message about the things in life that matter most, and the art of letting go, Mrs Spencer-Wendel, 46, patiently tapped out all 89,000 words on her iPhone, using the only part of her body below the neck that she can still move – her right thumb.

"You want to keep doing the things you can do for as long as possible. You realise, 'Hey, I can't jump, I can't do up my own shorts or pants, I can't walk, I can't do this or that.' You don't want to give up until you absolutely have to," she said, sitting beneath the shade of a thatched canopy in the garden of her home in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Her book, Until I Say Good-Bye, to be published on both sides of the Atlantic this week, was purchased by HarperCollins in the US for a sum in the region of $2 million. It will be translated into more than 20 languages, distributed on four continents and is forecast to become a bestseller. Universal Pictures have bought the movie rights for a further $2 million.

"People have been sharing their stories with me forever," she says. "Now I'm sharing mine. I want it to be a force for good."

The book chronicles what she calls her "final, wonderful year". She journeyed to the sub-Arctic in search of the Aurora Borealis, viewed America's last space shuttle launch, and reunited with her birth mother in California more than four decades after she was given up for adoption.

She tracked down relatives in Cyprus of the late biological father she'd never known, swam with dolphins and took her teenage daughter to try on wedding dresses at New York's finest bridal shop, knowing that she will not live to see her choose a husband and marry for real.

"'Bucket List' is too silly a term. My philosophy is 'Do what you delight in – and do it no matter what' – so I did," she told The Sunday Telegraph in an exclusive pre-publication interview. "You can't fight nature. Don't fret about what you can't control - it can't be undone. Death will be a blessing, I believe that every day, but I haven't let that get in my way. There's death, but first there's life."

Like most of her muscles, she is fast losing control of her tongue and throat, making speech difficult – both for her to deliver and for others to understand – and causing her periodically to start choking. She is reliant on her husband, John, 48, to move her around, lowering her into her wheelchair or standing her out of it, to dress her, wash and groom her. She can no longer even lift her arms to hug her children, Marina, 15, Aubrey, 11 and Wesley, nine, for whom she intends the book as a celebration of her life and the memories they made together.

ALS causes nerve cells to waste away and die, meaning that messages are no longer carried from the brain to the body's muscles. By June last year, Mrs Spencer-Wendel's hands were so deformed and near-useless that it was too much for her to even move them back and forth across her iPad keyboard.

Knowing that she only had a short window of opportunity left before she lost all movement completely, she embarked on her book project using the "Notes" section of her mobile telephone, clutching it in her twisted and gnarled left hand. "I would type each letter with my right thumb – tap! tap! – the only digit I could control," she explains in the book.

When people came to visit, she would ask them to read aloud what she had crafted on the screen. "I could not hug them. I did not go out for meals with them or to the beach. I could not walk the yard or have a conversation for more than a few minutes… These were my conversations," she notes.

"I was speaking to my family and friends with my written words and I was reliving the moments. Meeting John. My children's births. The peace I embraced inside… Writing this book was not work. Like each journey I took during the year, it brought me joy. It kept me alive."

When it was complete, she was thrilled by the accomplishment – "I felt as if I'd pulled myself up a mountain with nine fingers tied behind my back."

Sitting in her patio chair, her dog Gracie napping at her feet and the breeze ruffling the tropical vegetation around her, she is a picture of serenity. But she admits to the occasional low moment, and to tears when the manuscript was complete.

"It was panic, it was 'What do I do now?'" she explained. "The book was a blessing. It was a counter-balance to how bad the diagnosis was, a balancing out of fortunes, good and bad."

Her husband, John, added: "A book is what happens when you take a woman who can't sit still and make her sit still. ALS hasn't done anything to her mind."

The book, they both say, was a "terrible trade-off"– Mrs Spencer-Wendel is losing her life but leaving behind financial stability for her husband and children, "the best possible outcome of the worst possible scenario" as she calls it.

Yet they have also rejoiced in the realisation that the book will bring greater attention to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease after an American baseball star whose emotional withdrawal from the sport in 1939 pitched the illness into the public conscience.

"I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. I might have been given a bad break, but I've also got a lot to live for," Gehrig told the crowd at his final match, after ALS ended his 17-year career.

Mrs Spencer-Wendel took his lesson and paid it forward. "We don't go around as a family, all 'Woe is me.' I don't fret about the small things. I have to let things not drive me nuts, otherwise everything would drive me nuts. The message is 'Quit complaining. Accept. Live with joy."

Until I Say Good-Bye is published by Two Roads on March 14, £16.99, also in ebook

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DUI Roundup Includes Cannabis, Aggravated Driving Arrests

March 10, 2013, 10:33 am

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Patch Batavia, IL --

Here's a roundup of driving-under-the-influence arrests from the Geneva and St. Charles police departments.

**Geneva**

*DUI—*Geneva police arrested Thomasz Krynski, 43, of Geneva on charges of driving under the influence and driving without lights when required around 10:27 p.m. Feb. 15 after a traffic stop in the 200 block of Fulton Street, reports said. 

*DUI—*Geneva police arrested Richard Doty, 39, of South Elgin on charges of driving under the influence and speeding after a traffic stop around 1:45 a.m. Feb. 24 in the 300 block of North Randall Road, reports said. He has a court date of March 20 at the Kane County Judicial Center, 37W777 Route 38, St. Charles.

**St. Charles**

*DUI, Improper Lane Use—*Joseph M. Albers, 26, of the 100 block of Prairie Street, Batavia, was charged at 2:52 a.m. March 4 in the 1600 block of West Main Street with driving under the influence of alcohol, DUI with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08, and improper lane use. Police siad his blood-alcohol content was .175. He posted his driver’s license and was released on his own recognizance pending an April 4, 2013 court appearance.

*DUI, Speeding—*Sherri M. Westergaard, 52, of the 3S200 block of Briarwood Drive, Warrenville, was charged at 10:12 p.m. March 3 in the 00-99 block of Industrial Drive on charges of DUI, DUI with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08, improper lane use and speeding, 50 in a 35 mph zone. She posted her driver’s license and was released on her own recognizance pending a March 21, 2013 court appearance.

*DUI—*Joseph Messina, 38, of the 2200 block of Camden Lane, Hanover Park, was charged at 6:03 p.m. March 3 on the 1500 block of West Main Street with DUI. He was released on his own recognizance pending a March 21, 2013 court appearance.

*DUI, Failure to Yield—*Krusten Lynn Real, 27, of the 400 block of South 19^th Street, was charged at 1:46 a.m. March 3 at State and North 4^th Street with DUI, DUI with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08, and failure to yield. Police said her blood-alcohol content was .202. She posted her driver’s license and $300 cash bond and was released pending an April 11, 2013 court appearance.

*DUI, Cannabis Possession—*Andrew Steven Harrison, 30, of the 1700 block of Covington Court, was charged at 12:46 a.m. March 3 in the 1700 block of Covington Court with DUI, and cannabis possession. He was released on bond pending a court appearance.

*Aggravated DUI, Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid an Accident—*Frederick H. Rost, 47, of the 00-99 block of South Roseland Avenue, Aurora, was charged at 7:57 p.m. March 1 in the 100 block of South 3^rd Street with aggravated DUI, two counts of aggravated DUI, DUI with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, and driving without lights.

Police were called to an accident in the 300 block of South 3^rd Street that was reported by an officer on his way to work. The officer said he thought Rost’s vehicle was about to rear-end him at a stoplight when the vehicle suddenly swerved and struck a parked car.

The responding on-duty officer arrived to find Rost taking a drink from a bottle of Colgate mouthwash and instructed him to spit it out. Police said his blood-alcohol content was .177, and that the two counts of aggravated DUI were related to prior convictions, including driving on a suspended or revoked license. He was transported to the Kane County Jail to await a court appearance.

 

Patch reports on law enforcement activity, using information provided by official agencies. Persons charged with a crime, or issued a citation for violation of a local ordinance, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If you or a family member are charged with a crime or cited for a violation, and the charge or citation is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify Patch editor Rick Nagel at rickn@patch.com and we will do follow-up reporting on the case. Reported by Patch 5 hours ago.