Friday, December 21, 2012
Residents and elected officials honor the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook School shooting.
Braving wind gusts upwards of 30 miles per hour and heavy rain, a small crowd of Newtown, CT residents joined elected officials on the steps of Edmond Town Hall to honor the 26 victims of the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook School shooting. Four memorials of flowers and stuffed animals, each on a stone bench in this historic stretch of Newtown, were covered with plastic to protect them from the elements. A few people periodically had to resecure the plastic due to the powerful wind gusts leading up to the 9:30 a.m. moment of silence, which marked what Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has declared a statewide "Day of Mourning." No remarks were made at the ceremony. The only sound, heard over the whipping wind, was the ringing of Trinity Episcopal …
Many websites, including Patch, will darken Friday morning during a national moment of silence. Morton Grove is officially lighting (flameless) candles for victims Friday 5 to 10 p.m., anyone can join in.
In the week since the nation was shaken by the fatal shootings of more than two dozen students and staff at a Connecticut elementary school, efforts have been made locally to remember those affected. All Patch sites will go dark during the national moment of silence Friday morning. Locally, it will begin at 8:30 a.m. During the week, many towns, including Barrington, Lake Zurich and Grayslake, organized candlelight vigils in memory of the victims. Morton Grove is holding a Light the Night candlelight vigil tonight (Friday, Dec. 21) from 5 to 10 pm. Residents are encouraged to put lighted candles, preferably flameless, on the porch or in a window. Schools have discussed their safety plans with Patch in the last week. Des Plaines police …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Random school checks, safety plan reviews part of local reaction to Newtown shootings.
Des Plaines police have been in communication with local school districts regarding safety plans following the shootings in Newtown, CT, Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner told city council members at a meeting Monday. “We’ve reached out this morning to all the district superintendents, both in the lower grades and the high school, to sit down and review all the school safety plans, and to consider doing training inside the schools either over the winter break or on weekends in the coming months to ensure that we not only have completely upgraded floor plans on all the schools, but that we also have familiarity by all the first responders to, God forbid we have to respond to a school for a situation,” Kushner said. Police responded …
A local psychotherapist comments on a plea from a mom who says her son exhibits violent behavior, and she fears he might be the next Adam Lanza — who police have identified as the gunman in the Newtown slayings of 27 people.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Pam DeFiglio
-
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
While Adam Lanza may have been a troubled, mentally ill youth, there are such people everywhere, including Des Plaines, Niles, Park Ridge, Skokie and Chicago's north suburbs, said Seth Knobel, director of Niles Family Services. He has worked with families here who have kids going through erratic, bizarre behavior and mental illness--similar to what Adam Lanza, who police say killed 27 in the Newtown, Conn. shooting-- may have experienced. "It doesn't necessarily mean they'll grow up to be mass murderers," he said. However, it IS important for parents to take children with extremely disruptive behavioral issues to see a mental health professional, Knobel emphasized. That's especially critical for parents like the writer of the essay "I Am …
A local psychotherapist comments on a plea from a mom who says her son exhibits violent behavior, and she fears he might be the next Adam Lanza--who police have identified as the gunman in the Newtown slayings of 27 people.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Pam DeFiglio
-
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
While Adam Lanza may have been a troubled, mentally ill youth, there are such people everywhere, including Niles, Park Ridge, Skokie and Chicago's north suburbs, said Seth Knobel, director of Niles Family Services. He has worked with families here who have kids going through erratic, bizarre behavior and mental illness--similar to what Adam Lanza, who police say killed 27 in the Newtown, Conn. shooting-- may have experienced. "It doesn't necessarily mean they'll grow up to be mass murderers," he said. However, it IS important for parents to take children with extremely disruptive behavioral issues to see a mental health professional, Knobel emphasized. That's especially critical for parents like the writer of the essay "I Am Adam Lanza'…
Sunday, December 16, 2012
A mother who has lost a child urges parents, grandparents to rise up and take action for gun control. A Letter to the Editor.
The following Letter to the Editor represents the views of the writer. Patch merely serves as a platform for individals to express their opinions. Well folks, HERE WE GO AGAIN1I am sick and tired of the mindset of the gun lobby! And our citizens that have fought for and earned the right to carry guns to schools, churches and public meetings! What has happened to our values? Is it more important to save the lives of innocent children or ensure every damn person the right to bear arms? Doesn't each child deserve the right to go to school in safety, to be able to grow up and live a life? How much longer are these senseless executions of our young people going to take place? Murder is NOT a strong enough term. They are being executed. while …
Mary Beth
11:44 am on Friday, December 21, 2012
We need to do more as citizens and as a nation than grieve for the loss of innocents, not just those precious babies in Conn, but those lost daily in our cities often on their way to and from school. Columbine happened in 1999, with many more to follow, and yet we debate the same issues: gun control, the dismal lack of mental health care, and the insidious prevalence of violence as entertainment … more ›