Thursday, January 3, 2013
Year in Review: 2012 saw an outcry against deadly drugs becoming more popular with teens.
Karen Dobner said her son, Max, never gave her cause to worry. He never spoke ill of anyone. He never lost his temper. He was never disrespectful or rude. He was a health nut and refused to eat at Burger King or McDonald’s. She has no answer for what led Max to use synthetic marijuana on June 14, 2011, but she believes it was because he thought it was healthier than marijuana. Later Karen received a call that her son, driving at almost 100 mph, had plowed thrown an intersection, hit a wall, went airborne and crashed through the front of a home. He died in the accident at the age of 19. She spoke out against that false assumption at a Woodridge village forum earlier this year. Read more: Mom: ‘I Didn’t Know What Synthetic Marijuana Was …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Check out some eye-catching police blotter items from Darien and Woodridge in 2012.
Continuing the police news from our 2012 Year in Review, we highlight a few of the downright weird cases that stemmed from Darien and Woodridge last year. Footprints in the Snow Lead Police to Burglary Suspect If you're going to commit a crime, common sense probably says to avoid leaving a path that leads right back to you. A Darien man was arrested and charged with residential burglary after officers tracked footprints in the snow leading from the burglarized home to his residence. Police Blotter: Drunken Driver 'Just Wanted to Go to McDonald's' Call it the Unhappy Meal. A Darien man charged with driving under the influence of alcohol told police he had been drinking at a friend’s house and “just wanted to go to McDonald’s." Next time, …
We lost former Darien and Woodridge police officers, as well as longtime DGN coach Mike Amrhein and others.
Loss is something that happens to us every year. It's hardest when it's those closest to us—those who teach us, those who protect us. Usually that means our parents, our loved ones. But in 2012, Darien and Woodridge faced a loss of others who teach us and protect us. Two police officers died too young, and the communities grieved the losses of longtime educators. In memoriam, we remember some of the people near and dear who we lost in 2012: Darien Police Sergeant Dies After Illness “He was one of the rare people you could count on no matter what,” said Ward 4 Alderman Joerg Seifert, a close friend. “It didn’t matter what was going on his his life. He would jump at the chance to help you out.” Former Woodridge Cop Dies of Heart Attack at …
Patch looks back at some of the biggest drug arrests in Darien and Woodridge from 2012.
Continuing the police news from our 2012 Year in Review, we highlight a few of the high-profile drug cases that stemmed from Darien and Woodridge last year. Darien Man Charged in Police Seizure of 600 Pounds of Marijuana A Darien man was one of five people charged in a police sting that netted about 600 pounds of marijuana in November. Dean A. Dziuba, 55, of the 1100 block of Lodgepole Court in Darien, was charged with cannabis trafficking, unlawful possession of cannabis with the intent to deliver and unlawful possession of cannabis. Police Remove Meth Lab from Woodridge Apartment Local and state police removed a small working meth lab from a Woodridge apartment in May. Woodridge police said they arrived at the Quarters in Woodridge …
The biggest road construction story lasted for most of the year, but rejoice: the final touches were being completed in December.
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Wednesday, January 2
Construction on 75th Street was slated to end in December after 8 months of lane closures and traffic delays. "We are in completion stage [of the project] doing final striping and clean-up," DuPage County Board Vice Chairman John Curran told Patch early in December. "Three lanes are open in each direction, and traffic is back to normal." Read more project details. Why 75th Street? The main objective of the project was to widen 75th Street from two lanes in each direction to three lanes between Woodward and Lyman Avenues. Additional road work has included: The project was needed to improve safety and design, say officials, noting that there were 91 reported accidents at Lemont and 75th Street from 2009 to 2011. Business Owners Speak Out …
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
2012 Year in Review: We look back at some of the biggest sporting moments in the Darien and Woodridge that were covered by Patch this year.
We all know there's a lot of talent that comes from the Darien and Woodridge area. In 2012, our headlines highlighted some of the best and brightest youth our towns have to offer: Girls Swimming: Downers Grove North's Gabby Sims Wins State Title Downers Grove North junior Gabby Sims won her second individual state title in dramatic fashion Saturday, breaking the pool record in the 100-yard freestyle at the IHSA girls swimming and diving finals in Evanston. Four Downers Grove South Students Earn Perfect ACT Scores Seniors Emma Chaplin, Marjorie Fera, Ammar Kalimullah and Samarth Malhotra each received a perfect composite score of 36 on the exam, which is administered to high school juniors nationwide. Woodridge Native Finalist for Most …
Two brutal homicides, allegedly at the hands of jealous ex-boyfriends, as well as a drive-by shooting, saddened local readers this year.
Three senseless crimes resulted in shocking murders this year in the Darien and Woodridge area. Two of them allegedly came at the hands of jealous ex-boyfriends, one who was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and another accused of killing his ex's new boyfriend. The other, the drive-by shooting of a Hinsdale South graduate, rocked an apartment complex in nearby Willowbrook. Here's the details of these horrible tragedies from 2012: UPDATE: Bail Denied for Man Accused of Kidnapping Ex-Girlfriend, Murdering Man Joseph Spitalli, 34, of Darien, was charged in November with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated kidnapping. Police say he slit the throat of his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend, then kidnapped Darien resident …
Monday, December 31, 2012
Our continuing look back at 2012 in Darien and Woodridge brings back the issues of sex in movies being shown in school and an atheist speaker at another school.
A lot of times, parents in the suburbs say they enjoy living where they do because of the schools. But what about when the schools invite atheists and show movies that include sexual scenes? This year, in school districts 99 and 86, people spoke out against various viewpoints that were being allowed in local schools. It's part of our top story series of the 2012 Year in Review. Controversy Over Atheist Speaker Spurs Discussion of District 99 Parent Notification Procedures District 99 school officials received hundreds of emails last month about Downers Grove North's Constitution Week speaker Jessica Ahlquist, a Rhode Island teen who sued her school to have a prayer removed from the gymnasium wall. Soon after Ahlquist's appearance at North…
In this part of our Year in Review, we focus on how locals voted in the 2012 general election, electric aggregation that was approved in March and which candidates have filed for the 2013 elections.
The year in 2012 elections will be remembered nationally as the year Barack Obama was elected to his second term as our nation's president. But locally, there was a lot of intrigue as well. Although there wasn't a consolidated municipal elections (those are held in odd years) there was a major initiative on the March ballot: electric aggregation. Electrical Aggregation Passes: What to Expect Next Woodridge Voters Vote 'Yes' for Electrical Aggregation Both Darien and Woodridge voters approved the electrical aggregation measure in March, paving the way to savings on their electricity bills. In Darien, 63 percent of voters approved it, while 54 percent did so in Woodridge. They joined a growing number of Illinois communities able to group …
Sunday, December 30, 2012
One woman bakes treats and donates profits to feed the hungry. An 8-year-old pushed for a safety day at his school. And after 70 years of marriage, one couple is still deeply in love.
We've highlighted some of the top headlines in Darien and Woodridge during 2012, and unfortunately a lot of the top news ends up being bad: major crimes take place, governments disagree and so on. But there's definitely no shortage of great people in Darien and Woodridge, and we want to highlight their work as well. Here's who inspired us in 2012. Have someone in mind that we missed? Tell us about them in the comments! Cakes for a Cause: Woman Donates Baking Profits to Help Feed Hungry A Darien woman is making life a little sweeter for people in the area by combining her greatest passions: baking and volunteering. Julie Stone has loved baking all of her life, but it wasn't until a few years ago that she realized she could put her skills…
carrie esposito 7405 richmond
3:02 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
Hi, my name is Carrie Esposito 7405 Richmond, and as a psychiatric nurse, I care for the young adults who become psychotic from these synthetic drugs and require hospitilization for their safety, in some cases it takes months to clear their systems and even then we do not yet fully understand, what residual side effect they may have. As a Mom, I ask please talk with your children and make them … more ›