Patch Flash: Groupon Halts All Gun Deals

Under pressure from gun-control advocates, Chicago-based Groupon abruptly canceled all gun-related deals in North America on Friday. The move sparked anger and even boycotts from some gun business owners who say their deals were immensely popular and that the online coupon company failed to notify them of the change.

Gun control proponents applauded the move. "We, along with other groups, had been applying pressure to Groupon for some time now because we were disturbed by the flippant nature of previous gun deals," said Ladd Everritt, director of communications at The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. 

A Winnetka murder victim’s sister has turned into a gun control activist. In 1990, Nancy Bishop Langert, who was three months pregnant, was shot to death along with her husband, Richard Langert, in  their Winnetka townhome. Twenty-two years later, her legacy continues to inspire others — demonstrated by the fact that she used her last few minutes of life to spell out one last message of love.

“She dragged herself to her husband and drew a heart and ‘U’ in her own blood,” Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins, Nancy’s sister, explained at a New Trier Democrats panel on gun control.

Bishop-Jenkins, a former high school teacher, has actively sought to end gun violence since her sister’s murder.

“That event changed my life,” Bishop-Jenkins said about the murders. “That event helped me to understand that there are so many people that have suffered because of gun violence.”

near Campbell Airport, Tuesday. Frase had been missing since leaving a party in Round Lake on Saturday. 

The Grayslake District 46 school strike ended on Monday as the school board and union officials reached a tentative agreement. Students returned to school on Tuesday.

The Palatine Village Council Monday approved a permit to allow resident Steven Brosio to have a chicken coop and house six hens, on his 1.8 acres of property

The Chicago Cubs on Saturday formally announced their plans for a lofty renovation of Wrigley Field estimated to cost as much as $300 million and take as long as five years to complete. And the Cubs are also willing to foot the entire bill for the improvements -- so long as the city eases up on some restrictions the North Side team currently faces, such as limitations on the number of home night games it hosts and the amount and types of advertising it can run due to the 99-year-old venue's landmark status, 

A blind sea lion pup found a new home at the Shedd Aquarium. The sea lion named Cruz after the place of his discovery—a beach in Santa Cruz, CA—lost his eyesight to gunshot wounds.

Shedd’s Executive Vice President of Animal Care and Training Ken Ramirez said "Several animals are targeted for practice or shot with malicious intent by area fishermen for cutting into their catch or profit, or by boat owners."

The Shedd's special vets and trainers will rehab Cruz by relying on audio cues like rattle noises to provide sensory information. After his rehabilitation, Cruz will not be re-released since being declared "unreleasable" by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Lacking survival skills and the vision needed to detect predators and find food, Shedd offered to provide the disabled pup's long-term care and a permanent home.