Patch Flash: Mentally Unfit Get Gun Cards in IL Says Report

A recent audit of Firearm Owner Identification card applications in Illinois found that huge communication gaps have allowed individuals deemed mentally unfit to obtain FOID cards and deadly weapons. In 2010, only three of the 102 clerks in Illinois circuit court relayed information to the Illinois State Police about individuals deemed mentally unfit for firearm ownership, thereby failing to prohibit the issuance of FOID cards, according to the audit. Monique Bond, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Police, said that individuals deemed "mentally defective" or "intellectually disabled" have indeed been purchasing guns and ammunition in Illinois as a result of poor communication between police and the courts.

"We learned a lot about what really matters this week," Lincoln-Way Central coach Sean Bieterman said. "There are more important things than just baseball."  That was the message throughout the week for the New Lenox high school baseball team, which blew a late lead Thursday. The game, at Andrew High School, was about much more than standings and stats or wins and losses. This game was about 27 teenagers coming together to play for the 28th member of their team who is gone now but will never be forgotten.

A 2006 Mercury was changing lanes on the ramp when it cut off a white Ford, bounced off the trailer of a semi-trailer truck parked on the right shoulder of the ramp and hit a van. A 17-year-old from Woodridge was driving the Mercury and was charged with improper lane usage. His name has not been released because he is a juvenile.

The incident occurred about 1:10 a.m. near 727 Elden Drive in Cary when a vehicle struck a tree, a press release from the Cary Fire Protection District states. 

Experts attribute the rise to global travel; more garage sale and thrift store exchanges; and increased visits between homes and public spaces. Bed bugs, according to their name, ought to be relegated to mattress pads and box springs. But alas, because there is a spike in bed bugs across the country, the opportunities to bring home the blood-sucking insects are increasingly prevalent on public transportation. "They are transported through public transportation," said Curt Colwell, an etymologist at the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in Springfield. "They move from buses to planes to trains to taxis. It's pretty common."