Dawn Patrol: Debate takes softer tone; local Scout leaders react to scandal

Debate shows candidates’ nice sides

Republican incumbent Joe Walsh and Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth stuck to the issues during the fourth and final debate between the two candidates vying for the 8th Congressional District seat. Compared to previous meetings between the two, Thursday’s debate toned down on the rhetoric and focused on Social Security, defense spending and increasing military threats from Iran. The 8th Congressional District, which is centered around Schaumburg and includes portions of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties, has attracted national attention and millions in outside spending. Full story.

Local Scout leaders react to “perversion files”

Thousands of pages documenting past sexual abuses in the Boy Scouts were released Thursday, and suburban troop leaders say the organization’s policies have been strengthened to protect youths. For decades, the organization recorded abuses internally but never reported the crimes to the police. Dozens of cases between 1959 and 1985 involved troop leaders from the West, Northwest and North suburbs, including Arlington Heights, Carpentersville, Naperville, Villa Park and Wood Dale. Full story.

Wedding crasher convicted of abuse attempt

A DuPage County jury deliberated about three hours Thursday before convicting a Virginia man of attempting to molest a young girl at a wedding he crashed in Elmhurst. Priyang Parikh told police he hadn’t had sex in a while and figured children would be “easy targets.” Full story.

Show at Arcada postponed

Chazz Palminteri’s autobiographical one-man show, “A Bronx Tale,” originally scheduled to run Saturday, Oct. 27, and Sunday, Oct. 28, at the Arcada Theatre, at 105 E. Main St., in St. Charles, has been postponed indefinitely. Ticketholders can request a full refund or keep their tickets until a new performance date is secured. Full story.

Driver gets 6 years in prison.

A downstate man will go to prison after he admitted he was under the influence of marijuana when he caused a crash that killed a woman as she was about to enter her vehicle at a Lake Zurich car wash in 2011. Full story.

Defense wants dying declaration barred

Attorneys for D’Andre Howard, charged with the April 2009 slaying of three members of a Hoffman Estates family, are seeking to bar prosecutors from introducing into evidence a declaration allegedly made by one of the victims as she died. Hoffman Estates police officer Michael Turman has testified that he asked Laura Engelhardt who stabbed her and her family, and she responded, “Dre.” Full story.