Briefs: Bullying laws signed
Looking to stamp out school yard bullying, state lawmakers Thursday approved two get-tough measures that require every district draft a no-bullying policy and outfit school buses with recording devices. Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the measures Thursday. Harder to address, however, is cyber bullying. More than 500,000 Illinois children have been intimidated with e-mails, cell phone texts or disparaging postings online, according to a report last year. A measure requiring that private and independent schools run background checks on new employees also was enacted. To be recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education, schools may not hire applicants convicted of a felony within the past seven years or a crime involving physical and sexual abuse.
Six years in arson case
A Hoffman Estates man has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated arson in the case of an apartment building fire this spring. Timothy R. Joyce, 38, of the 900 block of Atlantic Ave. in Hoffman Estates, entered his plea before Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr. Authorities said Joyce ignited a box of newspapers in his first-floor apartment about 1 a.m. March 11. The blaze, which began in his kitchen, forced the evacuation of the three-story building. Damage was limited to Joyce's apartment. He was treated for minor injuries before being arrested. There were no other injuries.
Golden deal just a scam
A 36-year-old Elgin woman thought she caught a deal Aug. 15, paying $4,800 for a gold bar worth $20,000. And she was helping someone's sick relative to boot. As unbelievable deals usually are, this one was too good to be true. The bar was made of lead and simply painted gold. The woman was shopping on South McLean Boulevard when two men approached her. They said their uncle was in a car accident three months ago and wanted to go back to Mexico so he could recuperate with his family. He had spent all his money on medical bills and was selling off his property so he could make the trip. They showed her a gold bar about 1 inch by 1 inch by 2 inches that they said had been appraised at $20,000. They said they would accept $10,000 for the bar and if she didn't have all the money that day, she could bring the rest to them the next day. They all went to her bank where she withdrew $4,800. After they left with her money, she took the bar to her jeweler, who said it was a lead bar painted gold and was worthless. She went back to the store the next day, but the two men never showed up.
Man guilty of sex assaults
A Carpentersville man faces a minimum of 58 years in prison since being convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting two children from 2003 to 2005. Mark Kimbrough, 39, of the 500 block of Elm Ridge Road, was found guilty by a Kane County jury of seven counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, eight counts of criminal sexual assault, and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Kimbrough has been in the Kane County jail on $50,000 bond since his arrest Nov. 9, 2005. He will be sentenced Oct. 31.
More West Nile found:
Three more Kane County mosquito pools have tested positive for the West Nile virus, the Kane County Health Department reported Thursday. That brings to five the total number of infected pools discovered in the county this year. Two of the mosquito pools were taken from Geneva and the third pool from Blackberry Township. The news follows the county's one confirmed human case of West Nile virus, a 46-year-old Elburn woman. West Nile virus, which can cause illness and even death, is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird.