Briefs: Driver hospitalized
A Lake in the Hills man was hospitalized in stable condition Thursday, recovering from injuries suffered in a two-vehicle crash Wednesday near Island Lake. Dennis Lee Wilkins, 62, suffered a head injury in the crash that, McHenry County sheriff's police said, occurred when his 1998 Jeep pulled into the path of an oncoming car at 4:36 p.m. at River and Dowell roads. Wilkins was taken by helicopter to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. The two people in the other car, Island Lake residents Newton C. Parkhurst, 73, and Carleen Blunt, 81, were treated and released Wednesday. Sheriff's Sgt. Karen Groves said Wilkins would be issued a ticket charging him with failing to yield at a stop sign.
Anti-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.
Biggert challenger emerges
A Naperville native is moving from the ivory tower to the rough and tumble world of politics. Democrat Scott Harper, a doctoral student at Oxford University, is postponing his thesis to take on Republican U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert in the 2008 election. Harper, 46, attended Naperville Central High School and later Wheaton College. After obtaining an MBA from the University of Chicago, he worked in auto manufacturing and technology before starting up a marketing and Web site development firm, which he later sold to investors.
Soldier takes first steps:
Army Sgt. Zach Arnold, a 2004 Neuqua graduate who was injured in Iraq, recently took his first steps with a prosthetic leg, according to his mother, Andrea. Arnold lost part of his leg May 31 when his Humvee hit a roadside bomb. He has been under the care of Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He now goes to physical therapy at the adjacent Center for the Intrepid. A video of his first steps is online at myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=15840967.