Get books for the little ones and help out causes

You have a chance to help out a pair of good causes today while at the same time taking care of the little ones on your holiday list.

Christine Banerjee, a representative of Usborne Books and More, is hosting a children's book fair in the lobby of the county building on Dec. 16.

From 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., people will be able to purchase books for themselves or purchase books to be donated to Kid's Korner or Kids Hope United.

Kid's Korner is the children's waiting room at the courthouse where every guest goes home with a book, and Kids Hope United is a social service agency providing a host of services for children.

When the sale is over, Banerjee said she will also donate books worth 50 percent of the day's proceeds to the organizations.

People who cannot make it to the courthouse today are able to participate in the fair by going to the Web site usbornefromchris.com and clicking on the link marked "Lake County kids."

Violence Study:

Researchers from Rosalind Franklin University are conducting a study of domestic violence perpetrators who have gone through the Lake County probation system.

Probation officer Mary Figas recently told the Lake County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council that the study is focusing on male defendants with female victims who were on probation in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

She said the study seeks to identify the levels of recidivism in three classifications of offenders based on their completion of a treatment program.

Figas said the study will rank offenders classified aggressive or anti-social, abusive toward their partner and those with some sort of diagnosed mental illness or personality disorder.

It will then compare recidivism rates in each group based on whether an offender completed a treatment program, started a treatment program or never attended a treatment program.

Figas said the goal of the study is to identify which treatment programs work best for which types of offenders.

She said the study is funded by a grant to the university and is being done without cost to Lake County.

New Chief:

Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti will be taking over as the chief judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit as of May 1.

Rossetti, currently presiding judge of the felony division, was first appointed to the bench in 1990 and became a circuit judge in 2002.

She will be replacing current Chief Judge James Booras, who is expected to return to a courtroom assignment when Rossetti takes over.