Saturday, January 12, 2013
Q&A with Comfort Dog Ministry from Hawthorn Woods: "Dogs created a bridge to help bring people back from a dark period and place back into a place where they can begin the healing process."
Ladel, a Comfort Dog from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hawthorn Woods returned from Newtown, CT, after a three-day visit, where she helped spread some joy and comfort to children and adults recovering from the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. Ladel lives with Pastor Tim Kinne and his wife, Deb. Ladel traveled to Newtown with three handlers, Deb Kinne, Lauraine Morajda and Kylie Yocum. Get local news in a daily email from Patch. It's like getting a free newspaper. Learn more. Read about their experience in this Q&A with Deb Kinne: How many dogs went to Newtown? Nine full grown and one puppy in training. One dog turned 1 year old while we were in Connecticut and she is almost ready to be "placed." The puppy is just 9 weeks old…
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The Sandy Hook school shootings had a profound effect on columnist Elizabeth Fish. The New Year offers the opportunity for change.
The Newtown shootings have affected me even more so than Columbine, the movie theatre shootings in Colorado or any of the dozens of other shootings that have been in the news this year. Newtown really hit me very hard. The fact that a person went to a local elementary school, shot his way in and killed every adult and child in his way, for little, if any, apparent reason is devastating. Maybe it is because I have a first grade child at a local elementary school. And there was little that could have been done at Sandy Hook or any other elementary school to prevent such a tragedy. I still get teary thinking about the shooting and cannot fathom how President Barack Obama named each victim in his speech at Newtown days after the shooting. It …
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Ladel, a golden retriever, at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hawthorn Woods has been called to service.
Chicago-area K-9 Comfort Dogs, a ministry from Lutheran Church Charities (LCC), have been aiding in the healing in Newtown, CT, since shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy occurred. On Jan. 1, Ladel, a Comfort Dog from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hawthorn Woods, left with a team of dogs and handlers for Newtown. Ladel was invited to Newtown High School to provide the unconditional love and compassion that define Comfort Dogs. The last months have been busy for Ladel as she recently served in New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy devastated the area. Get local news in a daily email from Patch. It's like getting a free newspaper. Learn more. Ladel lives with Senior Pastor Tim Kinne’s family at the parsonage in Mundelein. Deb …
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Following the deaths of 28 people in Newtown, Conn., as an unbearable heaviness lingers across the country, Sally Higginson takes a moment to appreciate the everyday aspects of raising children.
The country is still stunned, saddened and sober, focusing on the same things: How to talk to children about fear and death. How to assure them that what happened at one school won’t happen at their school. How to explain to children the difference between the reality of gun violence in our world versus the fantasy of gun violence in so many shows and games. Get local news in a daily email from Patch. It's like getting a free newspaper. Learn more. And we parents ask ourselves: how do we continue to wrap holiday presents for our own children while our hearts are at half-mast for the families who have most recently lost theirs? How do we let go of our children as they walk out the door each day, heading beyond the safety of our controlled …
Friday, December 21, 2012
Reader wants insurance companies to offer better coverage of mental health issues to help curb violence.
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Friday, December 21, 2012
To the Editor: Less emphasis on gun lobby, NRA and the like. We need to place increased pressure on insurance companies to cover mental health screenings, treatment and reduce ridiculous limitations on amounts that will be paid. In short, since most news outlets focus on violence, we cannot underestimate its effects on the public and, accordingly, the psychological impact on the populace. Most carriers limit yearly recompense for psychiatric and psychological care. The limitations are entirely unreasonable and the coverage wholly inadequate. Marc Kreiter Deerfield
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Two local students teamed up with La De Da, Josh's Hot Dogs and other local businesses to raise money for Newtown, CT's Sandy Hook School Support Fund Friday.
Two North Shore residents are teaming up with local businesses to do what so many of us are trying to accomplish this week: figure out a way to help the victims of the Newtown school shooting. Lindsey Heller and Lauren Dzakovich are both from Northbrook and are students at Indiana University, and came up with the fundraiser idea. Get local news in a daily email from Patch. It's like getting a free newspaper. Learn more. "Saddened by the news of the shooting, and as pre-service teachers at Indiana University, Lauren and I have decided to put this fundraiser together," Lindsey explained in an email. "We first decided to sell ribbons for small donations and create sympathy cards to send to the families and friends of the victims that lost …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Patch blogger Lisa Barr gives her thoughts on the tragedy in Newtown and the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Marsha Lanza of Crystal Lake told media outlets Friday her family was in shock and "shaken to the core" over the news. Her nephew, Adam Lanza, is the suspected shooter in a mass murder at a Conn. Elementary School.
As the country reels over the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut, one local family is especially trying to make sense of what happened Friday. Marsha Lanza, the aunt of the gunman Adam Lanza, lives in Crystal Lake and told the Associated Press Friday she was close with her sister-in-law and Adam's mother, Nancy Lanza. She described Nancy Lanza as "a good mother and kind-hearted" and said she sent her a Facebook message Friday morning but never heard back. Get local news in a daily email from Patch. It's like getting a free newspaper. Learn more. Nancy Lanza is believed to be the first victim in Friday's shooting. After shooting Nancy Lanza in her home, Adam Lanza is believed to have driven his mother's car to Sandy …
McCloud
4:50 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
Marc, Merry Christmas. more ›