Patch Flash: Idol Contestant’s Injured Girlfriend Speaks Out Against Drunk Driving

Juliana Ramos, fiancée of former American Idol contestant Chris Medina,, was intoxicated at the time of her car accident Oct. 2, 2009. Her blood alcohol content was .16—twice the legal limit of .08. She has since expressed a desire to speak out against drinking and driving.

Others think that language plays a much more important role in the acceptance of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning) students. "Faggot" is just a word, said one student. An insult you might casually toss at a friend or aim at someone during a dispute. He doesn’t hate gay people, he said. To him, that’s not what the word means. Evanston Patch is running a three-part series on LGBTQ issues at the high school.

Dealing with economically-deprived students has been a regular duty of some suburban districts that have had lower-income demographics for decades. But now even more affluent school systems, like District 207 in Park Ridge, have to cope with a myriad of negative effects on youths from the economy.

According to police reports, two white men wearing hooded jackets and gloves entered the LaGrange Road gas station at about 3:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17, and waited at the counter for service. "Give me all the money in the drawer and in the lottery machine or I'll end you," one of the robbers told the clerk who arrived to help them.