Friday, May 3, 2013
If former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner is found to have been insane when he allegedly threatened district officials, he will be found not guilty.
A date was set to determine whether former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner was insane when he allegedly threatened district officials. Gardner, 41, has been jailed since Jan. 16. Before that, he was receiving psychiatric treatment at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. Gardner's attorney, Alexander Beck, said at a previous hearing that Gardner's mental state improved while he was at the hospital but has since "deteriorated." Gardner's fitness hearing was set for May 17. Beck has been trying to prove that Gardner was legally insane when he allegedly made a Dec. 6 telephone call to Lincoln-Way School District Deputy Superintendent Thomas Eddy. About a week after the call to Eddy, the authorities in the Danville …
Monday, April 29, 2013
Former Lincoln-Way Central teacher Ryan Gardner's mental state improved while he was in a Chicago hospital, but has deteriorated in the three and a half months he's been locked up in the county jail, said his lawyer.
Former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner got his chance to talk in court Monday, but passed on it. Gardner, who has been jailed since January for allegedly threatening Lincoln-Way school district officials, still wanted to speak even after his attorney warned him that prosecutors could end up using his words against him. "That's fine," Gardner told his lawyer, Alexander Beck. "I've been doing a lot of research since I was in jail," Gardner said, "and I've read a lot of books." Will County Judge Edward Burmila asked Gardner why he wanted to address the court. "See, your honor, everything is pushed," Gardner replied. "Pushed, pushed back." Beck has been trying to prove that Gardner was legally insane when he allegedly made…
Friday, April 19, 2013
A psychiatric evaluation of a former Lincoln-Way Central teacher charged with threatening district officials will be available for his hearing on whether he is fit to stand trial.
A Will County judge scheduled a fitness hearing for a former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher charged with threatening school district officials. Judge Edward Burmila set an April 29 date for arguments on whether jailed former teacher Ryan Gardner, 41, was legally sane when he allegedly made threatening statements. Gardner, most recently a resident of downstate Danville, has been jailed since Jan. 16 on a felony charge of making a telephone threat. Prior to his being processed at the Will County jail, Gardner was receiving psychiatric care at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. He had checked himself into the hospital voluntarily. Gardner was hit with the felony charge after he allegedly made a Dec. 6 telephone call to …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
If you've got wit, add your punchline to Patch's weekly comic and win a personalized print.
Are you blessed with insight and good humor? Or just bored today? Share your wit with your south suburban neighbors by entering Patch's comic caption challenge. Just add your dialogue for today's comic in the comment section of this post. Our only requirement is that you keep it clean! At week's end, we'll pick the winning punchline based on how many of us here at Patch giggle and smile at your contribution. The user who produces the winning punchline will get a personalized proof of the comic, with the winning words and a credit line, from cartoonist Chuck Ingwersen and Patch. Congratulations to Bob Laird for the winning punchline to last week's Snowman cartoon: I don't know how he could stand it. Would you scratch my nose for me?
Friday, February 8, 2013
Former Lincoln-Way teacher Ryan Gardner will be examined to see if he was legally insane when he allegedly made threats against district officials.
A former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher charged with threatening school district officials may have been legally insane at the time of the incident, his lawyer suggested during an arraignment Friday morning in Will County court. Ryan Gardner, 40, most recently a resident of downstate Danville, has been jailed since Jan. 16 on a felony charge of making a telephone threat. Prior to his being processed at the Will County jail, Gardner was receiving psychiatric care at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. He had checked himself into the hospital voluntarily. Gardner was hit with the felony charge after he allegedly made a Dec. 6 telephone call to Lincoln-Way School District Deputy Superintendent Thomas Eddy. About a week after …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
A Lockport woman claims her lungs were injured when a pump at a Homer Glen service station malfunctioned.
A malfunctioning gas pump spewed fuel into a Lockport woman's lungs and landed her in the hospital for a week, said the lawyer suing an oil company on her behalf. "The way she described it to me, it was like her lungs were on fire and she couldn't catch her breath," attorney Frank Cservenyak said of his client, 64-year-old Martha Farmer. Farmer was pumping gas into her car at the 12007 159th St. Speedway station in Homer Glen in January 2011 when the pump failed to shut off, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Will County court. The pump kept running and continued "to spray gasoline upon patrons," the suit says. "You take it for granted that it's going to turn off," said Cservenyak, telling how gasoline "mist and vapor" got into …
Sunday, February 26, 2012
As the Joliet hospital shuttled its final patients to the new location in New Lenox, employees and neighbors shared their memories.
Gwen Ulmer started as a certified nursing assistant at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet when she was 18, fresh out of high school. That was 43 years ago. "We're a dying breed that people do not begin and end their career in the same place," said Ulmer, now community relations coordinator. Sunday was the last day for Silver Cross in Joliet. As workers peeled the markings off the building, a series of ambulances started shuttling the final 129 patients down the road to a new Silver Cross in New Lenox. Read "Silver Cross Hospital Wows Patients, Families in Transition to New Lenox" to see what awaited the patients. Ulmer is not the longest-lasting employee of the Joliet facility, which moved to a new site in New Lenox on Sunday. That honor …
shawn
6:23 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Very well said Jed. It's beyond obvious he needs help. I do wonder though if he had been treated due to his mental history. Many that are treated with medication tend to stop taking their meds because they think they are mentally sound when in actuality it is the meds that are doing their job. If he is medicated and stops his meds he can become a threat to society. There has to be a better way of… more ›