Free Republic

Two people are facing criminal charges after a “party game” gone wrong ended in a man’s death. Authorities said Jimmy Mounts, 27, of Romeoville, was at a garage party in the 2000 block of Waterford in Crest Hill Sept. 25 when he starting offering other guests $5 if they could take a punch from 21-year-old Tiffany Startz, of Joliet. John A. Powell, 25, who was 5-foot-8 and weighed 140 pounds, took Mounts’ wager and stood before the 5-foot-5, 142-pound Startz, police said. Witnesses told police Startz swung and hit Powell once in the face. He collected his money from Mounts...

"Never, ever leave home without it." No, not your American Express card, your sidearm.This morning, I woke up about 4:15 and was hungry, so I decided to drive to the local 24-hour beanery. The only other customers were a table of 10, intoxicated 20-somethings making alot of noise.There were 7 muscular young men and three loud-mouthed young women. After listening to their raucous laughter for 10 minutes, I politely asked the waitress to ask them to hold down the noise. All I wanted to do was eat my breakfast in relative peace.Her request for quiet lasted about 45 seconds, then...