The Herald News

No matter who did what on a July night in the parking lot of a Frankfort Square school, Brandon Lauer ended up slashed across the neck and with a stab wound in his belly. On Tuesday, the mother of the teenage girl Lauer accused of taking part in the knife attack that left him clinging to life secured a court order forbidding him from coming around her.

A man was dragged from his car and pistol-whipped by three men Tuesday, Joliet police said.

The Steger man who wrecked his car in a crash that killed his girlfriend's 5-year-old son beat the state by getting his driver's license reinstated, but he won't be getting behind the wheel again any time soon.

Furloughs. Layoffs. Long lines at the unemployment office. Shredded salaries. These days, everyone is concerned about the economy. People want to know when things will get better, and they pray things won't get worse. That's why Will County Board member John Anderson, D-Monee, held his second breakfast Wednesday for workers and labor leaders at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 173 hall.

A group of firefighters running across the country to honor those killed Sept. 11, 2001, spent some time in the area Wednesday.

A special ceremony for the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, will be held by the members of the Harry E. Anderson Veterans of Foreign Wars, Tom E. Hartung American Legion Post 1977 and 2010 Steering Committee of ShareFest.

Each year since 1995, the Lincoln-Way High School Foundation has raised a significant portion of its money by raffling off a home built by students in the building trades classes.

Plainfield School District has spent $10,428 in legal fees in a three-month period regarding a grievance filed on behalf of 19 female campus monitors who were laid off based on gender instead of seniority.

Sun-Times Media announced Thursday it has partnered with Online Automotive Solutions to launch ToDrive.com, an exciting automobile marketplace that is the Chicago region's first and most comprehensive hyperlocal automotive site that will give consumers a premium automobile search experience.

The Exchange Club Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect at Guardian Angel Community Services will offer Positive Parenting Classes.

Nearly two years after an 8-month-old boy was beaten to death, his mother's former boyfriend has been charged with murder.

Thieves stole an expensive power wheelchair from the back of a vehicle Monday night.

The emerald ash borer may have made its way into Plainfield. Several municipal trees planted in public parkways have started to show signs of infestation by the tiny beetles, village staff members say. But they have not yet officially confirmed whether it is the ravenous bug. "We got to the point where we were pretty sure we do have it. We just have not confirmed it," said T.J. Countryman, arborist for the village of Plainfield.

Things are much quieter at the landfill on South Chicago Street since the days when it was embroiled in a family feud involving then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has confirmed A Carol Stream woman was the first human case of West Nile virus in the state this year.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the group's self-titled 1974 tour debut with the release of a live symphonic DVD, "There's Know Place Like Home," Kansas is touring the country this summer and fall, including the 9 p.m. Saturday performance at the Commons in New Lenox.

The United Way of Will County announced Beth Hughes, executive vice president and COO at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center, as the 2010-11 campaign chairwoman for their annual giving campaign.

University of St. Francis partnered with the Consulate of Mexico in Chicago, the U.S. Department of Labor and allied organizations to promote the third Semana de Derechos Laborales or Labor Rights Week, which runs through Friday.

About 100 or so Minooka Grade School students will have to change schools for the 2011-12 school year, Superintendent Al Gegenheimer said.

This week's winner for photo of two monkeys: "This banshee banana scent always drives him crazy," by David Creel of Carbon Hill.