CARBONDALE - Higher education was among several topics U.S. Rep. Danny Davis touched on while visiting with the public before the banquet.

Davis was the keynote speaker at the dinner, but took time earlier to speak on several topics, including his continued push for equality in education.

"We've been having some fun in higher education," he said. "There are thousands of kids who need financial aid."

Davis said restrictions on federal financial aid funding due to criminal drug charges create obstacles for students in such a way that might deter them from an education.

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Juvenile Drug Court Gives Teen A Chance To Reclaim Her Life

ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP -- At age 11, Lexie tried drugs for the first time.

The drugs robbed her of an entire childhood, she said.

She became a "street kid" who, wandering around at all hours, felt alienated from her family and committed crimes to feed her habit. Lexie -- who gave birth to a son last spring -- landed in juvenile court and has spent years on probation.

On this day, Lexie reclaimed her life.

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ISU Uses "Core Surveys" To Measure Use And Attitudes About Substance Use

It may not come as a surprise to hear that teenagers are using drugs and alcohol each day, but the numbers produced by the federal government might catch some off guard.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that on an average day nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoke cigarettes, 631,100 drink and 586,00 use marijuana. The numbers continue at that rate, some 50,000 used inhalants, 27,000 used hallucinogens, 13,000 used cocaine and 3,800 used heroin.

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There was much activism around the country this past week as the Students for Sensible Drug Policy launched a campaign to urge Congress to repeal the Aid Elimination Penalty - an amendment that prevents students with drug convictions from receiving financial aid.

The Aid Elimination Penalty "Week of Action," as titled by the SSDP, took place from Oct. 15 to 19 as student activists from across the country gathered at various college campuses to persuade the public to fight the controversial penalty.

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A Drug Enforcement Administration investigation is entering its second year without answers about why the husband of a former Albany County prosecutor was driving a rented car across the country with a backpack with $352,680 in cash.

Federal authorities in Illinois, where a state trooper discovered the money during a routine traffic stop in November 2005, have filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court seeking to seize the cash on the grounds it came from the proceeds of drug dealing.

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URBANA - If a criminal conviction, the potential loss of freedom and a ruined reputation aren't enough to get drug dealers to say no to the lucrative trade, how about homelessness?

Since June, the Champaign County state's attorney's office has succeeded in taking from their owners three homes where drug dealing was going on. The homes are now the property of the Illinois State Police and will be sold, with the proceeds divided among law enforcement.

The one in Champaign, which belonged to Urbana restaurateur Michael Timpone, is close to being sold. The other two are in Urbana. One was listed Sept. 28 with a real estate agent, but the other needs a lot of work before it will be ready to sell, according to Master Sgt. William Colbrook, manager of the asset forfeiture section of the Illinois State Police.

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It seems my letter to the J-S Editor, "Terrifying Justice" Sept. 2, generated very positive and supportive input from the public, and not just locally, but rather from across the country. Sept. 5: "Letter Prompts Anger, Sadness." Sept. 7: "Put an End To Prohibition." And Sept. 7: "Keep Police in Line." One point, just how "controllingly" out of control our law enforcement community has become. Understand. I am not in anyway opposed to law enforcement. As a civilized society we must have it. However, we do not need law enforcement which functions in such a way that it becomes oppressive. Sadly enough, in one way or another the problem stems from or is influenced by the war on drugs, and why we need to fight to end the war on drugs.

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Through all his years in politics, despite the endless obligation to shake hands, smile for the cameras and coax money out of contributors, John McCain has somehow avoided becoming a complete phony-something that John Edwards and Mitt Romney managed to achieve within a week of entering politics. Annoy McCain, and you won't have to wait long to find out.

Even a sickly, soft-spoken woman in a wheelchair gets no pass from him. The other day, at a meeting with voters in New Hampshire, Linda Macia mentioned her use of medical marijuana and politely asked his position on permitting it. Barely were the words out of her mouth before the Arizona senator spun on his heel, stalked away and heaped scorn on the idea.

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School Program To Prevent Drugs, Alcohol, Violence

Monday marked the start of Galesburg District 205's annual Red Ribbon Week, which is really more like a Red Ribbon Month.

Throughout the month DARE officer John Woolsey will be speaking to fourth-grade classes about staying drug free. Woolsey, the Knox County Master Gardeners and former DARE officer Ed Barragan all were at Steele Elementary School Monday to launch the district's first Red Ribbon Week.

During the week, fourth-grade students wear red ribbons with the phrase "I promise to stay drug free" as a reminder to "be honest to ourselves," said Steele Elementary School teacher Angela Brubaker, who is teaching fourth grade for the first time. The goal of the week is to prevent students from getting involved in drugs, alcohol or violence.

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Green Says He's Not Stepping Down

Kankakee Mayor Don Green isn't going anywhere.

That's what he told a city alderman during Monday's City Council meeting, during which Green was asked if there was any truth to the rumor that he was planning to resign prior to the 2009 election.

"I've been receiving phone calls all week," said 5th Ward Ald. Hank Williams, adding that the callers had been wondering "if there was any truth to the rumor that you'd be leaving soon."

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Offensive or just free speech? For decades, high school students have challenged the boundaries of free speech in school, often by wearing material that adults find inappropriate. Here, a student reporter investigates whether anyone's rights were really violated by the banning of controversial T-shirts.

Last Friday morning as students entered school, a group of seniors were pulled aside, all with one thing noticeably in common: their shirts.

These bright green T-shirts, with the words ".08" on the front and "Legally gone" on the back, have been the topic of conversation amongst the senior class in the past week.

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Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Brad Lacy has some news for teenagers who think there's little to no risk in trying methamphetamine once or twice.

"The people we come into contact with refer to meth as 'the devil,' " said Lacy, who heads the West Central Illinois Task Force's Meth Response Team. "For people who are hooked, it's not something even they enjoy ... Meth can consume you very, very quickly."

Lacy's comments come in the wake of a national survey that showed about 30 percent of 2,602 teens surveyed nationally believe there is only a "slight risk" or "no risk" in trying meth once or twice.

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The odds are stacked against former prisoners the minute they leave prison.

It can be a struggle to integrate back into society. More than half of the 42,000 prisoners who left Illinois detention facilities last year will be back behind bars within three years.

The state's recidivism rate of 54.6 percent is calculated on a three-year basis and reflects inmates who left prison in 2001 and were back by 2004.

It's the state's highest rate ever, according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority and Illinois Department of Corrections. Since 1985, when it was 39.1 percent, the rate has steadily increased.

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AFSCME Files Grievance To Challenge City's Ruling

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees says suspensions imposed on two of its members working in Springfield's public works garage are "bogus."

The union has filed a grievance challenging the suspensions.

Gianni Antonacci and Arthur Harmon were suspended without pay the week of Aug. 20, and their supervisor, public works superintendent Dennis McDaniels, was also suspended, according to sources within city government familiar with the actions. City payroll records also show breaks in pay for all three during that pay period.

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With More Than Half of School Tested, Even President Admits It's Not Perfect

Four months after announcing its controversial decision to drug test every student with a sample of hair, reality has hit at St. Viator High School.

And for some students, reality bites.

"I had to have part of my leg shaved," said senior Rob Smith.

Smith, who sports a close cropped hairstyle, didn't have long enough hair on his head to clip for drug testing.

A sample, which must be several centimeters long and approximately the diameter of a shoelace, is taken from each student's body and sent to Psychemedics Corp. laboratories in California, where it is evaluated for traces of marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, PCP and ecstasy.

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I am not in anyway opposed to law enforcement. As a civilized society we must have it. However, we do not need law enforcement which functions in such a way that it becomes oppressive. Sadly enough, in one way or another, the problem stems from or is influenced by, The War on Drugs, and why we need to fight to end The War on Drugs.

To end this war, where do we start? There are so many important reasons.

Drug prohibition creates a lucrative black market that causes violence and disorder, particularly in the inner cities. It draws young people into lives of crime. Thousands of Americans die from drug overdoses or poisonings by adulterants every year. Most of these deaths would be preventable through quality control which would exist if drugs were legal.

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Ex-State Police Informant Faces Nov. 2 Sentencing for Bribery

Omar Abbas -- a paid snitch -- helped the State Police win two murder-for-hire convictions in the 1990s and was an informant for the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.

But apparently, snitching didn't pay enough.

Posing as a corrupt FBI agent and a dirty lawyer, Abbas conned people into forking over thousands of dollars in bribes, authorities say.

Abbas, 41, is awaiting sentencing Nov. 2. A federal jury convicted him in August of impersonating an FBI agent, making false statements to the FBI, and crossing the state line with proceeds from fraud.

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A girl says she would rather have gotten into a car accident than gone to the party where she first tried methamphetamine. A child recalls making pancakes with her father before he became addicted to the drug and disappeared from her life. A woman talks about losing custody of her son when she was hooked on meth.

These real testimonials are part of a dramatic new advertising campaign launched in Illinois and seven other states with high rates of meth use by White House drug czar John Walters. The $10 million campaign aims to raise awareness about the dangers of meth and about the availability of treatment.

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The letter by Bill Smeathers is excellent, having read it online. It is a shame we have turned into a police state at the altar of the war on drugs.

For that reason, there is an organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. They are ashamed of the horrible things some in their profession are doing because of the bad laws that comprise the drug prohibition.

Prohibition is bad for society and it should be ended.

Richard Sinnott

Fort Pierce

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Is there a correlation between the two? This is the scenario. In the wee morning hours and under the cover of darkness, several black clad armed individuals smash in the doors of a home containing a small child and two handicapped (one crippled) adults. Shining flashlights into the bedroom and the face of a sleeping 9-year-old child, they train guns at her head. With incomprehensible screaming and yelling, shock the child awake, instilling in her immeasurable fear and extreme psychological trauma. A psychological trauma this child will live with for the rest of her life.

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