A Common-Sense Conversation on School Safety

In the wake of Sandy Hook, readers are just looking for common-sense solutions.

As reported earlier in the week, neirghboring St. Charles School District 303 is getting ready to spend more than $300,000 to upgrade school security. That led to a question and discussion as to whether upgrades are needed here in Geneva.  In a sampling of Geneva Facebook comments, readers are hoping for common-sense solutions to keep schools safe—without breaking the bank. Here are some comments: You can read more comments on the Geneva Patch Facebook page and leave your own comment in the field below.     Click the "Keep Me Posted" button below this text.

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Vigil Remembers 1-Month Anniversary of Newtown Tragedy

About 50 people gather in downtown Batavia Monday night to remember the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School, including 6-year-old Charlotte Bacon, the granddaughter of former St. Mark's members Dan and Lindie Bacon.

A group of Batavians packed a downtown street corner Monday night to remember those lost in the Newtown, CT, school shooting and to show support for change in gun control. The residents stood on the southwest corner of South Batavia Avenue (Route 31) and Wilson Street, according to a Patch reader report. Residents held candles and signs with phrases like "Remember Newtown" so motorists passing through downtown could see them. The vigil was scheduled to last one hour, starting at 7 p.m., according to an e-mail sent Jan. 10 by organizers Page and Carol McCloud. "This Monday will mark one month since the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut," the e-mail said. "As time passes, it is important that discussion continues and focus be maintained …

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Jeff Ward

Dick's Sporting Goods Action Actually Does Less Than Nothing

A temporary ban on toy guns. Really? Does that do anything to address the violence at Sandy Hook?

My younger son and his friends love to play with Airsoft guns. We’d prefer he indulge in his less-violent interests, but my wife and I have come to realize that capricious household bans often backfire and those toys aren’t nearly as dangerous as the BB guns of our youth. For the uninitiated, Airsoft guns, which may or may not be smaller-sized replicas of the real thing, are generally plastic contraptions that fire various caliber plastic BBs at very low velocities. If the boys wear sweatshirts and the masks the company sells, they can engage in a far cleaner version of paintball without fear of injury or collateral damage. So as you might imagine, with some pre-Christmas money burning a hole clean through his right hand pocket, my son and…

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Jeff Ward

2:06 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012

Jon, Though I probably shouldn't be surprised, I can't believe someone actually wrote, "Using your logic we should ban all passenger planes." Really??? No, but they certainly banned anyone from taking a box cutters on a airplane.   more ›

Newtown Violence Inspires Kindness in St. Charles

Resident finds gift card on vehicle with a note instructing him to "pay it forward" in memory of the Sandy Hook School victims.

The reverberations from the violence at Sandy Hook School were felt far beyond Newtown, CT, inspiring great sympathy but also fear among parents and educators in communities across the nation. Perhaps that is why, even as a nation reaches out in big and small ways to help a grieving Connecticut community, some have been inspired to do the same in their own communities. One might dismiss what a St. Charles man found on his vehicle last week as the result of Christmas spirit. Those who celebrate the season do, after all, take delight in secret gift-giving and spreading seasonal cheer. Except the note that accompanied the $10 gift card to Panera Bread made it clear this gift was not a typical season’s greeting: It was a request to bless …

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St. Mark's Church Reaches Out To Family of Girl in Newtown Shooting

St. Mark's in Geneva received donations to help some former members dealing with the loss of their granddaughter, Charlotte Bacon. She was one of the first-graders who died in the Dec. 14 Newtown school shooting.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Geneva gathered donations to help some former members who lost a granddaughter in Friday's tragic shooting in Connecticut. Dan and Lindie Bacon are former St. Mark's missionaries and Batavia residents. They moved to Newtown, CT, this year to help raise their grandchildren. One of those grandchildren, 6-year-old Charlotte Bacon, was one of the 20 students who died in the shooting at Sandy Hill Elementary School in Newtown. On Sunday, the church received donations to purchase an airplane ticket for one of the family's sons living in Australia, and also for the granddaughter's funeral, the Aurora Beacon-News reports. A visitation will be held for Charlotte today, Tuesday, Dec. 18, at Christ the King Lutheran …

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