Illinois shuts down video gambling during coronavirus

are any gambling machines open in illinois

are any gambling machines open in illinois - win

15 Most Famous Slot Machines and Most Popular Slot Games

1. Liberty Bell

Invented and designed by a San Francisco mechanic named Charles Fey in 1895, the Liberty Bell is the first slot machine. The main symbols here include horseshoes, stars, spades, diamonds, hearts, and Liberty Bells. Once three bells are aligned, the machine pays 50 cents.
Having a coin slot at the top, it features small reels in the middle and a paytable at the bottom. It works like this - players insert a Nickel and pull a lever on the right-hand side to spin the reels. Although the Operator Bell and Liberty Bell have been removed from casinos, the original Liberty Bell on display can be seen in the Liberty Belle saloon in Reno, Nevada.

2. Lion's Share

One of the most famous slot machines, Microgaming’s classic slot Lion's Share, gained a lot of success back in 2014, due to news channels that discussed the topic on how Lion's Share's progressive jackpot hasn’t been hit for two decades. Thousands of people have tried but no one was lucky enough to pull it off.
Although the machine only featured 3 reels and only 1 payline, Lion’s Share has managed to become one of the most popular releases in Vegas, so popular that people waited in line just to put a coin into it and try spinning those reels.
Eventually, a New Hampshire couple hit the $2.4 million progressive jackpot in MGM’s Grand’s Lion’s Share. Soon after, MGM Grand made a decision to retire the Lion's Share machine since it required a lot of maintenance. Still, the game became part of slot history with a jackpot that took 20 years to win.

3. Megabucks

Created by IGT, Megabucks has managed to become one of the world's best progressive slot machines. The game is also responsible for numerous big wins throughout the entire jackpots’ history. Also known as the biggest money jackpots of all time, Megabucks slot machines are described as simple games with a massive progressive jackpot. One of the biggest wins was when an anonymous engineer won a staggering $39.7 million at Las Vegas' Excalibur, back in 2003.
As for the other big wins hit on this machine, there was a cocktail waitress Cynthia Jay Brennan who snagged an incredible $34.9 million at Vegas' Desert Inn, as well as a retired flight attendant hitting $27.5 million at Vegas' Palace Statio­n. J­ohanna Huendl won $22.6 million whereas an Illinois businessman hit $21.3 million on the very first spin.
However, after winning the prize, one of the winner's family members had a tragic accident, which (as some believe) only supported the theory of a Megabucks curse. Other unfortunate stories are just believed to be urban legends, including anecdotes about underage players, as well as casino employees, being big winners but not being able to claim their jackpots because of specific state laws and regulation.

4. Wheel of Fortune

IGT’s Wheel of Fortune has proven to be the second most famous slot machine of all time. Featuring a bonus feature just like the real show, the slot machine is usually played by many slot fans and can be found in numerous casinos all over the globe. Although the game comes in more variations, probably the most popular one is still its 3-reel version, with a colourful wheel at the top.
The Wheel of Fortune multiplayer game features a bank of machines where every player gets their own screen. What makes the game even more exciting is the multiplayer edition where people can play the bonus round together, which really intensifies the game show aspect.
In a 5-reel Wheel of Fortune slot, however, Wild symbols will help players land winning combos and, if you’re lucky enough, you may get a Super Wild that will boost your win up to 5x! Last but not least, the Triple Action Bonus is activated by getting at least 3 Triple Action Bonus symbols anywhere on the reels. But still, none of the newer Wheel of Fortune slots measure up to the original one because of the large progressive jackpot involved.
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5. Mega Fortune

Featuring 5 reels and 25 paylines, NetEnt’s Mega Fortune slot became very popular among players as it usually grows into a multimillion-euro amount before being hit. The main symbols here include luxury cars, yachts, and expensive jewellery, Mega Fortune is an online slot machine game which justifies its theme that comes with the largest ever online slot jackpots.
The game offers a few different features that make the entire gameplay more fascinating, however, by far the most interesting ones are the 3 different progressive jackpots: Mega Jackpot, Major Jackpot and Rapid Jackpot. There are counters for all 3 of these that are displayed above the reels. Champagne is the Scatter and if you land at least 3 of them simultaneously, you will trigger Free Spins bonus round. Likewise, Wheel of Luck is the Bonus symbol, and if you land 3 or more symbols in succession from left to right on an active payline, you will activate the Bonus game.
What’s interesting about this slot is the fact that a Finnish man won a huge jackpot worth €17.8 million while spinning the reels of Mega Fortune. This record from 2013, has been passed by Mega Moolah, but the game is still proof how rich players can get after playing Mega Fortune.
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6. Mega Moolah

Powered by Microgaming and being among most popular slot games, Mega Moolah is a 25-payline progressive slot which has served as a competitor to Mega Fortune's big jackpots. Followed by African safari music, the game features antelopes, elephants, giraffes, lions, monkeys and zebras as the main symbols.
Landing at least 3 Scatters at the same time will trigger 15 Free Spins. What’s more, all wins hit during Free Spins are tripled, whereas Free Spins can also be retriggered. Players can win one of the 4 Progressive Jackpots within the randomly triggered Bonus round.
The game paid some of the largest slot machine jackpots that have ever been triggered. In 2015,for example, Mega Moolah gained international recognition when a British soldier Jon Heywood won a massive €17,879,645.
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7. Cleopatra

Inspired by the famous Egyptian theme and Developed by IGT, Cleopatra is a 20-payline classic game that managed to stand out above similar releases. Featuring ancient Egyptian music, the main symbols here include Cleopatra, the Eye of Horus, scarabs, and pyramids. Landing at least 3 Sphinx symbols will trigger the Cleopatra Bonus, which awards 15 Free Spins. All prizes, except for the 5 Cleopatra symbols, are tripled in the Free Spins round.
The game has been so successful that it inspired its creators to make a sequel, Cleopatra II, with richer graphics and engaging sound effects. But even if you choose the original game, you'll be playing a classic that's still enjoyed by various players today. And, in case you land 5 Cleopatra symbols you’ll get a jackpot of 10,000 coins.

8. Book of Ra

Having a popular Ancient-Egypt theme, Book of Ra has always been one of the best choices to play in land based and online casinos. Powered by Novomatic, Book of Ra is a 9 payline video slot that offers plenty of bonus features and big payouts. With entertaining narrative and energising gameplay, there are numerous ways to win here.
In case you land 5 archaeologists simultaneously, you’ll get an impressive 5,000x your line bet. Earning big bucks, however, comes from the Free Spins feature. What players need to do is land at least 3 Scatter books to trigger the Free Spins feature. Pages of the book will flip and randomly determine which symbol will expand during the 10 Free Spins.
Although hitting the jackpot may not be easy, with only a few one in between, when big wins come, they can be big.

9. Starburst

There’s no denying NetEnt’s Starburst slot became kinda legendary in the iGaming universe. With its dark background and shiny space looking gemstones, Starburst slot features 5 reels and 10 paylines. The well-known futuristic music in this release is also easily noticeable, as is the game’s expanding Wild.
More precisely, the Wilds may only occur on the reels 2, 3 and 4, and, once 1 or more wilds appear on those reels, the Starburst Wild feature will be activated. During this feature, Starburst wilds expand to cover the entire reel and remain while the other reels re-spin. Should a new wild land during a re-spin, it expands and stays along with any previously expanded Starbursts for another re-spin.
Another cool feature is that Starburst pays both ways, instead of only paying you for landing at least 3 identical symbols on adjacent reels starting with the reel furthest to the left. The maximum single spin payout for a person (betting the $200 maximum) is $100,000. But, in order for that to happen, you must land five bars on consecutive reels on an active payline. Players love this slot, probably because it’s suitable for both newbies and experienced players.

10. Immortal Romance

Powered by Microgaming, Immortal Romance is based on sci-fi and the cult of Vampires which has become one of the popular casino slot machines in the last couple of years. Apart from superb graphics and great audio and visual effects, the slot features 5 reels and 243 paylines, and the theoretical RTP rate of 96.86%. The four main characters are Amber, Troy, Michael and Sarah.
When it comes to features and bonus games, Immortal Romance offers different variants. Wild Desire feature can occur randomly, and as soon as it does, it can turn 1 to 5 reels completely Wild. Likewise, landing 3 or more Scatters anywhere on the reels in this game, activates the Chamber of Spins feature which cannot be triggered during Wild Desire.
The game is still among the most popular slots, as many players still try their luck in this slot in the hope to get the highest multiplier possible.

11. Gonzo’s Quest

Beautifully designed video slot powered by NetEnt, Gonzo Quest features 5 reels and 20 paylines. The story is based on the famous conquistador Gonzalo Pizzaro who is on his way to the Peruvian ruins and just about to experience the unique quest.
Now, Gonzo’s Quest has become one of the most popular slot games of all time, probably because it comes with a few interesting features, Avalanche Multipliers feature being the most interesting one of all. In Essence, the reels in the slot move in a cascading manner which resemble an Avalanche. As you activate each new Avalanche, you will win a multiplier. Multipliers are displayed above the reels, and go up to 5x, that is if you land 4 or more avalanches simultaneously.

12. Age of the Gods

Being among famous slot machines and inspired by Ancient Greek mythology, Age of the Gods is a 5-reel, 20-payline progressive slot powered by Playtech. The main characters are Athena, Zeus, Hercules, and Poseidon power up 4 free game modes that offer extra wilds and win multipliers! Once you start spinning, you’ll come across a series of bonus features, such as Athena Free Games, Zeus Free Games, Poseidon Free Games and Hercules Free Games.
Wild logo is the game’s wild card and it substitutes for all symbols, with the exception of the Scatter. Landing at least 3 Scatters anywhere on the reels simultaneously triggers the Bonus game. Moreover, landing 5 God symbols in any order on an active payline will get you 200x your line bet!
During the main game, any spin can activate the Age of the Gods Mystery Jackpot. This mini game guarantees a win of up to 4 progressive jackpots. All you gotta do is click on the coins to reveal jackpot symbols, and if you match 3 identical ones, you will win that jackpot.

13. Money Honey

Having a cute theme, Money Honey is a 5-reel and a 243 payline slot themed around honey. With Wilds, Free Spins, Scatters and multipliers, it is a fast-paced exciting creation featuring vibrant colours. Likewise, it is a mobile-optimized slot which may be an excellent choice if you’re new to online gambling or if you’ve been playing for years.
Just like in other games, Wilds will help you win payouts as they are able to replicate most other symbols on the reels once a winning combination has been made. Another symbol you may want to keep your eyes on is a Money Wheel card. Once you manage to land at least 3 of them on your reels after a spin, the bonus game begins, and you spin a big wheel to choose a prize.

14. Quick Hit

And our selection wouldn’t be complete without Bally's Quick Hit slot. Featuring traditional Las Vegas symbols with sharp graphics and relaxed music, the video slot has 5 reels, 3 rows, and 30 paylines. Once you decide how many paylines you want to bet on, your gaming adventure can begin. There are Scatters symbols and three bonus games to benefit from.
The biggest payout here comes from landing the triple seven symbol. Should you land 5 of these lucky numbers on the reels at the same time, you will win 5,000 coins, whereas if you land five wild symbols, you’ll get 12,500 coins.
Those looking for hitting a jackpot should pay attention to Quick Hit Platinum symbols as 5 of these contribute to 5,000x players’ original bet amount – and even more, with the max bet activated. The second-highest jackpot can be hit by landing 9 Quick Hit Slot symbols. Both the Quick Hit Platinum and regular Quick Hit symbols must occur on or within one position of the first payline to be eligible for a jackpot win.

15. SlotZilla Zip Line

And now something completely different. We’re finishing our selection of famous slots in style, with the world’s largest slot machine - StotZilla Zip Line - 128 feet tall which has two take-off levels. This $12 million SlotZilla zip line took more than a year to build and opened its doors in 2014 and has already had more than 2 million riders so far.
The 11-story slot machine is decorated with over-sized dice, a glass of martini, a pink flamingo, video reels, coins, and two showgirls - Jennifer and Porsha. SlotZilla offers two different rider experiences - the upper Zoomline and a lower Zipline. This unique machine has a huge video screen with reels and a gigantic arm, replicating a true slot machine experience.
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Transparent Voter Suppression by GOP

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Maryland
Michigan
Mississippi
Nevada
New Hampshire
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Texas
Virginia
Wisconsin
National
"I don't want everybody to vote... As a matter of fact our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
-Paul Weyrich, co-founder of Heritage Foundation and ALEC, 1980
“Look, if African Americans voted overwhelmingly Republican, they would have kept early voting right where it was,” Wrenn said. “It wasn’t about discriminating against African Americans. They just ended up in the middle of it because they vote Democrat.”
-Carter Wrenn, Republican consultant in North Carolina
“There's a lot of liberal folks in those other schools who that maybe we don't want to vote. Maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult. And I think that's a great idea.”
-Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican Senator of Mississippi, 2003
Seeking more examples, if you have them.
Get out and vote. https://www.vote.org/
submitted by Kakamile to Keep_Track [link] [comments]

This is Why I Hate Working with Children

Hello All,
It’s your least favorite semi-regular NoSleep contributor here to share another of my collected stories. If you’re unfamiliar I normally edit myself out of these in order to tell the story from the victim’s point of view. I see lots of weird shit, and it gives me all kinds of pleasure to share it with you. FWIW if you’ve had a terrifying experience and would like to share with me, I’d be glad to pass a scare along to others.
This latest retelling… I don’t know what to say. I can’t think of a good way to take myself out. If I was better at writing fiction, maybe I could, but since I'm not; the easiest way to convey this one was just to tell it from my point of view. Happy Nightmares.
I lease a small office in the Suburbs of North Chicagoland. It’s modest but it’s well-kept and tidy. Truth be told I keep it for two reasons: 1) To store all my “nice” books, the ones that I might have electronic copies of, but can’t bear to part with because of leather binding or sentimental reasons etc., and 2) because I need a space away from my home office to do things from time to time. As you can imagine, meeting with people that have had experiences with the supernatural and other terrifying occurrences, I don’t really want to meet all those people at my home office. If anyone were to look into my past, it makes for a nice appearance and façade of normalcy.
The unit has a waiting room and an office. The waiting room has a decent couch and some comfy sitting chairs. I put out brain teasers and magazines. There’s even a decent Keurig coffee machine and pod tree next to a water dispenser.
My office is full of my creature comforts for when I’m staying there instead of in my house proper. Some clients see it and decide to talk in the waiting room, their loss. Inside you'll find a futon, and rocker recliner, a couple of desk chairs for client and a room filing over-sized desk with matching chair. It might sound eclectic, but I like what I like.
For anyone in the know. You can come to me, I will interview you. I will ask you lots of questions maybe do some investigation on your behalf (if your story initial story is interesting enough) and if you feel like it you can pay me. If your story is interesting I can convey it for you. I know it’s not a real strong business model, but I’m set and I’m doing what I love.
My business is word of mouth only. It helps to keep out most of the doubters and adventure seekers. I have nothing against either of these groups, but I had to earn my way into this profession, so I believe in the right of passage for them as well.
Tommy’s mother came into my office waiting room with her son in tow. She didn’t have an appointment and I was getting the distinct feeling that somehow she thought barging into my office and sitting in my waiting room was somehow an imposition on her.
I beckoned them in offering coffee and pop (yes pop, even after being exiled to Illinois I’m still a Michigan boy). I didn’t have anything else going on so I thought I would see if I could help this woman and her child, or at least get a good story out of it.
“Tommy be a good boy and stay here playing with the puzzles, okay?” She smiled at ‘Tommy’ who seemed totally detached. I’m not saying to be mean, but where I grew up, they would have called that ‘sickly’. For a kid that age, his clothes; which were way nicer than mine, were looking loose like he hadn’t been eating. His face was pale and sallow like he’d been losing sleep. The poor kid had bags under his eyes and a death grip on a small blanket. She hadn’t needed to tell the kid not to move, he looked like if he did anything it would be pass out in my waiting room. This is usually pretty good indication that I’ll have a story to share with you. Poor kid.
September is usually the lull before the storm in the supernatural realm. It’s not that all the preternatural creatures of the world are dormant, far from it, it’s just that they seem to be laying low from the heat of August and bidding their time for late October and early November. So I was a little surprised to see someone, and being free I was eager to take down someone’s story. I closed the door so Tommy didn’t have to hear.
“What can I do for you Mrs.…?”
“Buchanan.” I changed the name, anonymity is good for business. “I am hiring you to come to my house. There you are to tell my family and house-staff that there’s nothing supernatural going on. You’re going to tell my son specifically that there’s no such thing as monsters, and that he doesn’t need that ratty little security blanket with him night and day.”
I had to smirk at this. It’s not my typical fare. This was going to end up being one hell of ride. I stared at her for a minute and started cracking my knuckles. It’s a bit of a subconscious habit. I know it can be off putting but I think what bothers people most about it is that I do it one handed. My little focusing technique is the result of a lot fist fights. If people don’t know me well it can certainly amp up the tension.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Buchanan. I decide what cases I take. Such a statement could only come after thorough investigation; and logically, I can’t prove the absence of something without going to some extreme lengths. And, it’s been my experience people have never needed help being told there’s no such thing as monsters, even as cover face reality is biting on their throat.”
“Hmm. I see. Tell me, how does someone like you become acquainted with classical logic?” I could tell by her tone that she was goading me. Seems like she thought she clever by throwing a jab without insulting me outright.
“And by ‘someone like’ me what exactly do you mean?”
“Oh dear, isn’t it obvious? Someone so rural, and clearly a charlatan. There’s not need to be crass about it, I’ll pay you your fee, and you can do your little spiel in my household and your little placebo will help my son sleep through a night.”
I grinned at her. Now she’d done it. I may be young, I may have a rural upbringing. But don’t EVER confuse young and rural with being stupid.
How in the Hell had this one gotten my card? I should mention that my grin is also a bit off putting. It’s the same grin whether I’m happy or angry. You can only pickup subtle differences by looking in my eyes. In most people, it makes them sweat. I wanted this prissy little twat out of my office, but the chance to make her eat her own words and to get a sufficiently scary story to creep out those of you brave enough to enjoy my work was too much. I wanted her to sweat through that stupid Vera Wang ensemble, but if I told her to ‘go pound sand’. I would miss my chance.
Well nice to know that this ice queen wasn’t totally oblivious she had the good sense to realize that my grin wasn’t friendly.
“You know, we have books out in the country too. Internet and satellite TV even, indoor plumbing and everything.”
“Maybe this was a bigger mistake than I thought. I should be going.”
“Please stay. I insist.” With that there were little micro signs of unease on her face, she was clearly a seasoned pro at hiding emotion.
“I will of course pay you for your time this afternoon.” Ah money, growing up poor I always wondered what it would be like when I got to this level. Turns out, when you no longer have to worry about being able to buy most things, you think you can buy all things.
“Of course you will. Everyone who comes through my door pays me. No one ever leaves without at least telling me their story.”
“Well I’m sure that must keep you very busy, so now I really must leave.”
“No One. Leaves. Without. Telling. Their. Story.” I cracked my knuckles again. I know, those tactics are a little harsh, but she was really being a bitch and that little kid out there needed a helping hand. Clearly something was going on there, but I wouldn’t be able to help until I knew more. I know a couple of really good social workers and psychiatrists that can help (not just drug you or give you to the state) that can help for not supernatural stuff. But, I wouldn’t be able to figure out if he needed that or my services without a bit more information.
Those little rivulets of sweat beading up from her makeup were pretty unattractive. I keep the ac in my office between 68 and 70 degrees (19-20C for you Canucks) so it certainly wasn’t the room.
“Muh house staff claim thur ’r straaange thangs goingon.” She cleared her throat. Oh my. Little bit of a southern twang when she gets rattled. She started again. “It started recently. I don’t know exactly when, but it has something to do with that blanket. I was with some of the other mothers at Tommy’s school when someone made a comment to the effect of ‘isn’t Tommy a bit old to still have a security blanket’. When I asked him why he holds onto it. He said it keeps the black men away. As you can guess I was completely mortified. So I tried to coax him out of it, but he was very stubborn about it. I’ve actually never seen him so difficult. ‘Huee waz… He was not letting it go. No matter what I tried, he dug in and screamed and hollar’d… threw a tantrum."
I don't know why she would be embarrassed by a Southern dialect, but any time she caught herself she would repeat with proper denotation and enunciation of a accent free Midwesterner.
"Finally, when he was asleep, I snuck into his room a snuck it away. No one got any sleep that night. I think maybe even the neighbors heard his screaming. After that, every little thing is the works of spooks or haints…the paranormal.” She was regaining composure.
Good enough.
“Mrs. Buchanan. I AM going to help you. However. However, from this minute until the time I leave your house you will do exactly what I say, when I say it. Is that understood?” She looked a little taken aback, and started to huff about it. “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s not that kind of party, though you look like you could use a good dicking. Now am I understood?”
She stared back at me with brilliant cold hard eyes. She pursed her lips like should couldn’t bear to say it, so she nodded curtly at me.
“Excellent. Now when I give you the signal you will hide in this closet.” I opened a closet made to look like a wall panel. “You will not make a sound until I give the signal to come out. Am I understood?” My tone left her no room to argue. She was clearly uneasy about all of this, but if you’ve ever met me, you know I’m very persuasive.
“What’s the signal?” She asked as I moved the panel back, instructing her where to grab.
“You’ll know it when you see it. Now play along and soon everything will back to margarita parties and snorting lines of blow off the pool boy’s dick, or whatever it is you do to keep busy in the afternoon.”
Oh my God. It looked like I had short-circuited her brain. Another minute and smoke might actually come out of ears.
“Relax it was a joke. C’mon lighten up we’re going to have fun. Or at least Tommy and I will. Now play along.”
I opened my office door. Tommy hadn’t moved. Damn. I hate when weird stuff messes with kids. Unfortunately, kids haven’t been jaded by the world enough to not pay attention to creatures of the night. Predators go after easy prey when they can find it, trust me I know; preternatural predators are no exception.
“Hey Tommy. My name’s Bick (used my real name here just to be clear). You wanna come in here guy?” He looked to his mother who for a change gave what looked to be a warm smile and nodded at him. He still didn’t look too sure.
I opened the door to my office all the way so he could see all the way inside. Man this was bad. This kid looked so on edge and frayed that he might start bawling. I had to tread really carefully here. I didn't want the kid going catatonic and sucking his thumb. He seemed to ease down when he saw the blankets I keep draped over the back of the futon and my easy chair. In fact, he fixated on them.
“What’s up guy? You want to sit in my chair? It’s really comfortable.” He shook his head no and crossed his arms hugging himself and the blanket closer. “You sure? I can move the blankets and you can rock on it.” He really started shaking his head ‘No’ to that. I had messed up here. He had been edging further into my office but not he looked ready to bolt again. I had to think fast if I was going to keep this kid from having a panic attack.
“Okay, okay, not the chair. You like blankets?” He stopped violently shaking his head. He kind of buried his face in his arms but gave me a little nod. “How about this? You can sit on the couch and crawl under the blankets?” His eyes lit up when I said that, and he looked towards his mom like he was looking for the okay, or maybe like he was going to get in trouble for something. I don’t know which exactly kids can be a bit hard to read.
“Oh shoot, Tommy. I forgot. Before I can build the blanket fort, I need to show you a magic trick. You see these are magical blankets.”
“They are?” Ouch, right in the feels. The sound of fractured hope from someone so young, it’s tough.
“They sure are. But the magic isn’t in them yet. I have to say the magic word and then the magic will come into them.”
“What’s the magic word?”
“Please.” He cracked a big ol’ smile while telling that groaner of a dad joke. It seemed to work though. Tommy dropped his arms to hanging in front of him, though still clutching the blanket. “Okay but seriously, I am going to say some magic words and the magic is going to go into the blankets. Now don’t be afraid, but when that happens your mom is going to go the Land of Magic for a little while okay? We’re going to borrow some magic from Magic Land, and they’re going to borrow your mom. Is that okay?”
He looked at the blankets, and then at me and his mom. She gave him a big smile and nodded exaggerated nods at him.
“Okay.”
“Ready?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay then when I count to three and say ‘bumfuzzle’, the magic is going to enter the blankets and we can build a fort, and your mom will visit the folks in the Land of Magic for a little bit okay?” More head nodding.
“One…”
“Two…”
“Three. Bumfuzzle! Bumfuzzle! Bumfuzzle!” Tommy giggled each time I said ‘Bumfuzzle’. I was glad that worked. I had gambled that the little misdirecting pyrotechnics I set off might have been too much for the kid. Lucky for me, Daisy Buchanan was quick enough on the uptake to realize her cue to enter the closet.
“Well it worked. Nothing says magic like magic smoke, but I can’t see much. What do you say Tommy, should I turn on the fan so we can build this fort?”
“Whooooaaa! Yeah!” With that he actually sounded like an eager little boy again.
I will occasionally smoke a cigar or pipe in my office. No one knows thanks to expensive cleaning and some of the best air filters money can buy. I turned them on before returning with the furniture cushions from the other room.
Tommy looked awed as I propped up the cushions making a simple blanket fort. Did rich kids never do this? Not ever?
The blankets in my office are hand crocheted. My grandmother made them for me. The beautiful ripple-weave and Navajo patterns are extremely comforting. I don’t know how Tommy knew that but he wouldn’t have been the first to relax and feel comfortable after snuggling into them. Or for using them for a fort as the case may be.
“My mom’s not really gone.” Tommy said knowingly.
“Sure she is. Do you see her here?” Tommy looked around the room. I was not used to this level of suspicion coming from a little kid.
“No.” He said it, but I needed him to feel completely comfortable about his mom not being there to get him to open up.
“Tommy. I promise, your mom isn’t in this room (proper). Tommy’s mom is a bootyhead.” That got a laugh. “Tommy’s mom sniffs her own farts.” More giggles.
“Mom has big stinky butt!” There we go. I had to laugh. He’s insulting her, but he’s still calling her ‘mom’ hahaha kids are a riot.
“Alright Tommy the fort’s ready! Let’s head on in.” Tommy pushed the blanket door open and we sat under the cushions on my futon surrounded by old crocheted blankets. Tommy hadn’t let go of his own blanket yet, but was kind of loosely holding it in one hand which was a good sign.
We crawled into the fort and started an epic game of pretend. We bounced around, fought space aliens, hunted dinosaurs, you know boy stuff (until they find out about violent video games and boobs).
“Your magic blankets are really cool Mr. Bick.”
“Yeah, my grandma made them for me when I was a boy. Did your grandma make your blanket for you?”
Tommy nodded looking at the knit fabric in his hand. “I love Nana. I really miss her, she was always nice to me. I don’t get to see Nana any more. My dad said Nana had a stroke. He was sad for a long time, now he works all the time. I hate strokes! You should take your blanket with you like I do. My blanket protects me from the Black Man. He…he…wants to give everybody strokes and take my mommy and daddy away!!!”
Aw Geez. Tommy started bawling into my shirt. At the sound of her son crying Daisy popped out of the closet. She was breaking the rules, but I wasn’t going to fault her for this one. I shook my head and signaled for her to get back in the closet. She wasn’t happy but she did it.
“Tommy. Listen buddy. Who is The Black Man? Can you tell me what he looks like?”
Tommy did some of those hitching breathes. You know, when you’ve been really crying and you’re trying to catch your breath, but it’s kind of like a hiccup. He did that for a full minute into my shirt before wiping his tears and snot into it.
“He’s scary. He’s black, but not like my friend Jaden. He’s like a shadow, but shadows come out during the daytime. He’s darker than a shadow and he only comes out at night, when no one else is there. He… he…” Tommy was back to vise-grips on that baby blanket. “He says bad things to me. At night. I used to try and sleep, but then he’d yank my covers off. He tries to pull me under the bed Or int the closet! I called for mom and dad, and they don’t believe me. Sometimes he hides in my closet, and breaks things. Mommy gets mad and yells at me for it but she doesn’t believe me when I tell her it’s the Black Man. She tells me I need to stop lying and to stop saying that. The Black Man says he’s going to give her a stroke. He says he’s going to give her a stroke." The poor little kid was so flusterd he was repeating himself.
"He said that he gave Nana the stroke and he’s going to give mommy and daddy a stroke and that I’ll be all alone!! When I’m all alone, that’s when he’ll get me. He said he’ll pull me under the bed and hurt me, and give me a stroke, and no one will be able to help me.”
“And you believe him Tommy?”
“Uh huh. He...” Tommy trailed off. He hesitated a bit before going. “He grabbed me. One night when he was just first starting, I thought he might of been my imagination like a bad dream. I didn’t know he was under my bed. I got up to go to the potty, and when I stepped past off my bed he…he… HE GRABBED MY ANKLE!!!”
Tommy was full on crying again. This kid was having some kind of post-traumatic stress from what was going on.
“I couldn’t move. He tried to GET ME! I tried to kick and scream, but I was so ascared that I couldn’t scream. I tried to call Mommy and Daddy for help, but I couldn’t get words out. The Black Man tried to pull me under the bed with him! I couldn’t move much. He had my legs under the bed when I grabbed Nana’s blanket. It saved me. The Black Man let go, and I could scream again. Mommy and Daddy came, and I told them the something tried to get me. They didn’t believe me! They said I was having a bad dream. They looked under the bed but he wasn’t there anymore. They didn’t believe me. After that he started coming more often. Mommy and Daddy would get mad, and he would hide and say bad things when they left. He wants to hurt them. He wants to hurt me most of all.”
I grabbed some tissue off of my desk cleaned Tommy up as best as I could.
“Tommy.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want to hurt the Black Man, Tommy? You want to hurt him so bad, he’ll go away and never come back?”
Tommy looked up at me in awe. He nodded at me.
“Alright little guy. Let’s get your mom back here.”
He sniffled one of those gross long little kid sniffles where you know it can’t be good for his sinuses. “Okay.”
“Now when I say these new magic words your mom will return. Okay?” I didn’t have to wait for a response. Tommy went and sat at the desk chair and waited for me.
“Here we go: Three…Two…One. Gardyloo Gardyloo Gardyloo.” One more time for the pyrotechnics and Mrs. Buchanan was back in the room with us.
“Tommy? Where are you Tommy?”
“Here I am mom. Did you have a fun time?”
“Yes baby. I had tea with a wizard and he said that Mr. Bick was going to help us.” Fucking big mouth wizards, mind your own damn business. LOL well at least Daisy could play along. Chances are I would need her help tonight if I was going to get rid of whatever was haunting Tommy.
“Is that true Mr. Bick?”
“Well a wizard said it, so probably.”
“You know wizards?”
“Yeah but they’re not as cool as you think. All the powerful ones hang out in Magic Land.”
“So then how are you going to help?”
“Have you ever had a sleepover Tommy?”
“I’m not apposedta have friends spend the night, and no one wants to hang out with me anymore at school.” His face was still red and blotchy from the crying. Daisy, looked like she didn’t know what to do. Part of her clearly didn’t want to believe this, but another part clearly couldn’t deal with her child suffering like this.
“Well I tell you what Tommy. Just for tonight, I’m going to be your sleepover buddy.”
“And you’ll protect me from the Black Man?”
“Oh you betcha. But first, I’m pretty hungry. What do you say to some pizza?”
“Really mom? Can we have pizza?” Daisy was back to staring daggers at me as her son buried his face into her waist.
“Yeah mom. Can we have pizza.” I said it as a statement. My harsh monotone obvious to anyone except maybe the elementary school boy there.
“Sure Tommy. We’ll do what your sleepover buddy wants.”
I smiled at her in a very patronizing way.
“Well we had better be off. I’ll call my driver and have him meet us at the Lou Malnati’s up the street. Are you excited Tommy?”
“YEAH!!” A big old smile and some color was coming back to the kids face.
“Well you ain’t seen nothing yet guy! After we eat, we’re going up to Six Flags!” Tommy ran around my office screaming like he’d won the lottery, and holding up his blanket like he’d won the lottery. Well, no cash on this, one. Looks like getting paid with the story would have to do it. The look on Mrs. Buchanan’s face was well worth it. I ushered the boy and his mother to the door, but before I left, I rushed back to my desk and grabbed my snub-nose .357 and two speed-loaders and slipped them into my pocket. I shouldn’t need them but better to be safe than sorry.
Conclusion Part 1 Here Conclusion Part 2 Here
Happy Nightmares
submitted by BickisMyPensName to nosleep [link] [comments]

Gun Control Conversation. I am against it for the most part but even my against causes issues with others against it. In my opinion the issue has less to do with guns and more to do with people.

I posted this as a reply to a "people freak about lettuce but not guns" post. Z0idberg_MD gave a reply that I haven't posted back to because I felt getting other opinions was better than hijacking someone elses post with this. The following is my original post as well as the reply from Z0idberg_MD which I will follow up with my reply. I am adding it all for context and for quoting purposes. Sorry in advance for the long post.

An estimated 600,920 people were killed by cancer last year. 155,870 (highest of one type) from Lung & Bronchus. Mostly related to Cigarettes which are said to account for 480,000 deaths 41,000 from second hand smoke. Cigarettes can be bought everywhere and are easy to get without ID.
15,548 deaths in 2017 from guns when excluding suicide (~39,000-40,000 with them) Guns really aren’t as easy to get hands on as people seem to think.
Any deaths are a bad thing and the sooner we address the actual issues the better or the problems will never be solved.
I have used guns since I was 5 and the only things, I have killed are animals I was going to eat or animals attacking the cattle on the family ranch. People rip on the AR-15 saying nobody needs a gun like that but I am inclined to disagree. When you deal with things like coyote you need something capable. The .22 can hold more ammo but doesn't have the range to kill coyote from across two 40-acre plots of land (the ranch is divided up in 40s for grazing and baling purposes) my 410 is good for small animals (squirrel, rabbit, moles, etc.) My .243 has the range and power but is bolt action and only holds 5 rounds and I can use a Bow quicker than I can the bolt. The AR-15 is semi-auto and can get the distance so when dealing with a pack of coyote with 7 of them trying to attack cattle you don't have to stop to reload or try to get closer.
Every gun I have bought I have had to wait a week for a background check. Sure, I can go to a gun show instead of a store but the show's a lot of time will also make you wait for the base background check to be run before you can get a gun. They also tag the guns going in and out. (Not to the owner just noting what guns are bought. I know it isn't necessarily a security thing but like cameras all around watching you, it is a deterrent) People looking for illegal guns don't go to these places.
There is the argument that Chicago only has an issue because you can just go the next state over and get a gun but those states also have the same federally mandated background checks. The guns in Chicago more often than not are either illegal or stolen (making them illegal) from a legal owner. Those shooters aren't crossing state lines to purchase legally.
The other argument is that people should lock up their guns in a safe. A gun is useless for defense if you can't access it easily. You can be safe without putting it behind a 12-inch-thick metal door. I have two kids but I teach them not to touch the guns without me and how to properly use a gun. My guns are not in a safe and do not have trigger locks. They are in an area accessible to me and the ammo is easily gotten even though it is not beside the guns. I am teaching my children exactly like I was taught and my dad was taught as well as his dad and grandpa. None of our guns have killed anyone.
A lot of the stigma, I fell, around guns is the fact that in larger cities people don't tend to do things like hunt so they also don't learn to use a gun and see no reason in having one. In the rural areas it is different. I understand the arguments posed but at the same time if you take guns away from people that doesn't make shootings not happen. Even then if the gun crime decreases a different form will increase. (Crossbow, bow, knife, cattle prod, machete, bombs) Hell my wife is more likely to grab a knife or sword to kill someone than a gun.
When my cousin was in school he used to go raccoon hunting before school started and he would bring his gun and dead raccoons to school prop his gun by the classroom door and tie the raccoons to his desk. This was just in the 60s. The issues facing these things today spur some from the stigma but also from the lack of discipline. My cousin could take his gun because had he ever tried to use it there were multiple other boys that would stop him but also the teacher would have beat him into the next week. Look at schools now and how teachers are scared of students or how students will beat the shit out of each other with the teacher just saying "stop please, I am calling the police" which then puts kids into the system because the teachers instead of disciplining are just having kids arrested.
We avoid topics like mental health or PTSD while also trying to punish bullies (with cops again) Punishing the bully doesn't fix the mental damage suffered and it also doesn’t address the issues plaguing the bully. Communities don't work together to stop things they just call the police and hope it gets fixed. The more these things happen the more they try to push it on the police. Laws get altered that give the police more control of the punishing aspects and then when a child is in the system they yell and scream about injustice. Parents don't want to parent though.
I know an Officer in my city that got a call to deal with a kid. He got to the house and the Mom told the Officer "He won't obey, he just back talk’s me and refuses to listen. I have told him 10 times to clean his room and he refuses"
The Officer talked to the kid found he was a little rebellious but mostly because his parents had recently split up and his dad had always been the one to punish if the boy didn't listen. He told the kid to straighten up and act as if his dad were there and think how he would be punished if he acted out against his mom with him there.
He left and a few hours later got called back with the Mom complaining about the same thing. She said "did you even do anything last time you were here?" He asked what he was supposed to do to which she replied "Punish him somehow. Make him understand he can't talk to adults like that."
The Officer proceeded to take off his belt and fold it in his hands, as he walked toward the kid the Mom flipped out and screamed at him "OMG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING???"
He said "Punishing him like you asked"
She said "I didn't mean beat him"
He replied with "I was only going to give him a whooping. What were you expecting me to do?"
The mom who had been so angry at her son said "I figured you would arrest him or something"
The Officer said "For what? Disobedience? Back talking? My Mom would have slapped me across the room for acting like that. I am not giving your child a record for back talking."
The Mom snipped back saying "I don't mean actually arrest him. I meant just arrest him and take him to jail to scare him"
The Officer was furious. Explained that the cops were not their to supplement when parents don't want to be mean. He gave her a warning for improper use of 911 services. (not sure if that’s possible but he was probably just trying to beat it into her)
This is the type of thing I mean when I say it is discipline.
I don't want people to die any more than the rest of the civilized sane people in this country but playing the this kills x but this kills y game is stupid. The number one cause of death isn’t the cigarettes or the guns (or lettuce) it is the people behind those things. The cigarette can't light itself and the gun can't fire itself (The lettuce can grow itself but it can't clean and test itself) they need people and until the human problem is fixed all of these arguments about buying guns or the like are 100% moot. If we aren't willing to help those in need mentally or even physically and we keep acting like a gun is anything more than a tool like a wrench, hammer, hatchet or chainsaw than these shootings and crimes will never stop. Maybe instead of arguing this politically just to get upvotes we should look at it medically and try to find a real solution.
If you don't like guns, fine. Nobody is forcing you to have one but don't act like you are morally superior just because you don't like them.
​
Reply from Z0idberg_MD
Who said morally superior? They make society less safe without a whole lot of demonstrable "good".
\ Correlation between suicide and firearm ownership rate*
[Conclusions. We found a strong relationship between state-level firearm ownership and firearm suicide rates among both genders, and a relationship between firearm ownership and suicides by any means among male, but not female, individuals] (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4984734/)
\ Permissive gun laws lead to more homicides*
[Conclusions. Shall-issue laws are associated with significantly higher rates of total, firearm-related, and handgun-related homicide.] (https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304057)
\ The largest gun study in history on more guns = more firearm homicide*
[Results. Gun ownership was a significant predictor of firearm homicide rates (incidence rate ratio = 1.009; 95% confidence interval = 1.004, 1.014). This model indicated that for each percentage point increase in gun ownership, the firearm homicide rate increased by 0.9%.] (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3828709/)
​
First and foremost, let me thank you for properly providing sources. Actual non-bias ones that are out to provide data not to specifically take a side.
I said morally superior. Strictly in context of the original post acting like pulling a dangerous lettuce that anyone could buy was equitable to buying a gun.
It's not.
#1. Personally, I ignore suicide in gun numbers in gun debates and I only added them for those interested. Suicide is a separate issue from homicide so putting them together in my view just skews numbers and distracts from one conversation such as this one about guns. Suicide can be viewed, that is fine, but only so long as it is viewed separate from gun violence as a whole. People who fully intend to commit suicide will do it regardless. I have no argument with the statement that having access to a gun while suicidal will raise the chance of one committing suicide. However, that also loops to my statements about mental instabilities and if we paid more attention to things such as PTSD and Depression than things might be different.
#2. In my opinion you shouldn't get a concealed permit without taking classes and it should 100% be up to a criminal background check to decide if you have one. Most the concealed classes around me are taught by active Police officers and the rest tend to be handled by retired ones.
Carrying a gun requires you to have some idea of responsibility but that is, unfortunately, not always how it works. That said limitations that are placed through recent legislation tend to be overly vague and are more harmful than they are good. Saying "People with mental illnesses shouldn't have access to guns" is well past overly vague. There are people that compete in the Special Olympics sport shooting competitions that would fall under that blanket law. “Mental illnesses” is a pretty vague term for law. When it comes to language in law, terminology is everything. With a law that simply states “mental illness” we would have to use something as a reference. Most likely the DSM-5 as it is the most comprehensive and as such all of these would fall under it:
  1. Acute Stress Disorder
  2. Adjustment Disorder
  3. Adult Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  4. Agoraphobia
  5. Alcohol/Substance Abuse
  6. Alcohol/Substance Dependence
  7. Alzheimer’s Disease
  8. Anorexia Nervosa
  9. Antisocial Personality Disorder
  10. Anxiety Disorders
  11. Attachment Disorder
  12. Autism
  13. Autism Spectrum Disorder
  14. Avoidant Personality Disorder
  15. Bereavement
  16. Binge Eating Disorder
  17. Bipolar Disorder
  18. Body Dysmorphic Disorder
  19. Borderline Personality Disorder
  20. Brief Psychotic Disorder
  21. Bulimia Nervosa
  22. Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorder
  23. Conduct Disorder
  24. Conversion Disorder
  25. Cyclothymic Disorder
  26. Delusional Disorder
  27. Dependent Personality Disorder
  28. Depersonalization Disorder
  29. Depression
  30. Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder
  31. Disorder of Written Expression
  32. Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
  33. Dissociative Amnesia
  34. Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
  35. Dissociative Fugue
  36. Dissociative Identity Disorder
  37. Dyspareunia
  38. Dysthymic Disorder
  39. Encopresis
  40. Enuresis
  41. Erectile Disorder
  42. Exhibitionistic Disorder
  43. Expressive Language Disorder
  44. Female & Male Orgasmic Disorders
  45. Female Sexual Arousal Disorder
  46. Fetishistic Disorder
  47. Frotteuristic Disorder
  48. Gaming Disorder
  49. Gender Dysphoria
  50. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  51. Histrionic Personality Disorder
  52. Hoarding Disorder
  53. Hypersomnolence
  54. Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
  55. Hypochondriasis
  56. Insomnia Disorder
  57. Intermittent Explosive Disorder
  58. Kleptomania
  59. Major Neurocognitive Disorder
  60. Mathematics Disorder
  61. Mental Retardation
  62. Minor Neurocognitive Disorder
  63. Multiple Personality Disorder
  64. Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  65. Narcolepsy
  66. New Specifiers of Bipolar Disorder and Depression
  67. Nightmare Disorder
  68. Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Arousal Disorders
  69. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  70. Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
  71. Oppositional Defiant Disorder
  72. Pain Disorder
  73. Panic Attack
  74. Panic Disorder
  75. Paranoid Personality Disorder
  76. Parkinson’s Disease
  77. Pathological Gambling
  78. Pedophilia
  79. Phobias
  80. Pica
  81. Postpartum Depression
  82. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
  83. Premature Ejaculation
  84. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
  85. Pseudobulbar Affect
  86. Psychotic Disorders
  87. Pyromania
  88. Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder
  89. Reactive Attachment Disorder
  90. Reading Disorder
  91. Restless Legs Syndrome
  92. Rumination Disorder
  93. Schizoaffective Disorder
  94. Schizoid Personality Disorder
  95. Schizophrenia
  96. Schizophreniform Disorder
  97. Schizotypal Personality Disorder
  98. Seasonal Affective Disorder
  99. Selective Mutism
  100. Separation Anxiety Disorder
  101. Sexual Masochism and Sadism
  102. Shared Psychotic Disorder
  103. Social Communication Disorder
  104. Social Anxiety Phobia
  105. Somatic Symptom Disorder
  106. Stereotypic Movement Disorder
  107. Stuttering
  108. Tourette’s Disorder
  109. Transient Tic Disorder
  110. Transvestic Disorder
  111. Trichotillomania
  112. Vaginismus
  113. Voyeuristic Disorder
I understand it is a hassle to name all the specific illnesses that shouldn't have a gun but if we just left it with mental illness many people who have never had any problems would lose access to them and it would eventually be thrown out in the Supreme Court. We could hope that if we used a blanket term it wouldn't be misused but in time it would eventually be that way. If only to stack charges. People with Depression and Schizophrenia would be obvious ones to prevent due to the nature of the disorder but what about Bipolar? Something easily controlled with medication. Would that be ok? Someone with ADHD, Tourette’s, Social Anxiety, Erectile Dysfunction or even Transgenders (Gender Dysphoria), should they be put under this blanketed ban of mental illness? Because history shows you that blanket laws are taken advantage of, a prime example is Civil Forfeiture laws.
I am not one of those people against all gun laws but I am against the “Common Sense” gun law statements and the fight to ban guns completely. Common Sense gun reform sounds good but people always take it off the deep end and then start attacking the second amendment. The only way to get rid of the second amendment would be to rewrite the constitution after a civil war or to rewrite it with the purpose of starting a civil war because the gun owners in this country would overwhelmingly oppose that option no matter what. For arguments sake though using the Huffington Post as an example of how crazy people can be when talking about this topic, this is the list from the article (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/warren-j-blumenfeld/proposals-for-common-sens_b_8231786.html)
We must ban and criminalize the possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons!
Automatic Weapons are highly restricted. To buy and sell you have to have a Federal Firearms License or they have to be registered gun made before 1986 (assuming they can even be owned in your state) You have to inform the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of your area that one is being purchased. A form has to be filled out with the ATF ($200 for tax, fingerprints, passport style photo, and information on the firearm are all part of this form) Then you have to wait up to a year for it to be approved. All of that is assuming you can afford one seeing as the bans on them have made them extremely expensive. (A standard AR-15 usually runs $800-$1000 brand new, A fully automatic made before 1986 will be $20,000-$35,000)
Saying Semi-automatic Weapons is about as bad as saying mental illness. Semi-Auto is defined as an automatic loading weapon that fires one bullet per trigger pull whereas Fully Auto is more than one bullet per trigger pull. So, by this writers’ definition we are left with bolt action (which people can fire at high rates very easily) and muzzleloaders. Pistol wise you are basically left with a derringer. There are derringers that shoot .410 shotgun shells and a muzzleloader can be a .32 all the way to a .58 caliber. All of which can do some damage and depending on the user can be reloaded faster than most people can get away. What works in favor of the Semi-Auto is that you don’t have to be as accurate with your aim.
We must close loopholes such as buying a weapon at a gun show!
Private sale between 2 private owners is an option when both are in the same state regardless of being at a gun show. Most dealers at gun shows are FFL gun dealers and they have to do a background check on you under the requirements. Not preforming one is against the law and they will lose their license as well as be charged with the unlawful sale of a firearm. Is this saying it isn't possible? No. Likely? Also no. If you crossed state lines and bought a gun the sale has to be processed by an FFL in your home state. FFLs aren't just selling to criminals and ne’er-do-wells. Gun Shows make it easier for FFLs to find buyers for the product they have in their stores. Believe it or not gun shops aren't multi-million-dollar cash machines sometimes change of venue gets your product sold.
We must ban the purchase of firearms and ammunition on the internet!
Again, to sell across state lines an FFL has to be involved even when purchasing online. The idea that you can just hop online and buy a gun like you were shopping on Amazon. Ammunition wise I am not really sure what that has to do with anything because you can always reload ammo so banning online sale won’t solve anything.
We must increase the waiting period and make background checks more rigorous and effective!
As I said in my last post, I have had to wait a week every gun I have bought. It isn't like the background checks are simple little papers that aren't actually looked at. If it is effectiveness you are wanting, the background check is only as good as the information reported on it just like a credit score. Make mental health record of certain types mandatory to report and all police records considered such as tickets for Jaywalking.
We must limit the number of firearms any individual can own!
Not really realistic but sure I will bite. Limit to what. Who decides this number? As in my first post all the guns I use have specific purposes. If I own 1 gun or 50 of them what difference would it make with the exception of there being 50 less guns on the streets to be used in a crime? I know it could be argued that everyone has the potential to commit a crime with a gun and that it is more likely dependent on the number of guns in one’s possession but this isn't a Tom Cruise movie and pre-crime isn't a thing. At that rate what is stopping us from limiting how many kitchen knives you have? You only really need one and as long as it cuts what’s the difference?
We must limit the number of bullets any firearm clip can hold!
I am not sure what limiting the number of bullets in a clip is going to do with the exception of making people insert bullets into their magazine slower. Clips are nice but I personally don’t use them. Having 2 smaller magazines for the AR-15 covers 20 rounds for me and I rarely if ever shoot enough to constitute being able to use a clip to quickly reload my magazines. Other people might have a need for this but even then, if you limited a clip to 5 bullets you are just telling me I need 2 clips to feed my magazines not 1. (I 100% understand that this writer was making the statement about magazines and not clips but this perfectly illustrates my point on why language used is important.)
We must ban and criminalize the purchase and possession of armor piercing bullets, and also hollow-tip bullets!
There is a lot to unpack here but I will keep it simple. Bullets kill regardless of the type and again with language saying Armor Piercing has wide connotations. True Armor Piercing rounds have a steel core instead of the standard soft lead and are designed to penetrate light armor.
While if you are talking about bullets that can penetrate things like Kevlar you are talking about anything larger than the standard .22. The AR-15 uses .223 ammo which in essence is a .22 bullet. The difference is that .223 is high velocity and the bullet tends to come to a point. It comes in a Round Nose (Used mostly in handgun ammo) and a Boat Tail (Used mostly in rifle ammo) The average owner will most likely have Full Metal Jacket ammo which sounds scary but for the most part it is a lead bullet with a copper coating on the outside it has nothing to do with Armor Piercing ability. If you shot a standard .22 round and a .223 the .22 would do more visual damage entry wise and would also more than likely not exit at all.
Hollow Point bullets are common for self-defense and also used by police because unlike FMJ they have stopping power on impact. As they hit, they expand and take up more area meaning they are less likely to do damage outside of the impact zone. They are safer to use for self-defense because you will be able to stop your attacker without having to worry as much about bystanders These bullets aren't made for long range shooting.
Banning and criminalizing two types of bullet is pointless unless you are doing it to all ammo. The writer misses Open Tip, Soft Point and Ballistic Tip ammunition as well as Shotgun shells which have Birdshot, buckshot and Slugs (A typical 12 Gauge slug is .73 caliber) Which in the right hands can be just as dangerous as a typical rifle.
We must rethink the “logic” of permitting concealed weapons, especially in places like houses of worship, colleges, bars, restaurants, and political rallies!
Yes, we should. Many shootings happen in gun free zones Reason being that the person wanting to do maximum damage will go where they are less likely to receive resistance. The Gun-Free Zone is implemented with good intentions but that also paves the road to hell. It is a matter of criminals are criminals because they don’t follow the law. No mass shooter has seen a “Gun-Free Zone” sign and though ‘Well shit, there goes that idea’
We must interface all data bases monitoring firearm ownership to assess the firearm-owning population more accurately and effectively!
As mentioned above, criminals are criminals because they don’t follow the law. This would be fought as an invasion of privacy almost immediately and wouldn't contribute to anything more than tracking law abiding citizens and their gun ownership. Do you think the criminals are letting the government know the use and sale of their guns? Yes, this writer is stating that we pull all the databases we already have together but he is also implying that it should be easily accessible for research which, as said, is an invasion of privacy.
It isn't to say that I disagree with gun laws entirely it is just stating that there is more to the issue than simply banning things that are used by mass shooters. Someone wanting to deal damage will figure out a way. If we are banning like the article suggest we are left with Shotguns, Derringers, Bolt action rifles and Cannons. It also ignores Swords, Knives, Chainsaws, Sledge Hammers, Flamethrowers, RPGs, Tanks, Bows and Crossbows, 3D Printed weapons, Lawnmower blades, Planks of Wood with Nails in them, Baseball bats with barb wire and Potato Guns just to name a few. It also doesn't account for bombs or chemical weapons made with household products such as Ammonia and Bleach or Bleach and Alcohol. All in all, the weapon of choice isn't the problem as none of them can act independently. Humans will always find a way to be the biggest assholes they can be should the need, in their mind, arise.
Looking at recent mass shootings, how many could have been avoided had people been less selfish and paid attention to the signs pointing to problematic mental health issues? How many could have been avoided if we just taught parents to be parents instead of letting them rely on the government to be the babysitter. I agree that not all people need guns but proper education would help too. Instead we yell and scream that guns are bad and kill people so we should remove them from the hands of the public. I would love to see the study supporting the idea that guns kill people.
#3. EXTREMELY interesting study. It is almost too smart for its own good though. More guns = more firearm homicide. What is wrong with that statement? More knives = more knife homicides. More car bombs = more blown up cars. The study had the proper idea but they implemented it wrong merely in the way we can break down their study and say something as vague as more guns = more firearm homicide.
Going back to my original post I covered this slightly. In rural America you have many towns where the firearm to citizen ratio is 1:1 or higher. Even taking states you have places like Wyoming where the registered guns to citizens is ~230:1. Whereas larger population states like California and New York are ~9:1 and ~4:1 respectively. (Oddly enough referring back to the Automatic weapon point the Top 5 states with Machine guns: 1. Connecticut - 52,965, 2. Texas – 36,534, 3. Florida – 36,194, 4. Virginia – 34,074, 5. Illinois 33,646. Though, California is really close to the Top 5 at #7 – 29,047.) (https://huntingmark.com/gun-ownership-stats/#_ftn1%20)
The top 5 most dangerous cities (According to Forbes) and their state rank of registered gun owners are:
​
City Rank State Rank
1 Detroit, MI 45. Michigan - 6.59:1
2 St. Louis, MO 36. Missouri - 11.94:1
3. Oakland, CA 44. California - 8.71:1
4. Memphis, TN 33. Tennessee - 14.76:1
5. Birmingham AL. 6. Alabama - 33.15:1
​
The study you reference while giving very helpful and valid data wasn't quite as valid as it could have been. The information is definitely there to produce solid evidence should you combine the data with other studies. I don’t see it as one sided but I do think they failed to include information that might have changed the data.
​
submitted by tpinkfloyd to unpopularopinion [link] [comments]

Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas

Update 1: https://www.reddit.com/nosleep/comments/5knk4d/sometimes_you_have_to_work_on_christmas_part_2/
I’m the assistant manager of a struggling 24 hour convenience store in the middle of the Midwest. My normal shift is 10 PM to 7 AM, though I also pick up a lot of overtime when our cashiers are too sick or stoned to come into work on the other shifts. I know it sounds like a glamorous life—positively Kardashianesque, in fact—but I try to stay humble and not forget my roots. In the three years I have lived and worked in Nowheresville, I’d say only one truly interesting thing has ever happened to me—and I wish to holy hell it hadn’t. Up until last night, in fact, I’d say the most interesting experience I’d had at the gas station/convenience store was the time last summer when a small, dazed bat flew into the store and I had to chase the thing around the store like a goddamn schmuck for 20 or 30 minutes. Actually, given how stoned I was, and given the bat’s penchant for suddenly reversing its course and flying right at my big-ass head, security camera footage of that would probably be much funnier than any episode of Two Broke Girls—but I can’t really rate the activity highly as a participant sport.
Last night though—actually, about 4 o’clock this morning, so really just a matter of hours ago—something terrible happened and I have no idea how to process it or what to do.
The night started off to be a good old reliable snooze of a Christmas Eve shift. At about 9:45 I pulled into the Fast ‘n Fresh parking lot and eased my blue Subaru hatchback into a good parking spot. One advantage of working a low-end retail job at a station barely selling enough cigarettes and beer to stay open is that you can always get good parking. I remember I was listening to Surfer Blood and feeling a little disarranged for reasons I couldn’t quite explain. It’s been an erratic winter here in the middle of Realmerica—last week temperatures dropped below freezing and my downstairs neighbors’ water pipes under his kitchen sink ruptured, but today it had been 55 at noon and was still in the high 30s. So sheets of ice had melted in a matter of days and now the ground was a sodden, muddy shit-show and the air smelled faintly like rotting vegetation and raccoon turds. I closed my eyes for a few moments, let the track that was playing on Astro Coast finish up, and went through my nightly reality check. “And you may find yourself,” I thought, as I often did, “Pushing 40 and living a life you barely recognize. And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?” And then I answered myself out loud, as I always did, “I drove.”
I remember thinking it was a small blessing that I was working with my favorite cashier, this woman in her mid 20s named Beverly. Bev had dropped out of the University of Illinois after a couple of semesters, and seemed to have drifted into town mostly because it was cheap and close enough to Chicago to get up there on weekends. She had a lot going for her—smart, funny, weird—but the main reason she was my favorite was that she had learned a long time ago it was easier to just do what you were supposed to do than come up with excuses for why things were done wrong.
She was dependable, she clocked in and out on time, didn’t take excessive breaks, did her cleaning, and never made extra work for me by fucking up her shift changes when she took over the register.
The cheap tin bell on the cheap, joyless wreath that had been hung as an afterthought on the front door dinged as I walked into the station. "Hey, Joel, I fucked up the shift change. You'll have to fix it. Sorry about that," was the first thing I heard Beverly say.
“Hey, no problem dude," I said, cursing her up and down in my brain. The company that owns the station has recently made some changes in how we do the paperwork at shift change, making an already tedious and labyrinthine process into a straight up pain in the balls. My theory is that they think the reason this station isn't turning a profit is that something funny is going on with the money and they're trying to pinpoint what shift that is happening on. I've had this thought once or twice myself; but on the other hand the explanation could simply be that we are a gas station/convenience store in a dying town in a dying part of the Midwest. Since literally no one else, including my schmuck of a boss, Tony, has been able to figure out how to navigate the new book keeping system it's actually job security for me. Fixing a shift change flub only took a few minutes, it was just disconcerting because Beverly rarely made mistakes.
"I'm mostly doing inventory and ordering tonight, Bev, so you'll have to deal with all the action out here. If you're up for it." I gave her a smile. The "action" on an overnight shift usually consisted of a few bored travelers (we are located just off an interstate exit) who want to shoot the shit and the occasional stoned local teenager who comes in because if you wanna buy a bag of Funyuns at 3 in the morning we're pretty much the only game in town. On Christmas Eve? Maybe a fat guy buying some obscenely overpriced kibble for his reindeer? (Or a few cans of green apple Four Lokos for his rowdier elves?)
Bev smiled back. "I think I can get it. And if I have any problems, I'll come a runnin' pardner."
"I'm gonna go back into my office as the Joel you know and then emerge as Robo Joel the Cybernetic Inventorying Machine, so be prepared."
"Gets me every time, boss," she said to my back as I shut the office door and heard the bell ding to let Bev know there was a customer in the store. (A "guest in the house" as we say in the biz.)
My transformation into Robo Joel the Inventorying Machine consisted of downloading the day's data into my Handheld Inventory Tracking Point of Sales Unit, which is a little contraption that looks exactly like an oldschool Blackberry that I use to scan barcodes and input information about product on hand. It crunches the numbers and gives me suggestions for how many of each product to order and I either approve the suggestions, which is easy-peezy, or edit them, which is kind of a bear tbh. The handheld inventory system is honestly eerily good at what it does, and I'm pretty apathetic about what I do, which means I do relatively little editing and lots of approving.
I was sitting at the small desk in the office, absent mindedly humming the Facts of Life theme song, waiting for the day's data to download onto the handheld device, when I heard Bev yell "OH FUCK SERIOUSLY?" From another cashier, my first reaction would have been to shudder and mutter to myself and walk out slowly--third shift shit jobs tend to attract people with very poor impulse control and people skills and taking a few deep breaths before walking into a stupid situation someone stupid is making even stupider is a good idea. Bev is normally steady as she goes, though, and I swung my door open and ran out like a bolt.
Bev was standing alone at the register, picking up a cup of coffee she had obviously just spilled all over a yellow legal pad she had been scribbling in.
I looked around to make sure we were alone, because it's wicked bad for biz to chew somebody out in front of customers. When I saw we were alone and there was nobody at the pumps I said, "Jesus, Bev, seriously. What the hell is wrong with you tonight?"
Her breathing was ragged and she looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I'm not just losing my shit over spilling some coffee."
"Well that's good. But what ARE you losing your shit over then?"
"Can I just say 'My brain's all fucked up right now' and leave it at that?"
"The only other grownup at this godforsaken job, including my idiot boss, is going into full blown rage-quit mode over a spilled coffee cup. I'm gonna need a little more than that. Sorry."
"Nah, I get it. It's just...you know that I make a few extra shekels here and there selling articles to conspiracy sites..."
"Bullshitting the rubes I believe you call it, yes. You write as ‘Beverly Kills’ or something?”
"Well, the thing is I always start with something that seems pretty real and then embellish the fuck out of it. And you can really creep yourself out doing shit like that. Like you start reading a bunch of true crime blogs or some shit written by crazy people who believe with all their hearts in satanic cults…it gets in your brain every now and then. Well I started working on something a little closer to home and uh, this sounds stupid as shit but I've been getting nervous lately feeling like someone might be keeping tabs on me."
I looked her in the eye and sighed and held my gaze for a moment, figuring out what to say. "So uh, you have a case of the howling fantods because you think the local Free Masons are after you? Are you gonna break a story about the raffle at their annual fish fry being rigged?"
She chuckled mirthlessly. "When you put it like that, it makes me feel like an idiot."
"Nah, listen. I think I get it. You're working on something and it's gotten you a little nervous and no matter how much you tell yourself 'Oh it's nothing,' it has you thrown off your game a little. It's probably fucking with your sleep, which it's hard to get enough of anyway working these goddamn afflicted hours. People with good imaginations can psyche themselves out pretty easily. That I definitely get." I tried to sound soft and supportive--I was aware I have a decade and change headstart on trying to live inside my own head on Beverly and I can remember how easily I could psyche myself out back in the days of my own hot youth.
"Yeah," she sounded relieved, "I think that's all it is."
"Well, shape the fuck up. I dunno, I'm not gonna hold a rough shift against you, if that's all this is. Just do your best to get your shit together, because I need you around here. Okay?"
"Yeah, totally," she said, and she was already grabbing paper towels to clean up the mess.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. I stocked and inventoried, Beverly dealt with the few customers who came through more or less satisfactorily, and spent much of her free time scribbling in the note pad. I should have hassled her that free time was for stocking and cleaning, but that's kind of a dick move and I was just happy she was toughing it out and getting through a night that had started off pretty rough. I know what it’s like to have a haunted head, and it takes guts to hang in there and deal.
As for me, I was busy stocking and inventorying and fussing over big decisions like how many pallets of toilet paper to order and whether the unusually high volume of hot chocolate we had sold in the past week was likely to become the new normal or whether it was just an early-winter blip (new normal, I gambled, upping the suggested order by two cases because #yolo). I was out in the "front of house" a little more often than normal because Bev clearly liked it better when she wasn't completely alone, but the shift was generally five by five.
At one point, I paused from pondering the ins and outs of a Kit Kat order, and asked, “So don’t disclose anything that might put my life in danger, but what kind of shit has gotten under your skin like this?”
She looked up from her writing and said, “Honestly? It’s all pretty crazy, but some old local rumors about ancient religions and like fertility cults and ritual sacrifices. You know, wholesome stuff like that. People eat this shit up, I mean it sells. But…”
I whistled appreciatively. "Golly, what about any of that could have gotten you shaken up?"
She tried to smile. “Neither of us is really from here, and you’ve never really tried to fit in. Some kinda creepy shit has happened around here. You should ask around sometime.”
"I dunno. I tried to go to a high school football game here once. That was creepy enough for me. Anyway, I see your curiosity has really done wonders for your sense of well-being and joie de vivre." That got a genuine laugh.
“It’s just sometimes it feels creepy here. The half-ruined shit they won’t tear down or build back up. Gets to feeling like things that are meant to be gone trying to come back?”
That line—“things meant to be gone but trying to come back”-- sort of gave me the heebie jeebies, but I didn’t say anything
At about quarter til four, a shiny new white Honda minivan pulled up to Pump #6 (the one farthest away from the register but the view was totally unobstructed so it was nbd) and a couple of guys who looked like they were on their way to found a new Fellowship of Christian Athletes cult at some local high school hopped out. I mean skinny white dudes with neat-but-cheap Master Cuts style short haircuts in shiny, metallic North Face jackets. I yelled at Bev to hurry up in the bathroom because she had customers coming in and I was about to take my break in the back room. I heard the toilet flush and headed back because I did not especially wanna deal with Chad and Thad and their buddy Tad who was back at the Prepmobile pumping the gas.
I was mostly done with my assistant management duties for the night, so I put in my headphones and called up Google Music on my phone and put my feet on my desk and decided to listen to The Clash for a few minutes before heading out to help Bev get the store spic and span for the start of the next shift. I stared at the small, sad, plastic Christmas tree set up on a shelf next to the coffee machine. I think it did its damndest to twinkle. “You and me both, pal,” I thought. Joe Strummer was singing about being lost in the supermarket (where he could no longer shop happily) when I thought I heard a kerfluffle out front. I assumed Bev was just having another minor freakout, but given how well she'd handled the rest of her shift I thought it was best to let her spazz out over whatever was eating her and settle down on her own. I cranked up Joe Strummer and sang along with old Joe. I'm at that stage in my life where I've realized that most of my favorite singers are dead white dudes who couldn't sing very well--I won't apologize for that. I had tuned out on whatever was going on until I heard Bev screaming.
"LET ME GO YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
I tried to spring to my feet, but ended up losing my balance and falling on my ass instead. Landed right on my coccygeal bone. My ass bone. Right where my tail would be if we still had tails. Hurt like a motherfucker. Stood up with some difficulty, my legs now pins and needles, and yelled "Bev! What the fuck," as I launched myself at the door.
I heard more cursing and screaming, and more sounds of a struggle and I was trying to scamper but my legs were dead and I could not make them work. I felt so dumb and helpless I could feel tears of frustration starting to well up.
I finally stumbled out too late to do any good, and just in time to see a terrible sight. Each of the two preppy goons still in the store was holding on to one of Bev’s arms. She was facing me and still trying to scream but there was black duct tape wrapped around her mouth and her eyes and I could already see bruises on her cheek.
The two guys were now wearing masks that looked like burlap bags with ugly, uneven eye and mouth holes haphazardly carved out of them; and the one on the left vaguely waved a big machete in my direction. Bev must have put up a little bit of a fight, because the sleeve of the asshole on the left’s blue Northface jacket was all fucked up and unbuttoned and I could see his bare forearm and a creepy tattoo of a huge, fat, sickeningly detailed black centipede squirming up his arm.
The van screeched to a halt right outside the door, and the two men dragged Bev, kicking and screaming into her gag, into the van before I could even take two steps toward them. It's a small store and even though I was flinging myself around on mostly dead legs I got to the window in time to see that the license plates were obscured with trash bags. There are entrances to an interstate going both north and south less than a minute from the station, so the bastards would definitely have time to pull over and remove the bags before they got on either exit.
Which meant the cops were going to be looking for a white minivan, heading either north or south on the interstate and almost certainly traveling within 5 mph of the speed limit (at first glance these guys looked like very conscientious drivers, though they also did not look like cold blooded kidnappers). Fuuuuuck. I staggered to the phone and called 911 and waited for someone to show up.
At one point, I had the quick,bright, ludicrous hope that maybe they had paid with a credit card that could be traced, but when I checked the cash register's logs it showed that Pump 6 had pumped 40 dollars worth of gas, paid in cash, at 3:59 AM. Well, they paid their bills. Real squarejohns. Except for the kidnapping, of course. I had the presence of mind to shut off the lights at the pumps and lock the door and hang up “Closed” signs while waiting for the cops to arrive. Which did not stop a local punk rock nerd I recognized immediately from coming up to the door and trying to open it. He was a skinny dude in his early 20s named Rex. I knew a few things about Rex: Rex loved mid 90s pop punk. Rex was almost certainly stoned and here to buy Doritos and try to flirt with Beverly. Having Rex around was going to be a pain in the ass when the cops showed up. I stood out of sight, and considered letting him keep peering in and pulling on the door until the cops did show up and chase him off. But then I could tell that he was starting to look panicked, probably trying to figure out if Beverly was alright and my heart softened and I opened the door.
“Hey, Rex, you gotta go, man.”
“What’s wrong?” He was speaking slowly and carefully, like a man who had just finished finding every single joke in an old Ren and Stimpy cartoon very, very funny indeed.
“Something has happened. I will fill you in later. Cops will be here soon.”
“Is Bev okay?”
“As far as I know, she’s okay. I promise I will talk to you later. A lot of cops will be here soon. Your presence won’t….help things right now? Do you follow?”
He followed. When the first squad cars pulled in a few minutes later, Rex was nowhere to be seen.
The next few hours are something of a blur. So many cops with so many questions. Skinny but slow-witted county cops with big wet eyes and dry coughs. Porcine but shrewd state cops with big fat fingers who noshed donuts while they strutted around the store. A handsome and fussy county cop who called everybody “Ace,” and acted like he was on television. They all asked the same questions. I relayed the same meager scraps of information I could offer every time: No, as far as I knew Bev did not “hang around with weird people.” She came in on time and did her job. No, I did not think she was on drugs (true-ish answer) and I had no idea what her sex life was like. I had never seen the creeps who grabbed her before. Yes, she definitely had seemed nervous all night (I left out the part about her “working on something,” but I’m not sure why I was careful not to mention it).
At some point, someone called my manager so he could come in and get our surveillance footage for the cops, and apparently Tony, true to form, threw a fit but finally agreed to come in.
The two cops I dealt with the most were local cops, partners. One was a fat black woman named Officer Crescent, and the other was a handsome, skinny young white guy named Officer Wylie. Wylie had a real hometown football hero vibe to him, and seemed like a complete dick. He asked me a couple of times if I didn’t find it “Just a little bit coincidental” that I happened to be “fucking around in the back” at exactly the moment Bev was kidnapped.
"Well, officer, I feel like shit about it. If that's what you mean."
“Yeah bro,” officer dickwad had shot back, “guess you got cucked pretty good there huh?” At that point Officer Crescent stepped in—I have no idea if she was trying to be kind to me or if she just didn’t like her partner or some combination of the two—but she derailed his needling to get some more specifics about Beverly (her DOB, her address) that I’m sure she already had. I had finally told the same story enough times to enough cops that my new buddy Officer Wylie clasped my shoulders in a friendly death grip and said “Looks like your boss just showed up, so you can skedaddle on home. Thanks for your cooperation, bro.”
Officer Crescent stepped in one more time, “Joel, is there anything else you can think of?”
And I suddenly thought of something I hadn’t mentioned yet, although I couldn’t imagine it would do any good. “The only time she seemed relaxed, all night, was when we talked for a few minutes about how even if you think Christmas is pretty much bullshit, it still kinda sucks to work on Christmas, you know?”
Officer Crescent laughed, I think for real. “Yeah, I guess so.”
"There's things older'n Christmas, bro," I am sure I heard someone say but when I looked around for the life of me I couldn't figure out who might have said it. I wrote it off to an epically long fucking night.
On my way out the door, I passed good ol’ Tony Fratelli, my manager and peerless leader. Dressed up in a Christmas sweater and navy blue pants and already explaining to several cops at once the terrible hardship of having to come into work on Christmas day for a family man! But of course his employees and their safety came first…as I walked past I think he started to tell me to stick around so we could have a word or two, but one look at my face kiboshed that plan. Tony is a dick but he’s not a sadist, and I’m assuming that at that point I was pretty close to tears. In fact he even offered to drive me home, but seemed pretty relieved when I waved it off with a muttered “No but thanks” and staggered to my car.

I wrote all of this as soon as I got home, and then I crashed. I couldn't quite make myself send it before, wanted to sleep on it first. I slept fitfully, had a strange dream about a huge, black train rolling down some tracks out in the country in a snowstorm. The train was on fire, belching huge, acrid puffs of black smoke and shooting out spectacular flames and the countryside looked just like the area surrounding this goddamn town. I woke up a few minutes ago, more tired than when I fell asleep.
I have no idea what to do from here. I just wanted to make sure I got this down somewhere.
submitted by sloggrind2 to nosleep [link] [comments]

Brother moved himself in, ran up utilities, need him gone immediately [IL]

A nice guy friend of mine who inherited the family house in Illinois as a adult after parents passed (it is now solely in his name) has an older brother who is an absolute piece of garbage. Over the years he has stolen from both parents, siblings and other people, committed a multitude of crimes, never really worked but abused drugs and alcohol to the point where it destroyed his own health. For a few years he was squatting in an abandoned building here in town but somehow got a monthly disability check, which he still receives. Last spring he showed up at Nice Guys door after a stint in the hospital and pleaded to stay because he required aftercare and didn't have anywhere to recuperate. Nice guy of course let his brother come in under the impression that this would be temporary until he was back to better health. In came an oxygen machine and several other devices, brother took over the living room and made himself comfortable while Nice Guy carried on working and living his normal, busy life. Over the next few weeks more and more items started showing up (personal effects, clothing, etc) and things started being moved around / going missing. My friend would come home to find the heating set to 90 degrees because brother is cold (poor circulation). As the utility bills came there was a major spike in costs across the board: gas because he has the heat on all the time even on hot days through summer, electricity due to the powering of this oxygen machine that runs 24/7 and him sitting around watching tv all day long, water not only from an extra body showering and such but also because it wasn't uncommon for my friend to come home to find the faucet left on full blast with no one in the room for who knows how long. Over the winter he came home to 95 degree thermostat and doors open while Jerk stood outside smoking and chatting with friends. Another time he came home to heat and lights all on, front door wide open and no-one home. At one point Nice Guy expressed concern that Jerk was doing these things intentionally to irritate him. When asked to pay his share of the utilities, Jerk would take offense and say he couldn't pay this month because his money is gone. Every time Jerk gets his check he spends a day or two uptown in the bar getting drunk and playing the gambling machines. Then he comes back empty pocketed to mooch for the rest of the month.
Nice Guy has had enough. Jerk hasn't paid anything since moving in and the bills for last month's water / gas / electric alone came to $645. He wants this guy out of his house immediately. They never had an agreement as far as time and I don't think he expects him to pay rent but it was made clear from the beginning that Jerk was expected to pay for the inflated utilities.
What is the most expedient way to have this person permanently removed? Nice Guy didn't want to file any eviction papers or anything incase that would then give Jerk tenants rights. The house and all utilities are in Nice Guys name alone. Jerk has no paperwork showing permission to live there but he has been receiving mail at the address. Would packing his things, moving them to a storage unit in town with the first month paid, then changing the locks be legal? In a perfect world he could just be asked to leave but this guy would refuse and make it his personal mission to make Nice Guys life more of a hell than it already is.
Edit Forgot to add: obviously the main concern is to get Jerk Brother out, but is there a way to recover the cost of his utility use as well? Small claims?
submitted by YeayPickles to legaladvice [link] [comments]

The Week In Review: Suburban News of the Past Week (6/26/16)

Sunday:
NORTH:
·1. Teen shot in the chest near intersection of Lyons Street, Ashland Avenue in Evanston (Chicago Tribune)
·2. While on domestic-battery call, Waukegan police sworn, shot at; three men in custody (CBS 2)
·3. Waukegan Yacht Club celebrates 50th anniversary of Junior Sail Program (Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun)
·4. Woodland Elementary School District 50 foundation to put on golf outing July 22 at Lake Geneva, Wis., to raise funds for schools (Daily Herald)
·5. Diamond Lake Elementary School District 76 providing breakfast for students Monday through Thursday throughout the summer at West Oak Middle School, Gurnee (Daily Herald)
NORTHWEST:
·6. Father, owner of Bartlett-based Sebert Landscaping, and son, field supervisor for Marengo-based Bluestem Ecological Services, team up to bring more native plants to landscaping (ABC 7)
·7. Statue of Donald E. Stephens unveiled in Rosemont (ABC 7)
·8. Online survey drums up 'The Bradley,' ROSY, The Black Pearl, Runaway as possible names for new hotel in Rosemont (Daily Herald)
·9. Mount Prospect promotes senior village planner to assistant to village manager (Daily Herald)
WEST:
·10. Couples celebrating 60th wedding anniversaries serve as grand marshals in Elk Grove Village's annual Hometown Parade on June 18 (Daily Herald)
·11. West Chicago Elementary School District 33 program encourages fathers to read with their children every day (Daily Herald)
·12. Geneva's Swedish Day celebrates Midsummer, Swedish heritage (Daily Herald)
SOUTHWEST:
·13. Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, of Channahon, says he wouldn't vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, were the election held today (Chicago Sun-Times)
·14. Former Cubs great Andre Dawson gives advice to Joliet Slammers players, signs autographs for fans (Chicago Tribune/Daily Southtown)
SOUTH:
·15. Calumet City bank robbed (Chicago Sun-Times)
NORTHWEST INDIANA:
·16. Family of man living in Hobart group home sues over alleged assault by employee from Chesterton (Chicago Tribune/Gary Post-Tribune)
·17. Chicago woman killed in car crash near Horseshoe Casino in Hammond (Chicago Sun-Times)
·18. Judge dismisses manslaughter charge again LaPorte County man, saying police, prosecutors bungled case of wife's shooting death (Chicago Sun-Times)
REGIONAL
·19. Cook County Jail locked down after hundreds of workers call in sick on Father's Day (NBC 5)
Monday:
NORTH:
·20. McHenry County woman, Mount Prospect truck driver taken to hospital after car-vs-tractor-trailer crash on Route 173 in Newport Township, Lake County (Chicago Sun-Times)
·21. 85-year-old Deerfield woman killed, man and infant injured when woman tried to make a left-hand turn onto 137 from U.S. 45 off ramp into oncoming traffic (Chicago Sun-Times)
·22. Construction begins on 18-store Kildeer Village Square mall on Rand Road; opening expected in 2017 (Daily Herald)
·23. Two armed robberies in Waukegan happen four hours apart on Sunday; police uncertain whether they were related (Chicago Sun-Times)
·24. Chicago restaurateur, partners plan Mediterranean-style restaurant for downtown Libertyville (Daily Herald)
NORTHWEST:
·25. Evanston police probe shooting that wounded three teens (Chicago Tribune/Evanston Review)
·26. Arlington Heights Memorial Library ties together summer reading program, Fan Con comic convention (Daily Herald)
·27. Chicago man wounded in shootout with Palatine police on June 16 charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, unlawful delivery of cannibis (CBS 2)
·28. SUV driven by minor crashes into front entrance of IHOP at Norridge Commons, sending one person to the hospital, injuring six others (Chicago Tribune/Norridge-Harwood Heights News)
·29. Chicago Aviation Department submits 9-month 'Fly Quiet' plan to FAA; proposal would to rotate takeoffs and landings at O'Hare International Airport, designed to reduce noise issues (WGN TV)
·30. Wheeling Township Elementary School District 25 board member among 1,000 school officials that lobbied Congress on equity in education (Daily Herald)
·31. Streamwood-based Elgin Toyota pitches plan for repaidetail shop along Lake Street in Bartlett (Daily Herald)
WEST:
·32. 4-year-old girl drowns at Downers Grove Swim and Racquet Club; facility closed during investigation (ABC 7)
·33. 48-year-old man dies after car he was riding in during driving lesson flips over into Aurora retention pond; driver still hospitalized (FOX 32)
·34. nursing homes from Naperville, Westmont sue rival company over plans for facilities in Aurora and Lisle (Chicago Tribune)
·35. Oak Park police look into drive-by shooting between vehicles on Sunday night on Austin Boulevard at Interstate 290; driver of a vehicle not targeted suffered minor injuries (Chicago Tribune/Oak Leaves)
·36. 78-year-old man struck, killed in Elmhurst by Metra train on Union Pacific-West line (Chicago Sun-Times)
·37. Lombard fire chief to retire on 30th anniversary of his full-time employment with department (Daily Herald)
·38. Morton Arboretum launches $63 million conservation program to preserve and improve 1,700-acre property (Crain's Chicago Business)
REGIONAL
·39. Pew Research: High school and college students finding less summertime work available (Chicago Tribune/Buffalo Grove Countryside)
Tuesday:
NORTH:
·40. Gas station, car wash pulled from proposed development at Route 22 and Quentin Road in Hawthorn Woods (Daily Herald)
·41. Lake County Sheriff's Gangs Task Force arrest two men after stop in Waukegan; one was wanted on a warrant for a long list of felonies (Chicago Sun-Times)
NORTHWEST:
·42. Woodstock woman who helped fight legal battle with Rohm and Haas chemical company over cancer clusters in McHenry County succumbs to brain cancer (Chicago Tribune)
·43. Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line train strikes pedestrian near Woodstock (Chicago Sun-Times)
·44. Hoffman Estate board hires consultant to look into TIF refund for 185-acre development, provided the developer reimburses the village for the $28,500 cost (Daily Herald)
·45. Superintendent of Schaumburg Township Elementary School District 54 to get 10 percent pay raise, two years after DUI incident (Daily Herald)
·46. Arlington Heights Village Board approves 15-house development on former Robert J. and Lorraine Henry family estate near downtown (Daily Herald)
·47. Elgin Water Department combats musty, moldy smell in water following algae bloom in Fox River (WBBM AM 780)
·48. Officials at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights warn parents about companies offering fee-based financial aid and college scholarships (Chicago Tribune/Arlington Heights Post)
·49. Palatine woman sentenced for five years in prison for DUI-related crash that killed one person and seriously injured another; her BAC level was 0.24 (Chicago Tribune)
·50. 25-year-old Pingree Grove man charged with sexual abuse of a teen (Chicago Sun-Times)
·51. Des Plaines Elementary School District 62 appoints new board member (Daily Herald)
·52. Sleepy Hollow Village Board creates trust fund to address lack of affordable housing stock (Daily Herald)
WEST:
·53. TFC Bank branch in River Forest robbed at gunpoint by three people (Chicago Sun-Times)
·54. St. Charles changes massage-business ordinance to reduce likelihood of more problems with illegal activities in massage parlors, following a number of busts for prostitution (Daily Herald)
·55. Engineers: Expect a lot of noise during construction of pedestrian tunnel along Glen Ellyn's Taylor Avenue (Daily Herald)
·56. Berwyn uses billboard campaign to try to draw young adults to the suburb; target is Chicago's River North population (CBS 2)
·57. Downers Grove village officials concerned about pension obligation and its effects on property taxes (Chicago Tribune)
·58. Bolingbrook restaurant owner urges wider celebration of Juneteenth (Daily Herald)
·59. Illinois Toll Highway Authority approves Lee Street exit off I-90 in Rosemont (Daily Herald)
·60. Naperville man who taught at Wilmington High School pleads guilty to sexual abuse of student, child pornography charge (Daily Herald)
SOUTHWEST:
·61. 17-month-old boy found unresponsive in Homer Glen pool (Chicago Tribune)
SOUTH:
·62. Lincoln-Way High School District 210 removes plaques dedicated to embattled ex-superintendent Lawrence Wyllie (Chicago Tribune/Daily Southtown)
·63. Judge gives Calumet City man to two consecutive life sentences for 2009 double murder during confrontation at bar (Chicago Sun-Times)
NORTHWEST INDIANA:
·64. Diocese of Gary to shut down St. Mark's Catholic Church rather than spend money to renovate 95-year-old building (Chicago Tribune/Gary Post-Tribune)
REGIONAL
·65. Cook County Health and Hospitals executive director: Gun violence 'a public health crisis' (WBBM AM 780)
Wednesday:
NORTH:
·66. Waukegan School District 60 to provide breakfast, lunch to children ages 2 to 18 at five locations (Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun)
·67. North Shore School District 112 delays planned school closures, giving citizens committee time to work out solution to prevent closures (Chicago Tribune/Highland Park News)
·68. Glenview Park District investigating 65-year-old woman's claim that she got hit by a golf ball that sailed through open car window from nearby golf course (Chicago Tribune/Glenview Announcements)
NORTHWEST:
·69. Man tried to lure 12-year-old girl into car near Oakton Street and Western Avenue in Park Ridge (Chicago Sun-Times)
·70. Barrington Area Unit School District 220 plan would shift middle-school boundaries, probably move 160 students from one building to the other; plan is part of potential change in start times (Daily Herald)
·71. Wauconda officials consider reinstalling red-light camera at intersection of Bonner Road, U.S. 12, citing safety concerns (Daily Herald)
·72. Bartlett resident starts group pushing to allow chickens in residential areas of the village (Daily Herald)
WEST:
·73. Elk Grove Village to spend $1 million over next five years replacing trees felled by emerald ash borer (Daily Herald)
·74. Wheaton resident creates online petition to lower Wheaton's citywide speed limit on residential streets to 20 mph in wake of 6-year-old's death after being hit by a van (Daily Herald)
·75. Naperville City Council approves placing two non-binding referendum questions on November ballot which would ask about futures of Naperville Township, road district (Daily Herald)
·76. Proposed Longview Parkway tolls in Kane County expected to be between 50 and 75 cents (Daily Herald)
·77. Two boys report being robbed of iPhone by two teenagers in LaGrange (ABC 7)
·78. Schiller Park woman pleads guilty to aggravated battery to a child for 2015 incident in which she forced her two children to drink apple juice mixed with an antianxolytic medication to try to kill them, then tried to commit suicide (Chicago Tribune)
·79. Oak Brook couple that owned First Mutual Bancorp of Illinois in Harvey indicted on charges of concealing millions of dollars in cash, assets after defaulting on $40 million personal loan (Chicago Tribune/The Doings (Oak Brook))
·80. Aurora man charged in Tuesday-afternoon shooting of two people following argument on city's southeast side (Chicago Sun-Times)
·81. Northlake woman charged with reckless homicide, DUI, driving without insurance in death of 46-year-old man in Melrose Park (Chicago Sun-Times)
·82. Donkey gets party for 50th birthday at Field of Dreams in Maple Park (Daily Herald)
SOUTHWEST:
·83. 23-year-old Yorkville man charged with sexual assault of juvenile at Newark motel (Chicago Sun-Times)
SOUTH:
·84. Clerk at Park Forest gas station shot, wounded during robbery (Chicago Sun-Times)
NORTHWEST INDIANA:
·85. Lake, Porter sheriffs displeased with U.S. Congress's failure to pass any gun-control legislation (Chicago Tribune/Gary Post-Tribune)
·86. Police arrest 20-year-old in connection with drug ring operating at Crown Point High School (Northwest Indiana Times)
·87. Truck with trailing carrying cars overturns on I-80/94 at Indianapolis Boulevard in Hammond (Northwest Indiana Times)
·88. Chicago man found guilty of reckless homicide in crash of Gary church bus in Indianapolis while he was high on cocaine (Northwest Indiana Times)
REGIONAL
·89. Lack of regulations means individual towns can charge whatever they want for liquor licenses and that cost is passed on to the customers (Daily Herald)
·90. Illinois signals intent to move ahead with Chicago-to-Quad-Cities high-speed rail line as deadline for federal funds draws to close (Crain's Chicago Business)
Thursday
NORTH:
·90. Deerfield teen sings duet with her Broadway idol at Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance (Chicago Tribune/Deerfield Review)
·91. Doctors from Highland Park (with office in Buffalo Grove) and Skokie among 301 people caught in federal Medicare-fraud sweep (Chicago Sun-Times)
·92. Ela Township buys 10-acre property for $490,000 with plans for athletic fields just outside Lake Zurich village limits (Daily Herald)
·93. Camp I Am Me lets burn survivors enjoy summer camp, therapy at Camp Duncan near Fox Lake (WGN TV)
·94. Lake County Sheriff's police catch Kenosha man who carjacked a vehicle with a child inside it, after stopping the vehicle on I-294 near Des Plaines (Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun)
·95. Federal Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Lake Forest-based The Ticket Reserve Inc. of Ponzi scheme that defrauded professional athletes out of $30 million (Daily Herald)
·96. Village of Lincolnshire sues Skokie-based North Capital, saying the owner of the former Purple Hotel property hasn't cleaned up the site following demolition a month ago (Crain's Chicago Business)
NORTHWEST:
·97. Woman accused of drug-fueled crash that killed Woodstock nurse is arrested in Las Vegas, Nev. (Chicago Tribune)
·98. Flash floods inundate Arlington Heights businesses, streets during Wednesday night storms (Chicago Tribune/Arlington Heights Post)
·99. Palatine Township Elementary School District 15, park district considering Osage Park property as location for new school, abandon plans for Falcon Park (Daily Herald)
·100. Harper College officials sign off on agreement to build health-and-wellness center with Palatine Park District that would mean indoor pool for residents, students (Daily Herald)
·101. Alan Bombeck, architect and member of Arlington Heights Design Commission since its formation in 1995, dies from cancer (Daily Herald)
WEST:
·102. Guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque to headline Jazz It Up Glen Ellyn festival on July 16 (Daily Herald)
·103. Elk Grove Village mayor 'offended' by 'inappropriate' comments by residents opposed to proposed Islamic prayemeeting center (Daily Herald)
·104. Neighbors of new Naperville Mariano's complain about all the noise caused by refrigerated trucks brought in to store excess commidities (Daily Herald)
·105. Aurora officials: Water safe to drink despite strange taste, odor linked to Fox River (Chicago Tribune/Aurora Beacon-News)
·106. Two teen boys charged with burglarizing vehicles on South 19th Street in St. Charles (Chicago Sun-Times)
·107. Enthusiasts of antique bicycles to have event on July 8 on Prairie Path and in downtown Wheaton (Daily Herald)
SOUTHWEST:
·108. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigating death of man pulled through machinery at Coilplus Inc. in Plainfield (CBS 2)
·109. Ohio man killed after falling from under-construction asphalt tank at International Tank Services in Willow Springs (Chicago Sun-Times)
SOUTH:
·110. Sunnybrook Elementary School District 171 raises lunch, activity and technology fees (Northwest Indiana Times)
·111. 14-year-old boy shot in back while in a car stopped at Rose Plaza in Matteson; alleged shooter had followed their vehicle on Lincoln Highway (NBC 5)
NORTHWEST INDIANA:
·112. Gary unveils new handicapped-accessible boat/kayak launch at Marquette Park (Northwest Indiana Times)
·113. 'Visions of Sand and Steel: Visions of Our Indiana Shore' show runs through Aug. 28 at Southshore Arts Centre in Munster (Northwest Indiana Times)
·114. Chicago Cubs extend contract with Class-A affiliate South Bend Cubs through 2020 (CBS 2)
·115. 76-year-old Porter woman dies after being struck by train in Chesterton (Chicago Tribune/Gary Post-Tribune)
·116. Dallas, Texas-based Which Wich to open first store in northwest Indiana with sandwich shop in Schererville (Northwest Indiana Times)
REGIONAL
·117. Atlanta, Ga.-based Turnstone Group puts 3,000 residential lots, 581 acres undeveloped land in the suburbs on the market (Crain's Chicago Business)
·118. Author of 'New Suburbanism: Sustainable Tall Building Development': Arlington Heights, Evanston provide models for what Chicago's suburbs should look like (Crain's Chicago Business)
·119. Storms touch off fire in Evanston, topple gas-station canopy in Mount Prospect, flood Taco Bell in Palatine (WGN TV)
Friday
NORTH:
·120. Island Lake trustee creates 'Irises of Island Lake' project to decorate, add color to village (Daily Herald)
·121. Pharmaceutical company Abbvie, volunteers fix up North Chicago buildings to make homes for veterans (WGN TV)
NORTHWEST:
·122. 9-year-old Norridge boy left at Hanover Park water park while on field trip from Norridge camp; parents learned about situation when he called from a lifeguard's cell phone (CBS 2)
·123. Chicago to renovate O'Hare Hilton, add two new hotels, including one along Mannheim Road (ABC 7)
·124. Harvard man charged with sexual abuse of a minor in Antioch (Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun)
·125. Palatine Village Hall to reopen Monday, June 27, following renovations (Daily Herald)
·126. British press blaming meeting at O'Hare pizzeria for BRexit referendum (Chicago Tribune)
·127. One man dead following five-vehicle crash at Dempster Street and Harlem Avenue on Morton Grove/Niles border; victim likely suffered medical issue that led to crash (FOX 32)
·128. Des Plaines Park District works on acquiring vacant lots at Center Street and Oakwood Avenue for new park (Daily Herald)
·129. 17-year-old Kianna Gavin of South Elgin still missing; police still investigating disappearance (Daily Herald)
·130. Teenage Rolling Meadows girl charged with molesting female friend who slept over at her house (Daily Herald)
·131. Bartlett High School to get new stadium scoreboard after receiving grant from Bartlett Rotary Club (Daily Herald)
WEST:
·132. College of DuPage board votes for budget that keeps tuition and property taxes at same level as previous year (Daily Herald)
·133. Elderly Bellwood woman dies from carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation in house fire (Chicago Sun-Times)
·134. St. Charles Community School District 303 board decides against middle-school referendum this fall, after $12,000 poll shows only 40 percent support (Daily Herald)
SOUTHWEST:
·135. Bolingbrook police end probe into murder-suicide of sometime-business partners from Aurora, Naperville, with no motive behind the crime (Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun)
SOUTH:
·136. Matteson man with the surname Gambles wins lottery second time with same numbers (WGN TV)
·137. Park Forest nail technician/caterer finds getting bumped from 'MasterChef' leads to many new opportunities in culinary world (Chicago Tribune/Daily Southtown)
·138. Crete man sentenced to four months in jail, 30 months intensive probation for 'revenge porn' incident involving his ex-girlfriend (Chicago Tribune/Daily Southtown)
NORTHWEST INDIANA:
·139. Schererville buys former Illiana Speedway; town president says its racing days are over (Chicago Tribune/Gary Post-Tribune)
·140. Chesterton, Portage, Valparaiso fire departments combine to hire, test firefighter applicants (Northwest Indiana Times)
·141. Munster residents object to Town Council's adoption of wheel tax, but president says state law won't allow the town to make exceptions for anyone (Northwest Indiana Times)
·142. 36-year-old Lake Station grandmother, 17-year-old East Chicago father charged in armed kidnapping of 15-month-old boy from foster home (Chicago Tribune/Gary Post-Tribune)
·143. South Dakota woman with outstanding warrant arrested after being found asleep in the back seat of a stolen car parked behind an abandoned gas station near I-65 and State Route 2 in Hebron (Chicago Sun-Times)
·144. One East Chicago Public Works employee fired in April, another resigned in May as city undertook investigation into alleged thefts of oil, tires (Northwest Indiana Times)
REGIONAL
·145. Illinois Secretary of State's Office rakes in $5 million in late fees for license-plate renewals after it stopped sending out reminders to motorists (Chicago Sun-Times)
Saturday:
NORTH:
·146. Divers find body of teenage boy who swam into harbor channel next to Waukegan Municipal Beach and disappeared under water (CBS 2)
·147. Leaders of Long Grove, Hawthorn Woods ask governor, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to abandon proposed Route 53 environmental-impact study (Daily Herald)
·148. Island Lake officials have eye on 2-acre site inside Converse Park for village's first dog park (Daily Herald)
·149. Lake Zurich issues proclamation joining National Wildlife Federation's efforts to save the monarch butterfly (Daily Herald)
·150. 10 Round Lake Beach police officers sue village over body cameras that continued to record after they were turned off, including while officers were using the bathroom (WGN TV)
NORTHWEST:
·151. Illinois Attorney General's Office settles ethics-violation/workplace-retaliation lawsuit stemming from incident while U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth led the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (NBC 5)
·152. Shakou Asian restaurant to open new location on Prospect Avenue in Park Ridge on Monday, June 27 (ABC 7)
·153. Shots reported fired on Route 53 near Jane Addams Tollway (I-90); Illinois State police investigating incident (WGN TV)
·154. Elgin police officers to get 2.5 percent pay increase following relatively short negotiations with the city (Daily Herald)
·155. Woodstock police searching for three men accused of armed robbery of Shell gas station (Daily Herald)
·156. Des Plaines aldermanic committee favors adopting 'City of Destiny' slogan, interlocking 'dP' logo (Daily Herald)
WEST:
·157. McHenry County Sheriff's Office charge Kane County Sheriff's deputy with possession of controlled substances after finding Modafinil, Zolpidem, Tapentadol during search of her Woodstock home (NBC 5)
·158. Downers Grove man accused of raping two Indiana University students gets plea deal, one year of probation (Chicago Tribune)
SOUTH:
·159. South suburbs see large increase in subsidized housing in wake of Chicago Housing Authority's move to demolish high-rise housing projects (Chicago Sun-Times)
NORTHWEST INDIANA:
·160. Munster police seek information on man believed to have stolen cartons of cigarettes from a Speedway gas station at knifepoint twice (Northwest Indiana Times)
·161. Hobart residents concerned about flooding related to proposed development at 83rd Avenue and Grand Boulevard (Northwest Indiana Times)
·162. Marketing company SERA Solutions Inc.'s move to Michigan City a boon for staff, from LaPorte County, helps poise organization for growth (Northwest Indiana Times)
·163. South Haven woman's push for safe passage along McCool Road north of U.S. 6 leads Porter County to install new path along roadway (Northwest Indiana Times)
·164. Hobart firefighters called twice to Southlake Mall for fire in Wet Seal store, Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant (Northwest Indiana Times)
·165. Owner of Hill's Haunted Hospital, City of Portage reach agreement allowing him to move haunted house to former U.S. Steel Training Center near Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk (Northwest Indiana Times)
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are any gambling machines open in illinois video

Illinois Online Gambling View Top Illinois Picks For some, the topic of gambling in Illinois might evoke thoughts of Al Capone and organized crime. But in truth, Illinois has had a long history of legal gambling. The state recently moved to considerably expand the number of places, methods and types of gambling thanks to the […] CHICAGO — For the first time in four months, the Illinois Gaming Board met — virtually — Thursday to strategize on how to reopen the state’s casinos safely, and soon. Board members voted Between 2013 and 2017, state revenue from casinos in Illinois declined 15%, from $462 million to $393 million, as income from video gambling machines grew nearly 900%, from $30 million to $300 Sports betting, 6 new casinos, thousands more video slot and poker machines. Illinois is set to become a Midwest gambling mecca. Here’s what’s coming. The Hollywood Casino Aurora is a gaming center situated in the city of Aurora, Illinois, USA. There are more than 1,000 slot machines and 26 gaming tables that features B …. 0 reviews. United States. Illinois 10 casinos, along with the more than 35,000 slot machines located in Illinois bars, restaurants, truck stops, and elsewhere, can reopen to gamblers at 9 a.m. Wednesday. All Illinois gambling operations have been suspended since March 16. The industry had never faced an extended shutdown since the state’s first riverboat casino set sail in 1991. Regulators shut down video gambling machines across Illinois due to COVID-19 The shutdown follows Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order closing all Illinois bars and restaurants to dine-in customers. The news that Missouri casinos will be opening their doors come June 1 has Illinois gambling enthusiasts wondering when the same will happen here.. The answer? No one knows. Despite casinos getting the green light from the Missouri Gaming Commission to originally open May 15, the decision, according to radio station KMOX-AM, was pushed back to better coincide with local government opening dates. Illinois gambling laws only permit legal video gambling to occur at times of the day when it’s legal for bars or restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages. On the other hand, certified truck stops that do not have a liquor license are allowed to operate Illinois gaming machines at any time throughout the day.

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are any gambling machines open in illinois

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