Following Tribune reports of violent attacks by felons living in nursing homes, some facilities are scrambling to comply with a 4-year-old disclosure law requiring them to notify state public health officials when they admit offenders, state officials say.

As a result, the number of felons reported to be living in the facilities increased last month, according to state records and interviews. Illinois nursing homes disclosed that they held 3,326 offenders as of Dec. 10, up from 3,224 on Nov. 5.

Some had been living in the facilities undeclared for as long as a year, records show.

“If they have not been reporting individuals in the past, they’ve begun reporting them,” said Richard Dees, chief of the state Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Long-Term Care.

Statewide, the rate at which facilities reported new felons has doubled from about 50 a month to 100 last month.

Since 2006, Illinois has required nursing facilities to conduct criminal background checks on all new residents and immediately notify state health authorities when they admit anyone with a serious felony conviction. But some homes failed to conduct the background checks within the required time period, made serious errors on the checks, or simply failed to report felons to public health officials, the Tribune found in an October investigation. Some of these offenders went on to commit assaults and other serious crimes inside the homes.

On Friday, for example, a 22-year-old mentally ill felon pleaded guilty to the brutal January rape of a 69-year-old woman who lived in the same Elgin nursing home. Christopher Shelton’s background screening had been improperly handled by Elgin’s Maplewood Care nursing home because they used the wrong birth date, records show. Shelton will serve 12 years under his plea agreement.

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A 19-year-old man died in New Orleans early this morning after he lost control of his vehicle and struck a guardrail, police said.

The accident occurred just before 3 a.m. near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Short Street, according to New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Officer Shereese Harper.

Emergency medical technicians were summoned to the scene, where the man was pronounced dead. Police are investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.

His name is being withheld pending notification of family members, Harper said.

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A Monroe fire official says a 76-year-old man has died of burns suffered when his clothes caught fire after he backed his wheelchair into an open flame propane heater during last week’s cold snap. Family members put out the flames and called for help last Friday. The King County medical examiner’s office says the man suffered burns to 40 percent of his body.

He died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Monroe Fire Department spokeswoman Richelle Risdon says it’s not uncommon to use alternative heat sources during cold winter months but notes that heating equipment is a leading cause of home fire deaths. She says it’s important to keep any flammable material at least three feet away from a heat source. If clothing does catch fire, stop, drop and roll or smother the flames with a towel or blanket.

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Maybe that ribbon of pavement connecting River Road to the city of Tacoma should be renamed “Pay Street.”

A radar-triggered camera erected on the Bay Street curve near the Emerald Queen Casino snapped photos of close to 2,100 speeders during its first week of operation, city officials said Thursday.

Nearly 830 tickets – at $101 a pop – already have been mailed and another nearly 1,260 are being prepared for the registered owners of cars caught speeding between Dec. 2 and Wednesday, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said Thursday.

The infractions are treated like a parking ticket and do not go on a driver’s record.

If that rate holds, the camera could generate up to $11 million a year in citations.

“Those numbers surprised us,” Fulghum said. “It’s a fairly sharp corner and people take it too fast coming from River Road.”

By contrast, another speed camera erected recently near Downing Elementary School in the city’s North End has yet to record a speeder, Fulghum said.

“We expected some violators,” he said. “We knew there were some concerns there.”

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WASHINGTON – A Metro spokesman says four people were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a Metro bus collided with a pickup truck.

The accident happened about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at 15th and I in northwest Washington. There were fifteen people on the bus at the time.

Metro said it did not have any information about the driver of either vehicle.

If you have been injured or perhaps someone close to you has been injured in a Washington truck accident you should be financially compensated. However, this is ALWAYS easier said then done. You are welcome to contact our office of experienced WA trial attorneys for a free initial consultation at a time and place of your convenience.

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An elderly woman has died from injuries suffered in a weekend shooting in northeast Kansas that also left her granddaughter and two great-granddaughters dead.

Kansas’ attorney general on Wednesday announced the death of 89-year-old Dorothy Wight of Osage County.

Spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett says Wight died at a Topeka hospital on Tuesday, three days after the shootings at her home outside Burlingame.

Forty-six-year-old James Kraig Kahler, a former Columbia, Mo., city official, already is charged with capital murder in the deaths of his 44-year-old estranged wife, Karen, and their daughters, 18-year-old Emily and 16-year-old Lauren. Dorothy Wight was Karen Kahler’s grandmother.

Authorities say the Kahler’s 10-year-old son, Sean, also was at the home at the time of the shootings but was not injured.

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Doctors and lawyers are disputing the true costs of defensive medicine, while surgeons oppose provisions being considered by the Senate for health reform.

The Seattle Times reports that “defensive medicine” is under scrutiny as part of the congressional consideration of health care reform. “Doctors say the hidden costs of the tests along with malpractice insurance and lawsuit awards are major drivers behind the soaring cost of care. Trial attorneys say bad medicine, not lawsuits, is to blame.” Democrats generally have taken the lawyers’ side while Republicans have pushed for malpractice reform.

The feud “has made it tough to put an accurate price tag on the cost of the issues. … Doctors say the price of defensive medicine and malpractice insurance accounts for up to 10 percent of health care spending. Lawyers say malpractice settlement costs amount to less than 0.5 percent of the $2.5 trillion spent each year on health care. The cost of annual malpractice premiums can vary wildly depending on specialty, geographic location and insurance carrier” (LeBlanc, 11/4).

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If you have been a victim of medical negligence in Washington, you should act quick on filing a claim. Our Washington medical malpractice attorneys are available anytime for a free initial consultation to discuss the uniqueness of your case.

No Fees or Costs. Most of our legal services are provided on a contingency basis. That means you will not be charged any fee unless your case is settled.

Our fee is based on an agreed-upon percentage of the amount we collect for you.

You will still be responsible for any out-of-pocket expenses and these shall be reimbursed to us from your share of the settlement after your claim is finished. Details will be provided to you at your initial client conference.

Contact our Lynnwood attorneys to get the claim process started.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, publicity has shown us that many children, and even adults, are a target of sexual predators and fall prey to sexual abuse in unsuspecting ways. Many of you have heard of cases involving sexual abuse caused by adults, school teachers, clergy, healthcare providers and other professional adults and individuals who take people into their confidence.

We handle Lywood sexual abuse cases and are open to discuss your potential claims or persons who you feel have potential claims with the utmost confidentiality and privacy as you wish. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation by e-mail at rob@kornfeldlaw.com or (800) 282-4878.

We are more than happy to make ourselves available to speak to you at your home, in our office, at a hospital or other location convenient for you.