Tragedy finds us no matter the street name

Hoffman Estates village board members voted last week to change the name of Columbine Boulevard to Hoffman Estates Boulevard.

The thinking here was to avoid reference to the Littleton, Colo., shootings, which took place in 1999 at Columbine High School, claiming 12 lives.

You wouldn't have gotten that impression from reading the village board meeting materials. Nowhere in those papers did it mention the shooting or the motivation to swap names.

However, even with erasing the Columbine name from the road maps, we were once again reminded of the tragedy on Thursday. Many relived those memories after six died in the shootings at Northern Illinois University.

Reminders were on display at Monday's village board meeting, with NIU banners, featuring the black memorial ribbons draped in the front of the village board room under each board member's seat. There was also a moment of silence during the meeting. The village's sound consultant, Tom Thunder, is a professor at NIU, and thanked the village for the kind thoughts. He was teaching on the day of the shootings.

Mayor William McLeod reflected on Friday of the timing of the Columbine name change. McLeod was affected personally, as one of the wounded victims, Brian Karpes, is the ex-husband of his stepdaughter. Additionally the McLeods have two sons who are students at DeKalb.

Karpes, 27, a graduate of Fremd High School in Palatine, sustained five bullet wounds, but survived after surgery at OSF Saint Anthony Hospital in Rockford. He was released from the hospital on Tuesday.

Joane McLeod, the mayor's wife, said one of the bullets went through Karpes' chest and through his back, narrowly missing his heart. His speech was temporally halted, but eventually it returned.

Every year, it seems we're reminded, as unfortunately a pattern has emerged. Last year's Virginia Tech University shootings reminded us.

Columbine Boulevard is now Hoffman Estates Boulevard and borders the village's entertainment district at Prairie Stone. But no matter what terms are banned, these tragedies find a way to resurface.

Do you think the name change was a good idea? I'd like to hear about it. Meanwhile, keep the victims at NIU in your thoughts. I know I will.