Beacon News

Aurora aldermen slated for new City Council committees

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:20:54 -0500

AURORA — A week after four new aldermen were sworn in to Council seats, Mayor Tom Weisner announced the new make up of City Council’s committees. When the mayor’s out of town, Alderman Bob O’Connor, at-large, will continue to serve as mayor pro tem. O’Connor begins his eighth term as alderman this week. Joining Finance Chairman O’Connor and Alderman Abby Schuler, 1st Ward, will be Alderman Rick Mervine, 8th Ward. Mervine takes the place of former Alderman Lynda Elmore, 10th Ward, who did not run to be re-elected to her ward spot. Alderman John “Whitey” Peters, 5th Ward, will continue …

FEMA teams to help Kane flood victims

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:28:00 -0500

Beginning Tuesday, Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams (DSAT) will be in Kane County to provide information and give residents who were affected by the April flooding an opportunity to register for federal disaster assistance. The teams will be visiting homes, businesses, and high traffic locations in the affected areas providing support to disaster survivors directly in the communities where they live and work, according to a release form the Kane County Office of Emergency Management. DSAT members may offer residents the opportunity to use a tablet computer to register for assistance. Residents will not be required to …

Kane ready to hand out $1 million in riverboat grants

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:48:58 -0500

The Kane County Riverboat Committee will issue $1 million in external grants to 67 outside applicants at the beginning of June. The county saw $4.4 million in revenue from the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin this year. Those funds are split between an internal grant program for county use, and the outside grants to benefit local organizations. At its meeting Monday, the committee agreed to a $3.5 million budget for internal programs and used previous funds in the account to arrive at the $1 million figure. There was an $80,000 shortfall between what the county budgeted and actual revenues, said …

‘Pollen tsunami’ means even worse allergy season

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:01:44 -0500

In what’s being called a “pollen tsunami,” this allergy season is now expected to be even rougher than last year for allergy sufferers, Chicago’s longtime allergen measurer said Monday.

Former credit union president denies charges she misused money

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:26:00 -0500

ST. CHARLES — Former Aurora Firefighters Credit Union President Anne Schaal has pleaded not guilty to charges she misused and took money from the organization. Schaal, 66, of Sugar Grove, was arrested in September on charges of felony theft and unlawful use of a credit card related to approximately $35,000 in misappropriated funds from the credit union. A grand jury indicted Schaal, who is free on bond, on similar charges in April. Police and prosecutors have not commented on a possible motive in the case, but various court records have indicated Schaal had a gambling addiction. In her divorce settlement, …

Festival at Roundhouse to celebrate beginning of summer

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:16:01 -0500

This year, summer begins in the parking lot at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora. The brothers, Jim and Jason Ebel, are kicking off the start of Summer Festival on June 21, the first day of summer. The Ebels are making a few changes to this year’s festival, formerly called the Hop Juice Festival, and they hope that it brings more crowds and more excitement to their complex on Broadway just outside of downtown Aurora. The Summer Festival will be a three-day event with music, art, and family-friendly activities — pretty much in that order. The festival starts on Friday, June …

Parked car in roadway leads to DUI

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:46:00 -0500

Dominique Martin, 22, 800 block of Preston Lane, Oswego, was charged with drunken driving early Monday morning after Kendall County Sheriff’s deputies found her behind the wheel of a running vehicle that was parked in the roadway. Deputies found Martin parked in the road near Steward Road and Woolley Road around 3:09 a.m. She was charged with drunken driving, improper parking on a roadway, no driver’s license on her person and no insurance. Aurora Marshall Straughter, 25, 900 block of Pearl Street, Aurora, was charged with felony aggravated domestic battery, felony unlawful restraint and felony violation of bail bond at …

Opinions vary over pawn, resale shop ordinance in Yorkville

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:04:00 -0500

YORKVILLE — It appears the city might get some kind of regulatory ordinance concerning pawn and resale shops. A proposed ordinance regulating the businesses in the city was sent back for more tinkering at the committee level, after a long discussion with emotional comments last week during a regular City Council meeting. The ordinance was proposed by Police Chief Richard Hart, who said it will give some protection to people who have had items stolen, particularly valuable coins or jewelry. After he proposed the idea, based on similar ordinances in Aurora and Oswego, the ordinance went through several discussions at …

West Aurora seniors get their diplomas

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:30:00 -0500

West Aurora High School kicked off the diploma season Sunday with its graduation ceremony. Dozens of area high schools will be holding their graduation events in the weeks to come. West Aurora’s event was held in the Convocation Center at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Holding it there allows more people to attend the ceremony. A number of others area high schools, including Waubonsie Valley, Batavia, Oswego, Oswego East, Metea Valley and Neuqua Valley also hold their graduations at NIU. It was a good thing the event was at NIU Sunday, as a big crowd came out to see the …

Body of Aurora man found in Naperville dumpster

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:41:35 -0500

NAPERVILLE - Authorities have identified an Aurora man whose body was discovered in a trash bin Friday and have ruled the death a suicide. The Will County Coroner’s office said Sunday night Kevin P. Ratcliffe, 53, was idenfitied from “visual comparison.” A construction worker found the body inside a trash bin behind an unoccupied one-story office building that was under renovation in the 3400 block of LaCrosse Lane about noon, Naperville police Sgt. Lou Cammiso said. An autopsy performed Saturday showed Ratcliffe died from a gunshot wound. Naperville police are investigating. The body had been in the bin a few …

As property values continue to fall, some see tax bills surge

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:44:46 -0500

AURORA — Inside Hope Lutheran Church recently, about 140 residents of the 55-and-over Carillon at Stonegate community packed into pews and folding chairs to get an answer to one burning question: Why had their property tax bills ballooned in one year by as much as $1,600? East Aurora School Board President Annette Johnson, joined by the district’s attorney, Bernard Weiler, stood near the altar. She was acutely aware of the situation at hand: Many seniors on a fixed income were livid and threatening to sell their homes, which could further decrease the tax base in East Aurora. “I do really …

Open space plan identifies areas near Naperville for future protection

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:20:00 -0500

Call it thinking outside the meadow. When planners sat down last year to take a fresh look at the concept of open space in DuPage County, they were prepared to aim their sights beyond sprawling expanses of green grasslands and forests — or perhaps nearer. Steering committee member Bill Novack, director of transportation, engineering and development for the city of Naperville, said one of the possibilities tossed onto the table in those early discussions was the relatively tiny parcel southeast of Washington Street and the West Branch of the DuPage River where a dilapidated and long-vacant commercial building was razed …

COD officials look at budget with $2.5 million deficit

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:18:00 -0500

The College of DuPage Board of Trustees got its first look at the proposed 2014 budget this Thursday. While the college’s financial rating is good, challenges loom in the immediate future — challenges that may lead to an increase in tuition. At the core of the college’s potential problems is the failure of the state of Illinois to deliver on funding education, college officials said. “The state continues to be a significant challenge to the college,” Thomas Glaser, senior vice president of Finance and Administration, said. Glaser told the Board that the state operating grant was cut for the 2014 …

Woman gets jail, counseling for stealing puppy from Naperville Petland

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:56:09 -0500

A 21-year-old woman from Aurora has been sentenced to jail and ordered to undergo counseling, after being convicted of stealing a puppy last fall from a pet shop on Naperville’s far west side. DuPage County Circuit Court Judge John J. Kinsella sentenced the woman, Brandie M. Walker, to 30 days in jail for the Nov. 2 theft from the Petland store at 720 S. Route 59. Walker pleaded guilty to a felony charge of retail theft of merchandise exceeding $300, according to court records. The stolen and quickly recovered puppy — a French bulldog named Fiona — was valued at …

Police, prosecutors differ on charging driver in alleged incident outside Aurora clinic

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:12:34 -0500

A driver accused of swerving his SUV at a teenage demonstrator outside an Aurora Planned Parenthood clinic was charged with aggravated assault even though police said security cameras never showed him veering toward the protester. As a result Aurora police declined to charge the driver. But the DuPage County State’s Attorney did. The disagreement focuses on security video of the incident.

Group looks to help those in need in Honduras

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:26:24 -0500

When Luisa Fernanda Cicero moved to the United States from South America, she was amazed. “This is the country of choices,” she said. “I asked for a cup of coffee and I was offered 20 different kinds. I said, ‘How about the regular kind.’ Very quickly it hit me that here you have more and more. When you go back to the basics, there is such a contrast.” Which is why Cicero is grateful, and eager to give back. She remembers the days when she didn’t have it all — and she knows that all over the world there are …