By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council unanimously approved, Tuesday, Nov. 8, nine members to the recently-created Aurora LGBTQ Advisory Board at the City Council meeting. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Advisory Board was established by mayor Richard Irvin to elevate the voices and work to address
By Mary Goetsch, Aurora, Ill. I am dismayed over the Aurora City Council’s vote to subsidize the Hollywood Casino move. I was there in spirit with the Aurora Grassroots Alliance, hoping that in addition to others opposed to the $50-to-$58 million bond issue through the Tax Increment Finance District (TIF),
By Chris Lauzen, Aurora, Ill. As Kane County treasurer candidate, former eight-year elected Board chairman, and 20-year State senator, as a CPA, MBA, challenge the Kane County Board’s ruling majority to increase its FY 11/30/23 investment income revenue projections by $2,000,000, thereby reducing the currently- proposed deficit-spending and use of
By Jerry Nowicki & Peter Hancock In the Tuesday, Nov. 8, election, Illinois voters will cast a ballot on a State constitutional amendment, every statewide constitutional office, every seat in the General Assembly and, in 12 counties, a spot on the State’s Supreme Court. For more information about voting, including
By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council offered praise Tuesday, Nov. 1 for the work of the City’s Economic Development Commission for the Re-Start Retention Grant program to address business losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic at the Committee of the Whole meeting. The Commission is recommending the
Many voters, such as I, make their best efforts to cast an informed, researched, ballot. If you are filling out a mail-in ballot, it’s easy to know which candidates and referenda need to be the subject of your research. But if you are casting your ballot in person in Kane
Monday, Oct. 24, a vote mobile from the Kane County Clerk’s office opens for early voting in the November 8 general election.
By John & Nisha Whitehead “You see them on the street. You watch them on TV. You might even vote for one this fall. You think they’re people just like you. You’re wrong. Dead wrong.” — They Live All is not as it seems. There’s the world we see (or
By Jerry Nowicki Early voting hours and locations greatly were expanded across the State this week as the campaign season entered its final two-week stretch. Polling places opened across the city of Chicago as well. Information on early voting for each election authority can be found on the Illinois State
By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council unanimously approved a proposal, at the Tuesday, Oct. 25 City Council meeting, to supply a $50 Million municipal bond for a new casino to be built. • Seventeen individuals used their voices for up to three minutes each in the 30 minutes of
October 19, 2022Dear editor; An open letter to the Aurora City Council, esteemed alderpeople: I write to you today so that your friends, family, and neighbors will read it and perhaps discuss its contents with you. Most of us are probably not tuned in to all the comings and goings
The League of Women Voters of Central Kane County invites the public to the Batavia Public Library Thursday, Nov. 3 to learn more about Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), Public Act 102-0662, and its implications for Illinois and for our communities. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act is a
By Jerry Nowicki Much of the talk from supporters of the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform has in recent days centered on how it will or will not be amended before January 1, 2023 when cash bail will be abolished in Illinois as part of a provision known as the
By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council listened to many citizens at the Tuesday, Oct. 18 Committee of the Whole meeting. They were against a proposal to supply $50 Million in municipal bonds for a new casino to be built. • Eight individuals used their voices for up to three
October 10, 2022Dear editor; Looking into our crystal ball: What is in the future for Kane County? Whenever somebody asks me what I’ve been reading lately, I always have an easy answer: The Kane County 2040 Plan! The goals of the 2040 Plan are to identify our shared values and
By John Laesch, Aurora, Ill. A growing coalition of concerned residents and community leaders will be speaking out against the Irvin-led initiative to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the move of the Aurora downtown casino to the prime real estate at the interchange of I-88 and Farnsworth Avenue. Aurora Grassroots
By John & Nisha Whitehead “You know, when police start becoming their own executioners, where’s it gonna end? Pretty soon, you’ll start executing people for jaywalking, and executing people for traffic violations.”—“Dirty Harry” Callahan, Magnum Force When I say that warrior cops, hyped up on their own authority and the
After sitting vacant for 13 years, Lincoln Elementary School will soon be filled with new people and good energy under a different name. The City of Aurora held a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Fox Valley Apartments, an affordable apartment complex located at both the former Lincoln Elementary School and
By Peter Hancock Attorney General Kwame Raoul accused his Republican challenger Thomas DeVore of making “dangerous” remarks, while DeVore accused the Democratic incumbent of failing the State’s school students by not challenging governor JB Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigations. The charges and countercharges came during a nearly hour-long debate organized by the
By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council members listened to success stories and a request of funds for Aurora Crime Stoppers, at the Tuesday, Oct. 11 City Council meeting. Board president of Aurora Area Crime Stoppers, Vernon LaVia, and Board member, Mike Funkey, reminded the City Council the 501(c)(3) non-profit
