May 16, 2020Dear editor; I am distressed with the Oswego Village Board under mayor Troy Parlier. How can four out of six Board members decide to go ahead and vote for a $750,000 frivolous amphitheater? This is one of the most uncertain periods in modern history. Every part of people’s
By David E. Mertz, P. E. The country is facing the crisis of this generation, two if you consider climate change. Three months ago decisive action was needed to blunt the impact of COVID-19. In years past, timely decisions would have been made by the president based on the best
By Jason Crane The North Aurora Village Board Monday officially canceled the Village’s July 3 Independence Day Fireworks and the North Aurora Days in August due to COVID-19 concerns. The Board approved a contract with R.C. Wegman for construction management and bids for the items of demolition, painting, electrical, structural
By John W. Whitehead No one is safe. No one is immune. No one gets spared the anguish, fear, and heartache of living under the shadow of an authoritarian police state. That’s the message being broadcast 24/7 with every new piece of government propaganda, every new law that criminalizes otherwise
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker said Tuesday he would consider withholding federal pass-through funds to counties ignoring his stay-at-home order and said it “would be best” for the General Assembly to meet before the end of May to take up key State business. When asked in his daily COVID-19
By Rebecca Anzel The Illinois department tasked with the State’s economic development launched a program Tuesday providing grant funding to community governments for capital projects. Its aim, said Michael Negron, assistant director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), is to return skilled laborers to work on road
By Jason Crane At the fourth remote Aurora City Council meeting Tuesday, unanimously approved was an ordinance confirming the ongoing state of emergency in Aurora due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief management officer Alex Alexandrou, said, “The data and evidence supports allowing us to be on a different track than
By Jason Crane The third remote Montgomery Village Board meeting Monday included doubling the Montgomery Development Fund program cap of $100,000 to $200,000. The program designed to help businesses in Montgomery affected by COVID-19 has a deadline date for applications of May 31. The Montgomery Development Fund Program – Small
By John W. Whitehead We are fast becoming a Nation, nay, a world, of book-burners. Although on paper, we are technically free to speak, at least according to the U.S. Constitution, in reality, however, we are only as free to speak as the government and its corporate partners such as
By Rebecca Anzel Governor JB Pritzker Tuesday announced a five-step, regional plan to reopen Illinois after months of restrictions put in place to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic. The governor’s Restore Illinois plan comprises of five phases that health regions, the 11 districts the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH)
There are many ways to vote in the November 3 elections, according to John Cunningham, Kane County Clerk’s office: Voters can request vote by mail starting August 5. Any qualified elector in Illinois who is properly registered to vote, may apply for a vote by mail ballot. In addition, the
Naperville mayor Steve Chirico signed an executive order that limits on-street parking on several streets in the Naperville Central Business District to 30 minutes between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., seven days a week, as of May 5.The order aims to ease hardships on businesses that have had to modify
Chief Judge Clint Hull announced that in compliance with the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and governor JB Pritzker’s executive order all persons who enter any Kane County Court building must wear a face covering effective Friday, May 1. If no masks are available, then other alternative means
By Jerry Nowicki As the state saw its largest single-day death total yet from COVID-19 Tuesday, governor JB Pritzker said his stay-at-home order stands despite a judge’s Monday ruling granting a limited temporary restraining order against it. “Let me remind everyone again —the stay-at-home order in Illinois is still very
Kane County clerk John A. Cunningham announced the results of Tuesday’s lottery for the party ballot placement on the ballot for the November 3 General Election. Per state statute, each election authority, including the Kane County Clerk’s Office, must conduct a lottery of the major political parties to determine which
The Kane County Health Department (KCHD) announced Saturday, that Smithfield Foods, Inc., in St. Charles, received an order from the Kane County Health Department to close their facility as of Friday, April 24, due to concerns about COVID-19. The order temporarily closes the facility so that the Health Department can
Activities planned for Oswego Honors Veterans, a 10-day series of events and observances on and around Memorial Day, has been postponed until 2021 to protect our veterans, volunteers, and the public, while the COVID-19 pandemic continues. The series of events organized by the Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club and the
DuPage County and Wheaton College agreed to provide temporary housing for first responders asked to self-isolate during the COVID-19 response. Wheaton College will provide the 28 units in its three Saint & Elliot apartment buildings for use by DuPage County police officers, firefighters, and medical personnel who need to self-isolate
The Illinois Department of Transportation closed the intersection of Harvey Road at U.S. Route 30 Monday, April 27 to install a cul-de-sac and permanently close traffic at the hazardous intersection near Oswego East High School. The intersection will be closed an estimated one month to two months. Traffic on Route
By Peter Hancock Illinois House Republicans on Monday stepped up their demands that the JB Pritzker administration release more information about inmates being furloughed or granted early releases from state prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic. They requested the governor consult more with the General Assembly about granting such releases. “As
