By State rep. Dagmara Avelar and State rep. Ryan Spain All around Illinois, the signs of change are apparent. The COVID-19 pandemic changed our economy, how we live and work, and how working-class and lower-income families struggle day to day. We come together to argue for a solution to one...
Dale Schroeder was a simple, humble, man from Iowa, who ended up changing the lives of 33 individuals forever. Schroeder worked as a carpenter at the same company for 67 years. He grew up poor and had no wife or children of his own. Caitlin O’Kane of CBS wrote the...
Aurora Area Retired Teachers Association donated $500 to Salvation Army Aurora Corps recently.
By Andrew Adams Faculty at Governors State University ended a strike Monday, April 17 after being on the picket line for five days. Governors State was one of three Illinois universities which saw a faculty strike in the past week and the last to see their strike end. Union members...
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry in Aurora Thursday, April 6 to discuss the $700,000 in federal funding he secured through congressionally-directed spending in the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Omnibus appropriations bill for their new Mobile Meals Program that will expand their services to food-insecure...
DuPage County Board chair person, Deborah Conroy, issued a disaster proclamation for DuPage County on Monday, April 3 in response to damage that occurred during a tornado in Addison Friday, March 31. “Issuing a disaster declaration allows County residents impacted by the storm to seek any State or federal resources...
By Andrew Adams Consumer advocates, environmentalists and Chicago residents gathered in front of the Chicago offices of Peoples Gas this week to call on the Illinois Commerce Commission to reject a proposed rate increase from the gas utility. Several advocacy groups, including the Citizens Utility Board, Blacks in Green and...
The City of Aurora government continues its efforts to financially support small businesses in the community as they still are on the path to full recovery from the pandemic. A second round of grant funding is now open, with $700,000 available in the City’s Finish Line Grant and Re-Start Retention...
After 70 years of educating youth, the preschool of Wesley United Methodist Church in Aurora closed in March 2022. The school’s legacy will continue to be felt with grants totaling $2,000 to help church staffers provide youth and family programs. Sunday, March 26, Paula Loague, preschool board president, presented $1,000...
By Nika Schoonover On his latest marketing tour to sell his State budget plan, governor JB Pritzker visited a community college in Normal Tuesday, March 14 to highlight his proposed investments in higher education. “With an additional $100 million directed to the (Monetary Award Program) grant program, a student can...
By Peter Hancock Moody’s Investors Service announced Tuesday, March 14 that it has upgraded Illinois’ bond rating to A3, up from Baa1, marking the eighth credit upgrade the State has received in less than two years. Moody’s is now the second major rating agency to put Illinois in the ‘A’...
By Jerry Nowicki With two months to go before the adjournment of Illinois’ Spring legislative session, governor JB Pritzker’s State budgeting task may have gotten easier Tuesday, March 7. The Commission on Government Forecasting Accountability increased its revenue estimate for the current fiscal year by $575 million, yet another positive...
March 6, 2023Dear editor; When I was growing up in the 1950s my mom was a single parent raising my three older brothers and me on a low-paid job and no food assistance. I remember when I was six years old leaving food on my plate each night that she...
The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley accepted a record 1,232 applications for its 2023-2024 scholarship cycle, a nearly 50% increase over last year. Applicants ranged in age from 16 to 58 years old, an indication of how the Community Foundation offers scholarship opportunities for students of all ages....
By Jerry Nowicki Governor JB Pritzker’s second-term legislative agenda will begin in earnest next week when he proposes his fifth annual State budget to lawmakers in the General Assembly. Although a governor’s proposal usually provides framework for the State’s annual spending plan, it rarely makes it through the General Assembly...
The 2023 Inspire Scholarships are now open for applications. The scholarship program, sponsored by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce, will be given to Batavia Public School District 101 high school seniors, with up to four awards given. The four scholarships, worth $1,000 each, are motivated by the makeup of the...
Members of Knights of Columbus Council 14929 at Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Catholic Church in Aurora pose with a $925 donation to Aurora's Association for Individual Development (AID).
Earnings for active duty military service or active duty training have been covered under Social Security since 1957. If you served in the military before 1957, you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, you receive special credit for some of your service. You can get both Social Security (SSAN) benefits and...
The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley (CFFRV) has announced a one-time extension of its Scholarship Program application deadline to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. “We recognize what a busy time of the year this is for students, their parents, and our schools so we decided to offer...
The Aurora Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU) recently received a significant grant award that will help forward the Unit’s mission to provide mental health and crisis resources to community members. The 2022 Community Policing Crisis Intervention Unit grant, which totals $294,657.51, was awarded to the CIU by the United...
