Here are a collection of news items of importance and interest:
• The DuPage County Board voted unanimously Tuesday, April 10 to initiate a process to dissolve the North Westmont Fire Protection District. When dissolution is complete, the North Westmont Fire District will be the fifth unit of local government DuPage County dissolved.
The action eliminates the district’s annual tax levy and forgives the district’s debt, totaling $300,000 more than the past five years. An additional $11,000 in annual administrative expenses will be redirected to support fire services.
Through the agreement with Westmont, the village equitably will apportion the costs of fire protection services while providing fire and ambulance service for residents of the district in unincorporated Westmont.
—DuPage County Board
• In a unique collaboration between Oswego School District 308 and Indian Prairie School District 204, students from the Project Lead the Way Engineering Design and Development classes in both districts will compete for best engineering project. The competition will be at Neuqua Valley High School, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, April 23.
A critical component of Engineering Design and Development is a final showcase where students present their findings to a panel of engineers.
—Community Unit School District 308
• With April commemorating Earth month, State representative Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego) will be host to an open discussion on sustainable recycling practices at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 19 at the Aurora Public Library, 555 S. Eola Road in Aurora.
Kifowit will join Lisa Disbrow of Waste Management and Kay McKeen of SCARCE (School, Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) to share fun and easy ways to protect the environment and tips on how to compost.
—State representative Stephanie Kifowit
• East Aurora School District 131 will be host its Fine Arts Festival Saturday, April 28 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.. Student artists, musicians and actors, from elementary school through high school, will show their talents at East Aurora High School, 500 Tomcat Lane, Aurora.
Performances will begin at 9 a.m. in the Arlene Hawks Auditorium. More than 750 pieces of elementary artwork will be on display.
—East Aurora School District 131
• Net-Working It! will be a wonderful evening of networking for Batavia Chamber of Commerce at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 18. There will be appetizers and a cash bar. The cause to be supported from this event is Fox Valley Food for Health, which provides healthy meals. The suggested donation to attend the event is $10..
For more information visit www.
bataviachamber.org.
—Batavia Chamber of Commerce
• Due to the unseasonable weather and cold temperatures, the Spring yard waste collection program initially scheduled to conclude Friday, April 13 has been extended one additional week.
Yard waste must be placed in a 30-gallon kraft paper bag and not exceed 60 pounds. Yard waste mixed with garbage or yard waste in a garbage can or plastic bag will not be collected.
—City of Aurora
• SciTech Comet-y night will be an evening of laughter and comedy Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Gallery 1904, 1 E. Benton Street, Aurora. The group Improve Unlimited will deliver a great family-friendly performance. The is cost is $60. which includes an open bar and hors d’oeures. There will be many raffles which tickets starts at $1. each.
— SciTech Museum
• The Village of Oswego has been named a 2017 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation and will celebrate by planting another tree, the official Christmas Walk tree, for future generations to enjoy, Saturday, April 21.
Oswego achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: A tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2. per capita, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
—Village of Oswego
• Concerned about ensuring the integrity of elections, State representative Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, introduced a measure that would require each election authority to conduct an Election Day audit of a random sample of 10% of votes cast and allow independent auditors to conduct a post-election vote count and audit.
Chapa LaVia’s House Bill 4326 would create the “Illinois Election Integrity Act,” which lays out a plan for election judges to audit and report vote tallies on Election Day.
—State representative Linda Chapa LaVia
• Following a voucher issue from the Illinois State Board of Education Thursday, Aurora schools are scheduled to receive additional State dollars under a new funding formula backed by State representative Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora.
Chapa LaVia backed last year’s education compromise plan, Senate Bill 1947, which created a new funding formula that would determine how state dollars are allocated to school districts. Under the new formula, Aurora West School District 129 is expected to bring in more than $5 million in additional funds, while Aurora East School District 131 will see an increase of more than $12 Million.
—State representative Linda Chapa LaVia
• Attendees can learn to know, and improve, themselves by attending “Pilgrimage: Pathways to Healing and Renewal” at 7 p.m. Monday, April 16, in the Lighthouse room at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 1500 Brookdale Road, Naperville.
According to William Schmidt, Ph.D., professor at the Institute of Pastoral Studies (IPS) of Loyola University Chicago, “Pilgrimage represents a spiritual yearning toward a higher and deeper spiritual space and a higher and deeper spiritual awareness.”
—St. Thomas the Apostle
• The next Open Meeting of the Garden Club of Villa Park will be held starting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday April 24 at the Villa Park Recreation Center, 320 E. Wildwood, Villa Park. The public is invited.
The program in April is “Arthritis in the Garden – How to Lower Chronic Pain without Medications” by gardening author Shawna Coronado.
— Garden Club of Villa Park
