New England Congregational Church in Aurora celebrated Earth Day Sunday, April 21, with a presentation by two congregants who are environmental experts. Titled “Creating Environmental Justice in our World,” the speech after morning worship was by Mavis Bates, Kane County 4th District board member and owner of Mavis Bates Strategic...
How can we help the environment, help preserve our biodiversity, protect our clean air and water, and stop climate change? For these answers, we don’t need to look any further than our own Aurora Sustainability Plan. Our plan was written in 2019 by the Sustainable Aurora Mayor’s Advisory Board. The...
March 11, 2024Dear editor; The Aurora GreenFest is back! Save the date for Saturday, June 8. The GreenFest will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Prisco Community Center and McCullough Park 150 W. Illinois Avenue in Aurora. As always, the GreenFest is a free and accessible event, so...
February 19, 2024Dear editor; Bill Foster has been our congressman in the 14th and 11th Districts since 2008. In those 16 years he has sponsored 238 bills, co-sponsored 2,266, and has voted in the House of Representatives thousands of times. Every time he votes, Bill proves his values and his...
By Mavis Bates The earth is heating up. Last year was the hottest year on record, and this probably will be even hotter. We all know that this Winter is abnormally warm. The old song tells us, “Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go. The...
By Mavis Bates The Aurora GreenFest is back! Save the date for Saturday, May 13. After a three-year hiatus due to COVID, we are excited to present the 11th Annual Aurora GreenFest, and it’s going to be better than ever! The GreenFest will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m....
Thank you for voting for the truth! Thank you to the voters of Kane County and all of Illinois for voting for the truth November 8. We all received a barrage of fake newspapers, evil looking mailers, and negative texts that foretold doom and gloom if the Democrats stayed in...
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...
If we really, truly, love our grandchildren, or our children, or somebody else’s grandchildren, then we must take responsibility and begin to show our love for them through our actions. It is time for us to take care of the earth, because, if we don’t, the earth will no longer...
By Mavis Bates, Kane County Board member, District 4Aurora, Ill. The year 2021 was difficult for all of us, and yet on the Kane County Board we still have some big accomplishments to celebrate. Here are just some of the gains that we made in 2021, and part of the...
By Mavis Bates As a member of the Kane County Board and our American Rescue Plan Committee, I am thrilled to announce Kane County’s Community Support Grant Program. In recognition of the devastating impact felt by our local nonprofit organizations during the COVID-19 public health crisis, the Kane County Board...
November 16, 2021Dear editor; We are “Aurora’s Four Ms”, Myrna Molina, Mavis Bates, Monica Silva, and Michelle Gumz, and we are excited to announce that we all will be running again in 2022 to retain our seats on the Kane County Board. We are grateful for the support that Aurora...
The Sierra Club Valley of the Fox will have its final program of the 2020-2021 season at Johnson’s Mound Forest Preserve, south of Elburn, at 6 p.m. Monday, June 14. We will provide free box lunches for a no-touch community picnic, and our expert naturalist, Ray Wronkiewicz, will lead us...
By Mavis BatesAurora The Sierra Club, Valley of the Fox, will have its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, May 10, on Zoom,. This month’s program is on the benefits of organic farms in Kane County. Our speaker will be Matt Tansley from the Kane County Development and Community Services...
April 19, 2021Dear editor; Aurora City Council members will be asked April 27 to vote on a new, 14-pump Circle K gas station to be built on the northwest corner of Farnsworth and Molitor Roads. We know it will be a difficult decision to weigh economic development against the health...
By Mavis Bates We are flying through space, together, on a spaceship that has everything we need to thrive: Food, water, shelter, clothing, and safety. Just like any spaceship, our needs must be met from inside this defined space. We can’t stop at the local cosmic grocery store and buy...
By Mavis Bates Sierra Club Valley of the Fox and Trajectory Energy Partners will be hosts to a Zoom presentation for their Earth Month program, Pollinator-friendly Community Solar for Kane County at 7 p.m. Monday, April 12. We will cover community solar program details, savings benefits, and contract terms. Community...
The Illinois Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), is Illinois Sierra Club’s highest priority bill for 2021. Right now the clean energy jobs sector is one of the fastest growing in Illinois, and CEJA will keep it that way. As our State recovers from the COVID-19 crisis, renewable energy is going...
February 1, 2021Dear editor; As a newly-elected Kane County Board member, I want to provide as much information to the public as I can. The question I receive most often is, “When can I get vaccinated? ”Unfortunately, the only answer I can give people is “soon”, and I feel it...
By Mavis Bates, Kane County Board member, District 4 Good news is coming for Kane County renters. Kane County will soon receive a grant of $15 Million to help renters who are behind in paying their rent. The money will come from the most recent federal COVID-19 relief package that...
