Author: Fox Valley Magazine

It’s Halloween again. A time of ghost stories and dark, windy nights. Of creaking floorboards and mysterious nighttime whispers. Of the embrace of all things dark and sinister… Or it’s just a good time to scare yourself silly! Whatever the goal, the following Fox Valley haunted houses will surely do the trick. Happy Halloween! >

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Authorities discovered a dead body in the water this morning in Elgin. At approximately 10:14 a.m., officers and fire department personnel responded to the intersection of Trout Park Boulevard and Sherwood Avenue for a report of a body in the water. A dead body was located and subsequently recovered by the fire department. Detectives are on scene and actively investigating the incident. The identity of the subject and cause of death is not immediately apparent and will be determined by the Kane County Coroner’s Office. No further information is available at this time. If anyone has any information that may…

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Throughout Illinois, there is an urgent need for blood. Every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood, whether it be for an accident victim, a surgery patient or those affected by natural disasters. To ensure the Fox Valley area has an adequate blood supply, community residents are invited to participate in Versiti Blood Center of Illinois’ Mobile Blood Drive on October 20, 10 am-3 pm, outside of Fox Valley Orthopedics’ North Building (2535 Soderquist Ct., Geneva) in the Mobile Coach. Walk-ins are welcome; registration encouraged. A non-expired photo identification will be needed at the time of the donation.…

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Batavia Mainstreet is bringing back its annual Halloween-themed family event, BatFest. Held in downtown Batavia on Saturday, October 30 from 10:00am-2:00pm, the annual event has something for everybody. Coming up this year at BatFest: 🦇 Downtown Trick or Treating, 10am-12pm 🦇 Final Farmers’ Market of the Season, 10am-2pm 🦇 Wazio Pumpkin Roll hosted by Boy Scout Troop 6 🦇 Miss Jamie’s Farm at the Boardwalk shops, 10:00am-10:30am 🦇 Magician & Balloons on corner of Wilson and Water Street, 10:00am-12:00pm 🦇 BatFest Stories at Batavia Public Library Reading Garden, 11:30am-11:50am 🦇 Reptile Show at Beardsgaard Barbers, 11:30am-12:45pm 🦇 Mother’s Club Halloween…

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Good news can sometimes seem difficult to find these days, but this story from CNN out of Mississippi certainly qualifies. According to the report, Brittany Walters, a senior at Mississippi’s Forrest County Agricultural High School, promised her mother the day she died of cancer that she and her father Sean would attend Brittany’s homecoming ceremonies, as Brittany had been nominated for Homecoming Queen. Brittany didn’t win the crown. The student body elected classmate Nyla Covington instead. What happened next, to some extent at least, restores one’s faith in humanity. Read the full story here.

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The Kane County Health Department is requiring Hampshire High School to move to remote learning for two weeks commencing Tuesday, October 12, according to a statement issued today by the school. The KCHD is implementing the Adaptive Pause as a mitigation strategy to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Since September 28, Hampshire High School has had 37 positive COVID-19 student cases. Hampshire has an enrollment of 1,647 students. In its statement, Hampshire quoted the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education website: Decisions for temporary closure of a school (“Adaptive Pause”) will be made by school…

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Welcome to our latest edition of Fox Valley Magazine’s 4 FOR THE WEEKEND where Justine Fields won’t get sacked, we promise. So let’s get to it, starting with….. In All Seriousness… …this is going to be a slightly different 4FTW. As we enter the holiday season – a season of giving, after all – we decided to focus this weekend’s activities on events that make a difference in our communities and the lives of its citizens. We’ll be back next weekend with all kinds of Halloween silliness (we have a little of that at the end), but this weekend is…

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A jury on Thursday found Mark A. Hampton of Oswego guilty of the offense of predatory criminal sexual abuse of a child. Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Lori Schmidt and Stacey Wittman presented evidence that between November 2015 and August 2017 Hampton sexually assaulted the child, whom he knew. The child was younger than 13 years old. “A lot of people came to the rescue of this young child when she disclosed her abuse,” Schmidt remarked after the verdict. “Thanks to the family member who immediately took her to the hospital, to the sexual assault nurse at AMITA Health Mercy…

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Sometimes a little perspective is in order. This magazine posted a story in late September remarking upon what seemed to be a sharp uptick in crime in the Fox Valley during the month, much of which related to Naperville. Apparently, that uptick was noticed by a lot of people, because it prompted an interesting post from Naperville Interim Chief of Police Jason Arres on NPD’s Facebook page. Here is the Chief’s post in its entirety: The police department has been asked a lot of questions and seen a lot of commentary about crime in Naperville lately. It’s no secret that…

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