Author: Fox Valley Magazine

On Saturday evening, a 4-year-old child was killed in a three-vehicle crash near Maple Park in unincorporated Virgil Township. According to a report from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, the crash occurred around 6:40pm when a 2016 Chrysler 200 driven by 20-year-old Edgar Barrios of DeKalb, traveling eastbound on Route 38 near Francis Road, for an unknown reason crossed the center line into westbound traffic, striking a 2018 Jeep Compass driven by 30-year-old Antwoineia Blanton, also of DeKalb, that was traveling westbound.  After striking the Compass, the Chrysler then struck a 2010 Subaru Forester driven by 30-year-old Katie Petravickwhich of…

The Wall Street Journal recently posted a scathing indictment of K-12 education in Illinois, drawing on research by conservative Illinois thinktank Wirepoints. The article and research show a perverse form of “equity” in Illinois schools: across the racial spectrum, nobody can read. Below is part I of Wirepoint’s report, slightly abbreviated. It does not make happy reading. An indictment of Illinois’ education system If what follows isn’t an indictment of Illinois’ education establishment, we don’t know what is. Of Decatur’s public school 3rd-graders in 2019, just 2 percent of black and 16 percent of white students could read at grade level. In…

It’s that time of year again, where the darkness increases and the howling of the wind takes on a sinister feel. Here are some venues to indulge your desire to experience the thrill of fear in this ghostly season. Basement of the Dead #1 rated Haunted House by more than 10 different public news sources, including USA Today, Chicago Tribune, BuzzFeed, Hauntworld, HauntedHouseChicago.com and Cosmopolitan. In 2022, the 120-year-old, 15,000 sq. ft. Basement of the Dead/Shattered 3-D Haunted House was overtaken by new evil spirits and created many new unspeakable horrors.  Do not miss out in 2022 as the Basement…

Update: Former St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina and Geneva attorney Pat Crimmins will bring their Justa Coupla Guys podcast to Scarecrow Weekend in St. Charles this Saturday. The show will be livecast on a variety of Facebook pages and groups beginning at approximately 2:30 on Saturday from the Family Zone in Lincoln Park. Attendees are encouraged to stop by and say hello! The 37th annual Scarecrow Weekend in downtown St. Charles. Scarecrow Weekend will take place on October 7th – October 9th, and will have fall themed entertainment and activities for families to enjoy. The Scarecrow Contest will occur during…

After over a year of redesigns and back-and-forth compromises, the St. Charles City Council has given final approval of plans for the development of a large, mixed-use building, River East Lofts, at the southeast corner of Illinois & Riverside Avenues in St. Charles. The last hurdle was the approval of a slimmed-down public right-of-way vacation on Indiana Street after the council had voted down the developer’s previous request last month. The development, proposed by local developer Conrad Hurst of Frontier Development, envisions retail and commercial space on the first floor and 3 floors of residential units, including 12 one-bedroom apartments…

This Friday, Aurora’s First Fridays will celebrate Hispanic Heritage and more including a bra drive and a chicken soup contest in downtown Aurora.  Celebrate Hispanic Heritage at Santori Public Library at 101 S. River Street with artisan ice cream, Danzantes Unidos MITOTILIZTLI dancers, a craft, Oaxacan Woman Cultural Heritage photography exhibit, free adult flu vaccinations, and voter registration from 6 to 8 p.m. The Aurora Regional Fire Museum at 53 N. Broadway will host CUPS Bra Drive in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the museum’s lawn and parking lot. Food trucks, vendors, and live DJ. Free museum admission…

During a taping of the Justa Coupla Guys podcast Monday, St. Charles Mayor Lora Vitek confirmed that a Special Use Application has been filed with the city to establish a second cannabis dispensary in St. Charles. The application was filed on September 13 by Union Group of St. Charles LLC, whose ultimate owner appears to be PTS Corp, a cannabis provider formed in 2015 and currently based in Palatine. The proposed name of the new dispensary is listed as “Consume Cannabis of St. Charles.” The application seeks approval to locate a recreational cannabis dispensary within the Randall Plaza Shopping Center…

A former Illinois Youth Center guard has been sentenced to probation and community service after a Kane County jury found him guilty of the offenses of official misconduct, Class 3 felony, 6 counts, and aggravated battery in a public place, Class 3 felony on April 29, 2022. In January 2016, Michael J. Klimek, 46, while acting in his official capacity as a guard at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles, ran what was effectively a fight club among certain juvenile detainees at IYC, facilitating and encouraging detainees to physically attack other detainees as he stood by and did nothing.…

The Aurora Police Department has arrested and charged a 73-year-old Aurora woman who allegedly set fire to her own house in order to murder a male who was in the residence. Just after 7:00pm on Saturday, authorities received a call of a reported structure fire in the 800 block of Taylor Avenue in Aurora. During the course of the preliminary investigation by both APD and the Aurora Fire Department, it was determined that the suspect had intentionally started a fire in her residence in an attempt to kill a male victim who was also inside the house. The victim is…

Two people are dead after a motorcycle rammed head-first into the side of a minivan making a left turn on the west side of Aurora Saturday morning. At around 10:00 a.m., Saturday, Aurora Police officers and Aurora Firefighters responded to a crash involving a motorcycle and a minivan on the city’s west side. Authorities determined that a motorcycle was driving eastbound on West Galena Boulevard when it collided with a minivan that was traveling westbound and turning left onto Russell Avenue. The motorcycle struck the passenger side of the minivan. The Aurora Fire Department transported two people from the scene…