Courier News

Chasing away hunger in Elgin

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:09:37 -0500

ELGIN — A cheer went up Wednesday afternoon at Chase Card Services. “We got another box, guys! We got another box! Whoo hoo!” cheered Linda Burns of Elgin, a team manager at the card services center. “Whoo hoo” is how it felt to fill those boxes with plastic bags of rice, lentils, vegetables and pink Himalayan salt, a casserole that will be distributed to Elgin children through the city of Elgin Park and Recreation Department’s free summer lunch program, Burns said. “The good news is that Chase — even through all the mergers — we’ve been volunteering for 40 years. …

Unclaimed cremains in Kane County to be buried

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:09:45 -0500

The remaining 40 unclaimed cremains in storage at the Kane County Coroner’s Office will find their final resting place. A non-denominational service and internment is planned Thursday and is designed to bring closure and a dignified burial for the unclaimed cremains, some decades old which have not been claimed by next-of-kin. A few months after taking office, Kane County Coroner Rob Russell discovered the unclaimed cremated remains of 47 people in his office storage unit. This discovery prompted Russell to enlist the help of the media in hopes of uniting any of the unclaimed cremains with their next-of-kin. When the …

C’ville molester draws 30-year sentence

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:01:02 -0500

ST. CHARLES TWP. — A Carpentersville man has been sentenced to prison after he pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with a child he knew. Alfredo Vidigaray, 37, of the 100 block of San Juan Road, Carpentersville, agreed on Wednesday to a sentence of 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections in exchange for a guilty plea to two counts of criminal sexual assault, each a Class 1 felony, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. Circuit Judge John A. Barsanti accepted the plea. Between June 1, 2001, and Nov. 11, 2012, Vidigaray had sexual contact at least …

‘Mel’ Runzel honored with Hanover Twp. senior park

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:59:15 -0500

BARTLETT — Mary Ellen “Mel” Runzel once told Bill Tiknis, former Hanover Township supervisor and former mayor of Bartlett, a story about dancing on tables as a youth. That energy, in addition to a passion for Hanover Township youth and senior residents, provided just some of the reasons that the Runzel Reserve Senior Park was dedicated in her honor Tuesday. The park sits next to the Hanover Park Senior Center and adjacent to the Victory Center senior housing development at Route 59 at Bartlett Road. Runzel died from lung cancer in 2009 but had envisioned a park in the open …

Elgin Woman’s Club members July 4 parade marshals

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:06:53 -0500

ELGIN — The city of Elgin and the Downtown Neighborhood Association, in conjunction with presenting sponsor Advocate Sherman Hospital, has announced that members of the Elgin Woman’s Club will serve as grand marshals of the 2013 City of Elgin Fourth of July Parade. Representatives from the Elgin Woman’s Club will ride in a vintage convertible to kick off this year’s parade, at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 4, beginning at the intersection of Slade and Douglas avenues. The theme of this year’s Elgin Fourth parade is “Elgin Marching Through Time” — a timeline-based community celebration of the individuals and organizations who …

Elgin school helps C’ville woman overcome challenges to new career

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:09:49 -0500

ELGIN — When Kelly Yarrington lost her job in retail management to downsizing, she decided like many people to go back to school. Unlike many people, Yarrington made a detailed spreadsheet of all the schools in the area. She also faced a number of challenges: a new baby, buying and moving with her husband Jeremy to a new house in Carpentersville, her mother’s diagnosis with cancer (“a little bit of a heartstring being tugged on,” she said). And a number of questions, she said: “How am I going to provide for my family’s future? How am I going to basically …