David Sharos

2 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

Barb Schneider of Montgomery works in town at her local gardening and nursery shop, Schaefer Greenhouses, Inc., and believes people are ready to once again go outdoors and begin the planting season. “I think there is going to be a lot of interest. We’ve already had a lot of people come in and ask about what kind of seeds to plant and what kind of plants are available right now,” Schneider said recently.

3 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

Geomarco Grano of Sugar Grove, a freshman at Aurora University, stopped inside one of the buildings on campus Monday morning to inscribe a positive thought for others. Grano joined dozens of others who wrote messages of positivity on a piece of fabric mounted inside the doors of the Institute for Collaboration on campus as part of a new initiative this week leading up to a Day of Generosity to be celebrated at the university on Friday.

3 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

Sunday was a special day for Rich Cardia of Geneva, a veteran of the Vietnam War. “I’m happy we’re being recognized today. Heck yeah, it’s about time,” Cardia said before the start of a Vietnam War commemoration ceremony in North Aurora Sunday morning. “I’m 78 years old and I knew I was going (to the war). I wasn’t married and I wasn’t in college so – my last name starts with ‘C’ and I got drafted in May and was in-country by January. I’m thankful for this.

3 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

While longtime fans still remain married to their traditional bicycles, the growing popularity of e-bikes is clearly the focus among many Aurora area bike shops as sales continue to grow thanks to better technology, improved batteries and more. Bruce Heidlauf, who has operated the Mill Race Cyclery in Geneva for 42 years, said last year was perhaps the best he ever had, which included more than 50% of his sales in the e-bike category.

3 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the April 1 general election. The race for the East Aurora School District 131 Board of Education in the April 1 election includes nine candidates running for three four-year terms on the board. The candidates include incumbents Annette Johnson, Theodia Gillespie and Bruce Schubert and challengers Mary Fultz, April Fitzhugh, Lynda White, Vannia Valencia, Guy D. Bodie and Mayra S. Reyes.