In just three years, the Paul Ruby Foundation has raised about $200,000, which has gone toward funding research projects at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Clinic in Chicago's North Loop. Ruby, manager of The Herrington Inn in Geneva, has the disease.

After two poems, testimonials from grateful kids and endless thanks to a man who has been adored as a father figure for Aurora's youth, the city on Saturday officially renamed its Community Center on College Avenue the Fred Rodgers Community Center.

Laurie Milbourn said prayers and hope are what sustained her and her husband, Bill, during their son Nicholas' recent 7-month deployment in northern Iraq. On Saturday, the St. Charles couple celebrated his Nov. 3 homecoming with more than 300 friends and community members. The Marine corporal is a 2003 graduate of St. Charles North High School.

It's Christmas time in the city. But silver bells? They might be out of the question this year. The still-slumping economy is threatening to descend, Grinch-like, on Whoville and steal away Christmas -- or at least parts of it. Cities, towns and villages up and down the Fox Valley are facing massive budget deficits in 2010, and as revenue continues to decline, many are cutting back on non-essentials.

A 17-year-old male died Sunday afternoon after he was hit by a car in the 200 block of Center Street in Elgin, police said. According to a police deputy, the unidentified pedestrian was taken to Sherman Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Formal talks began this week between the Kane County sheriff's deputies union and the county on contract concessions to help balance the sheriff's budget for 2010.

A roundup of lawmakers' votes.

Wistful "write soon" phrases have kept two women connected across the Atlantic Ocean for 52 years. One from the Midwest and one from Finland, they met on paper in 1957.

Open enrollment for LIHEAP has begun, and Nicor Gas is urging eligible customers who may need financial assistance with paying their energy costs to apply as soon as possible because funds are limited.