crosby
AU grad labors hard for degree
There’s no question Norma Anguiano labored awfully hard to earn that degree in Spanish from Aurora University earlier this month. After graduating from high school in 2002, she got her associate’s degree from Waubonsee Community College. But then life got in the way and she …
Aurora shooting victim finds hope in community’s caring nature
Of all the powerful moments at the Fox Valley United Way breakfast last Thursday — and there were many — it was the testimonial of Theresa Harden that received a standing ovation. She was a 34-year-old mom of two young kids, including a baby celebrating …
Mom keeps up hope that her daughter, missing for 10 years, will be found
While the rest of us responded with horror when news of the Cleveland kidnapping began breaking across our TV stations earlier this month, one woman’s reaction was one of hope. Like the three women who had been held against their will for close to a …
A royal surprise for West Aurora’s prom king
Todd Nardone didn’t expect it. His mom Debbie did; but only because she and husband Jim were given a heads-up the day before that their son would be crowned king at West Aurora High School’s prom on Saturday night. Was she excited? Who wouldn’t be …
Crosby: Capt. Cyr’s love of life will continue to light the way
It was most appropriate that the opening hymn for the funeral of U.S. Air Force Capt. Brandon Cyr would be “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies.” The second verse seemed especially fitting to honor the memory of this 28-year-old Oswego native who was one of four …
Celebrating the heroes, helpers among us
It was a great week to be a reporter here in the Aurora area. And I’m not talking about the adrenalin rush that comes with covering murder, mayhem and mischief. On Tuesday, it was all about heroes, as the Fox Valley came together to honor …
Aurora man ‘still seeking justice’ against Nicor
There’s no doubt Bruce Brummel looks frailer than the last time I saw him a few years ago. He’s thinner, his face more gaunt. And chemo, he says, is the culprit responsible for the noticeably different hairstyle he’s sporting these days. Yet Brummel, 51, who …
Remembering a special man killed while trying to help others
Beth Armstrong didn’t pay much attention to the news coming out of the tiny town of West, Texas, earlier this month. But then, neither did the rest of the world because of the Boston Marathon bombing that took place only a couple days earlier. But …
Kentucky Derby gala wants to rein in homelessness
It probably wasn’t the smartest thing Ryan Dowd has done, wearing his nice business suit and shiny leather shoes to the Maple Lane Farm in Oswego earlier this month. By the end of that morning, Dowd’s shoes were coated in dust and horse manure. And …
Despite weariness, Greg Zanis keeps working at his mission
Yes, Greg Zanis went to Boston. Quick trip. There and back. Yes, he planted three crosses at the marathon finish line. He saw the blood. Of adults. Of children. And yes, it horrified him, more so this time as the pools of red reminded him …
Dealing with the deluge, and a flood of bad memories
There were plenty of nervous people in the Fox Valley watching the rain continue to fall from the skies Thursday. But perhaps no one was as apprehensive as the residents of Sans Souci and Cherry Hill subdivisions on Aurora’s far West Side. Homes here got …
Hot Sandwich; Sour Sugar Grove
Nothing like small-town politics if you’re looking for some election drama. The 2013 mayoral races, for example, made for a hot Sandwich, while things turned a tad sour in Sugar Grove these past few weeks. No doubt board meetings could be tense for a while …
Nothing sweet about village president race in Sugar Grove
It’s legal. It’s old news. It’s even had his support in the past. But none of the above is stopping Sugar Grove Trustee Kevin Geary from bringing up a so-called sweetheart deal in his campaign to oust long-time Village President Sean Michels. Over the past …
It will take whole community to beat the scourge of heroin
When Robin, struggling to conceive, found out she was pregnant that Christmas Eve of 1990, she dubbed this child later named Matt as “my miracle baby.” It was a story she shared with Beacon-News readers — mother and son were even pictured on the front …
Frustration marks mom’s final resting place
Like many parent/child combos, Jerri Lynn Baker and her mother didn’t always see eye to eye. But their relationship took a dramatic turn back in 2004 when both were diagnosed with cancer just weeks apart. Edith “Edi” Weeks was told in July of that year …
