AURORA

High winds topples

city Christmas tree

Severe winds of up to 45 mph at peak times had measurable impact in downtown Aurora last week, including causing the cancellation of the fireworks planned for the Winter Lights Holiday Festival and the toppling of Aurora’s official Christmas Tree.

Harvested and mounted just last week at the North Island Center in downtown Aurora, the 43-foot Colorado blue spruce was blown over throughout the night causing such damage that it was not salvageable and was recycled.

The metal mounting base was also uprooted during the fall causing significant concrete damage at the site. The area is being assessed for repairs.

“Most trees have lost their leaves which allowed for the high winds to pass easily through the branches,” said Rosario DeLeon, Aurora’s Director of Public Properties. “In this case, the tree was full and took the complete brunt of the winds that came through town.”

KANE COUNTY

Aurora gang member

sentenced for shooting

An Aurora gang member is headed to prison for shooting at someone he thought was a rival gang member.

Gabriel G. Martinez, 23, of the 0-99 block of South Lincoln Avenue, Aurora, was sentenced last week of 91⁄2 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections in exchange for a guilty plea to aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class X felony.

Circuit Judge John A. Barsanti accepted the plea.

During the plea hearing, Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Salvatore LoPiccolo stated that at about 8:30 p.m. July 18, 2015, Martinez was a passenger in a car that was driving in the 200 block of Beach Street, Aurora. He saw a person he believed was a member of a rival street gang standing in front of a residence and fired multiple shots from a handgun at that person. No one was injured.

According to Illinois law, Martinez must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence. He was given credit for 486 days served in the Kane County jail, where he had been held since his arrest in lieu of $1 million bail.

Flu season under way

but no big spikes yet

The flu season is in full swing in Kane County, and while there’s some anecdotal evidence of folks with sore throats and runny noses, the percentage of flu-related emergency room visits is relative low.

According to the Kane County Health Department’s flu surveillance report for Week 45 of 2016, 1.8 percent of reported hospital emergency room visits was for influenza-like illness. Labs reported that four of 2013 specimens tested positive for influenza. Flu-related absence from schools was 0.15 percent of the student population.

Last year about this time, the county was trending a bit above previous years. During the 2015-16 flu season, it trended trended up in Week 6 and peaked in Week 8 in February.

Flu seasons are unpredictable and can be severe. In the United States, thousands of healthy adults and children have to visit the doctor or are hospitalized from flu complications each year and some die.

ELGIN

Tree-trimming scheduled

along Fox River Trail

There’s some tree trimming going on along the Fox River Trail in Elgin — not the kind that involves a string of Christmas lights, although electricity does play a role.

The Forest Preserve District of Kane County asks users of Fox River Trail in Elgin to be aware of the upcoming tree-trimming work which was scheduled to begin on Nov. 24.

ComEd contractor Asplundh will be trimming trees along power lines. The trimming will continue north from Raymond Street to Route 90.

Work was expected to begin on Thanksgiving and will continue until Dec. 30.

Preserve and trail users are asked to be mindful of the tree-trimming project and the possibility of construction equipment in the vicinity. Signs will be posted throughout the work areas, to make trail users aware of possible brief closures.

For more information, call the Forest Preserve District of Kane County at 630-232-5980.

ST. CHARLES

Fire causes roof

damage at Pactiv 

St. Charles firefighters had to cut through the roof of the Pactiv Corporation to put out a blaze last week that threatened to destroy the food-packaging manufacturing plant on Kirk Road.

Roofers had been working during the day and, upon investigation, firefighters found a small fire in the built up section of the roof along the north east corner of the office area.

Firefighters cut away the roof to expose and extinguish the fire. Additional work was done to check for extension, but the fire was contained to the corner where it originated, according to a St. Charles Fire Department news release.

Officials said the cause of the fire is attributed to the roofing operation. Fire loss is estimated at $10,000.

The smoke was discovered by a company supervisor who made the 911 call and evacuated the employees. There were no injuries to employees or firefighters.

Kirk Road was detoured during the incident as firefighters had to establish a water supply utilizing a fire hydrant on the opposite side of the road from the fire building. All Fire Department units cleared the scene by 9:57 p.m.

GENEVA

City extends leaf

collection in December

With many trees holding their leaves later than normal, the Geneva City Council has authorized a special fourth curbside collection throughout the community.

The curbside collection zones and start dates (each zone takes a few days to complete) are as follows:

*    Zone A: East side of the Fox River — Final pickup: Thursday, Dec. 8

*  Zone B: West side of the Fox River, north of Route 38 or north of Kaneville Road and north of Keslinger Road (Residents living on these streets are Zone B) — Final pickup: Wednesday, Nov. 30

*    Zone C: West side of the Fox River, south of Route 38 or south of Kaneville Road and south of Keslinger Road — Final pickup: Monday, Dec. 5

Residents can still dispose of their leaves for free through the City’s leaf bag collection program that runs during December. Refuse stickers are not required, but bags must only contain leaves.

Yard waste, mulch or grass clippings mixed with leaves will not be accepted. Bags can be placed at the curb on residents’ regular garbage day.

— Kane County area news briefs —