ELGIN TOWNSHIP

Missing area man found alive near home

A 64-year-old Elgin Township man was found alive on Tuesday, July 14 after being reported missing from his home the previous day.

A resident reported spotting Daniel Yohnke found lying on the ground near the edge of a property near a heavily wood area in Elgin Township last Tuesday afternoon He had been reported missing by his wife since early July 13.

Yohnke was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Kane County Sheriff’s Police said in a statement that they did not know why Yohnke left his home without notifying his family,

KSCO deputies and K9 units searched the area but were unable to locate him. The Kane County Office of Emergency Management helped with the search.

KANE COUNTY

Dahl sworn in as new County Board member

Brian W. Dahl was sworn in as the newest Kane County Board member last week.

Dahl, a resident of North Aurora and the director of membership services for the Painters District Council No. 30 in Aurora, was appointed by County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen to fill out the term of Ron Ford, who resigned in May.

Dahl, who was among four candidates considered for the District 6 post, will serve the balance of Ford’s term, which end in December 2016.

Dahl has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Baltimore and a bachelor of arts degree from the National Labor College, George Meany Center for Labor Studies.

His pubic service includes present and past stints on the board of directors of Fox Valley United Way, the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Aurora Area Girls Softball league, where he also managed and coached. He coached Aurora Boys Baseball in 1994, and boys and girls basketball at Annunciation BMV School. He serves as an usher, Eucharistic minister and member of the Athletic Committee of Annunciation BMV church.

AURORA

Police check on alcohol, tobacco compliance

Investigators from the Aurora Police Department’s Special Operations Group blanketed the city earlier this month as they staged compliance checks at 124 businesses citywide to assure they were abiding by laws governing the sale of alcohol and tobacco.

A total of 69 business of 83 checked passed for alcohol compliance.

Clerks at the following businesses failed to ask an underage person working with police for identification and were served with notices to appear in court for selling alcohol to a minor:

The report showed that 92 percent of the 41 businesses checked for compliance with tobacco laws passed. Clerks at those establishments were also served with notices to appear in court for selling tobacco to an underage person.

ELGIN

Fire Department ranks in top 2 percent nationally

The national Insurance Services Office has ranked the Elgin Fire Department in the nation’s leaders for in its ability to protect the community.

The department achieved an Insurance Service Office Community Public Protection Classification 2 rating, which places it in the top two-percent of communities nationwide. The rating becomes effective on Oct. 1, 2015.

The national Insurance Services Office regularly evaluates fire departments and classifies them according to their ability to respond to fires. The review includes an evaluation of the fire department, code department, dispatch operations and water operations in each community. Each entity receives an individual rating, and then those ratings are considered together.

This new classification is the highest in the city’s 150-year history. For the previous 20 years, Elgin received an ISO Class 3 ranking on the 1-10 scale, with Class 1 being the best rating.

STATE

New law strengthens teacher background checks

A new legislation, signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner on July 10, will require student teachers to go through the same background checks as regular staff, teachers and other school employees.

“This new law makes conducting background checks for student teachers more efficient and ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect our students,” said Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood), who co-sponsored Senate Bill 706. “It addresses concerns from colleges, schools and parents.”

Changes are effective for the 2015-16 school year.

Student teachers will have to submit to a fingerprint-based criminal history check and go through a Statewide Sex Offender Database check plus Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Databases.

The Illinois State Police and FBI also will now be required to furnish any conviction records of prospective student teachers.

–Suburban news briefs–