Rally on the River
A local group is holding a “Rally on the DuPage River” this Saturday to promote continuing to allow public access to the river, and keeping it clean. Friends of the DuPage River is encouraging people to head out to the river through a public access point and spend time floating, tubing, kayaking or fishing, while picking up trash along the way. Those who take a selfie while there can then show it at participating businesses in Plainfield and other towns to receive a discount. The rally is part of the group’s continued efforts to have the river accessible for everyone. The river’s use by the public was called into question last year when homeowners with property on the river launched complaints to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. An Illinois Supreme Court ruling this June on a similar case restricted the public’s use of part of the Mazon River that flows across public property. The Naperville Park District and Naperville City Council have both passed resolutions supporting public access to the DuPage River.
District 204 Suspension Data
Indian Prairie School District 204 officials recently reported seeing a rise in the number of student suspensions in the 2021-22 school year. Four hundred and forty-five students in the district had an out-of-school suspension in response to a variety of infractions, including physical aggression, drug use and insubordination. In the last two full school years leading up to the pandemic, District 204 had 369 and 330 student suspensions in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years, respectively. During a discussion at Indian Prairie’s most recent school board meeting, the break in in-person learning during the pandemic was cited as one of the key reasons for the rise in suspensions. As the 2022-23 school year gets underway, officials are hoping to reduce those numbers and have a variety of intervention programs to help in those efforts.
ReThink Inventor Book Talk
The Naperville Public Library is hosting an event featuring author and inventor Trisha Prabhu. The Naperville native will be talking about her book ReThink the Internet: How to Make the Digital World a Lot Less Sucky. Prabhu developed the anti-cyberbullying technology “ReThink” when she was a teenager. That lead to a number of honors, including a Shark Tank offer, and Elevate Prize, and her becoming the youngest honoree ever named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 Social Impact List. The event will be held August 31, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the 95th Street Library in Large Meeting Room A/B.
Downtown Naperville Wine Walk
Tickets go on sale at noon on August 29 for the annual Fall Downtown Naperville Wine Walk. The event itself will be held on Sunday, October 2, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets for the walk will include 13 stops at local businesses with a 1 oz. pour at each spot, a wine glass, and free snacks along the way. Proceeds will benefit Career & Networking Center. Ticket information is available on the Downtown Naperville website.
Naperville Central Grads in ESPN Top 100
Naperville Central High School alumni and current members of the Michigan State University football team Jayden Reed (NCHS class of 2018) and Payton Thorne (class of 2019) were both recently named to ESPN’s list of the top 100 college football players for 2022. Reed, a wide receiver, led the Spartans in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns last season. Thorne, MSU’s starting quarterback and the son of former North Central College head coach Jeff Thorne, set the school record last year for touchdown passes in a single season with 27. The Spartans open their season against Western Michigan on Friday, September 2nd.