BOLINGBROOK
Fruit, veggies grant won’t be renewed
Leaders at two Bolingbrook elementary schools hope the community might pitch in next school year and help get healthy snacks for students.
A state grant that gave daily cups of cantaloupe, broccoli, apples and other fresh foods to students at B.J. Ward and J.R. Tibbott schools will not be renewed next year because of an “internal department miscommunication,” said Sharon Nichols, school district director of food services.
The district’s application was never submitted, leaving schools to figure out how to fill the void next year.
Ward Principal Ted Warpinski said staff members have begun writing letters to local businesses in hopes they will make a donation.
Ward and Tibbott, among 150 schools to receive the grant this school year, were chosen largely on the basis of the number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
Tibbott Principal Ana Wilson said her school’s leadership team will decide whether to contact local businesses for possible assistance.
JOLIET
Proposal: No flushing of medications
Joliet is looking into whether it can create an ordinance prohibiting people from flushing prescription drugs down the toilet, which can pollute local waterways.
Joliet gets its water from a deep aquifer rather than local waterways, but city officials recently broached the topic when they passed a routine intergovernmental agreement with Will County to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs turned in by residents. The program has been in place for more than a year, and several tons of unwanted drugs have been collected from two drop boxes in the city.
The city operates its own water treatment plant, which handles wastewater and sewage for Joliet and a handful of surrounding communities. Harold Harty, who supervises Joliet’s three wastewater treatment plants, said the city does not monitor the amounts of prescription drugs in the treated sewage water that is dumped into the Des Plaines River.
WILL COUNTY
West Nile virus hotline set up
A hotline for residents to get West Nile virus information and to report dead bird cases has been set up by the Will County Environmental Health Department.
The 24-hour phone number is 815-740-7631. Residents can talk to a Health Department representative about the disease during regular weekly business hours. Dead bird reports are used to monitor potential West Nile virus hot spots, county officials said.
Adult crows and blue jays, as well as robins, finches, grackles, sparrows, wrens, swallows and cardinals, are among the 14 bird species that Health Department officials test to monitor for the virus.
The Health Department also expects to operate at least three mosquito monitoring sites this summer, tentatively planned for Joliet, Bolingbrook and University Park.
West Nile virus is a potentially deadly mosquito-borne disease capable of producing encephalitis and meningitis.
PLAINFIELD
Truck to sell organic produce, not ice cream
Plainfield kids, beware: It may not be ice cream for sale from the truck playing that happy tune, but local organic produce.
Trustees recently approved a mobile vending request from business owner Amy Ernst to sell organic produce from a truck. The truck will be similar to an ice cream truck, said Ernst, and will drive through neighborhoods July through November.
Ernst said she also plans to sell natural fruit popsicles to children, an alternative to sugary ice cream. Plainfield bans ice cream trucks.
Ernst, a four-year cancer survivor, said she came up with the idea after learning about the health benefits of eating fresh and organic foods.
“I imagine there will be times where I will only have fresh corn, or maybe tomatoes and fresh basil,” she said. “It really depends on what is in season up until the frost.”
