By Robert Sanchez

Source Daily Herald

DuPage County has been named one of “America’s 50 Healthiest Counties for Kids,” according to a new set of rankings released by U.S. News and World Report.

With a rank of No. 20, DuPage is the only Illinois county to make the list, which highlights communities that “are safe and child-friendly,” according to a statement from the DuPage County Health Department.

“This ranking is a result of the health department’s commitment to the health care needs of all DuPage County children and families,” said Linda Kurzawa, president of the county’s board of health.

The list identifies counties that have fewer infant deaths, fewer low-birthweight babies, fewer deaths from injuries, fewer teen births and fewer children in poverty, officials said.

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By Jennifer Tranmer

Source Daily Herald

One-year-old Matt squeals happily while he plays with his 5-year-old sister Molly.

Their mother, Jennifer Garrison of Naperville, casually checks on her children as she discusses how she manages being a mother of three, coaching triathletes at her own business and volunteering at her children’s school — while still taking time for herself to work out.

“What I’ve realized is … (training) is what makes me ‘me’ and it feeds me,” Garrison said. She has had to cut back significantly since her days as a professional triathlete, but taking a few minutes to exercise when she can makes her a better mother and wife, she said.

Garrison is one of seven co-authors of a new book, “Tri-Mom: Swimming, Biking, and Running Through Motherhood.” Debra Hodgett of West Chicago, who spearheaded the project, asked friends and acquaintances — Garrison, Carla Hastert, Chris Palmquist, Elizabeth Waterstraat, Jennifer Harrison and Lindsay Zucco — to contribute to the book.

Garrison continues to share her insight while three of her co-authors listen in and help keep her young children and Hodgett’s energetic black Labrador mix distracted.

The controlled chaos is familiar to this group of women — they regularly switch between their different roles, sometimes from one minute to the next.

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By Chicago Tribune reporter

Source Chicago Tribune

It was promoted as a massive storm system with the potential to drop golf ball-size hail and produce wind gusts of up to 75 mph. Conditions were ripe for tornadoes, forecasters said.

But the thunderstorms that passed through the Chicago area Wednesday night caused little destruction and resulted in much less mayhem than had been feared. Scattered reports of damage — a horse barn destroyed by what might have been a tornado; houses in Lemont and Naperville believed to have been struck by lightning — were the few signs that a powerful system had rolled through.

The National Weather Service insists the storm lived up to expectations.

“Storms develop in spotty locations,” said David Beachler, senior forecaster at the weather service. “Severe weather is not widespread … severe storms are very isolated, but in those areas they can do a lot of damage.”

Wind gusts of 69 mph were reported near Mount Ayr in northwest Indiana, and gusts of 65 mph were reported near Sandwich in DeKalb County.

Hail about 1.75 inches in diameter — the size of a ping pong ball — fell near Oswego in Kendall County, Beachler said. And officials from the weather service were out Thursday to investigate damage that may have been caused by tornadoes northwest, south and west of Chicago. Funnel clouds were reported near Plainfield, South Elgin and Rockford and in Lee County, among other places.

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