$1 million grant for Naperville tornado relief
The Illinois General Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday which includes a $1 million grant to M.P. Foundation, to be used in Naperville tornado relief efforts.
M.P. Foundation has partnered with the local group Naperville Tornado Relief, with the mission of restoring the yards of victims of the tornado that swept through our area in June 2021. Though large debris has been cleared, minute pieces of glass, metal and other fragments still remain within the soil, rising to the surface when it rains. Clean-up work of this nature is not covered by insurance.
The monies awarded through the bill are a big step in helping the relief group move closer to its $1.5 million goal.
Jeopardy James returns for new primetime all-star game
Naperville native James Holzhauer is returning to Jeopardy!, the game show that propelled him into the national spotlight, in a new primetime version called Jeopardy! Masters. Read more about the upcoming show here.
New COVID-19 level tracker
There’s a new COVID-19 level tracker, launched by the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The new online tool tracks levels of COVID-19 within wastewater. 75 wastewater plants across the state are collecting raw sewage samples twice a week for the initiative. Those samples are then analyzed at a University of Illinois Chicago lab, and also sent to Argonne National Laboratory to help identify virus variants.
The new tracking system hopes to provide a more accurate picture of community levels of COVID, with more people resorting to home tests for diagnosis. Researchers hope to eventually add in information about Influenza A and B.
The dashboard can be found online on the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System website.
Naperville native chosen as Air Force ROTC Student of the Year
Naperville native Natalie Stephens has been chosen as the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFROTC) Student of the Year for 2022 by the Navy Federal Credit Union’s ROTC All-American Scholarship Program. Read more about the honor here.
Green comet visible in night sky
A green comet, which hasn’t been seen in our sky for 50,000 years, will be visible in our area starting tonight.
Viewers will need binoculars or a telescope to catch a glimpse of the comet, named C/2022 E3 (ZTF). The Naperville Astronomical Association (NAA) says to keep an eye out for it low on the northeast horizon just before midnight.
Tonight it will be making its closest path to the sun, then will move on a course closer to Earth, reaching its nearest point to our planet around February 1 and 2. As it progresses, the NAA says it can be best viewed each night between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. through January.
