_{LOCAL SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT}

Don’t miss the Norris Cultural Arts Center’s fifth annual Baker’s Dozen Holiday Festival, an online celebration of festive musical and dramatic performances. The 13-episode video series is running now and features incredible talent — from the Elgin Symphony String Quartet to vocal stars like Diva Montell & Jeorge Holmes.

✨ Bonus: After each daily episode, answer a fun trivia question for a shot at a holiday ticket giveaway!

The 🔒 symbol indicates a potential paywall.

☑️ Tax levy update: St. Charles District 303 approved a nearly $200M tax levy for 2024, projecting a slight property tax rate decrease for residents next year.

🔒 Legal “ping pong”: The owner of the historic blacksmith shop in Geneva has asked a judge to reverse a ruling that they violated the city’s property code — which has led to over $40K in fines.

☑️ New weed shop: A recreational cannabis dispensary has requested a Conditional Use Permit to open a new location in the vacant former Arby’s building on Randall Road in Batavia. A public hearing on the topic will be held on Wednesday.

☑️ Guilty plea: A St. Charles man who was previously a parent-teacher organization (PTO) president has pleaded guilty to child solicitation charges and could face up to five years in prison.

☑️ Phase one complete: The skate park and pump track portion of Batavia’s Clark Island Recreation Area project opened to the public last Thursday.

☑️ Anti-DUI efforts: Kane County’s "No-Refusal operation" on Black Wednesday resulted in the arrest of four intoxicated drivers, including one in St. Charles.

The 🔒 symbol indicates a potential paywall.

☑️ Griswold style: The Batavia Park District has announced the homes that will be contestants in its Holiday House Decorating Contest. Learn where they are and vote for your favorites.

☑️ Out with officers: Twelve local kids had a blast exploring Meijer with St. Charles police officers this weekend as part of the department’s annual "Shop With a Cop" program. See photos of the event.

☑️ Turning a new leaf: Longtime St. Charles Park District Outreach Ambassador Pam Otto (whose delightful columns we feature here from time to time) is retiring. She reflected on memorable local nature events over the past 25 years.

☑️ Local waterways: After all the weekend rain, I thought you might be interested in this interactive Kane County GIS map that allows you to visualize the flow of stormwater and related elements in your community. It’s fun to play with.

☑️ Wellness awareness: Kane County has created a new Community Health Event Calendar to serve as a hub for health-related events. Local organizations can submit events for free to help drive awareness.

☑️ Post-holiday planning: The Geneva Park District and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva are collaborating on a "Treecycle" program to recycle unsold Christmas trees into mulch for local parks, reducing landfill waste.

_{PRESENTED BY PRESERVATION}

The local mid-week music lineup includes the Batavia/Inagakuen Unity Concert — a special cultural exchange at the Batavia Fine Arts Centre featuring one of Japan’s finest wind ensembles.

☑️ Podcast ep: An Area Code: Batavia conversation with the owner of Kiss The Sky about life in Batavia, the ups and downs of the record store business, and his personal journey toward finding his place in the community.

☑️ Monday specials: Two Geneva spots offer solid Monday deals — Craft Urban in Geneva (half-priced burgers and $5 beers) and Cotto A Legna with half-priced pizzas.

☑️ Last-minute gifts: Many of Geneva’s downtown shops will offer extended hours for holiday shopping this week.

☑️ Local home sales: See recent property sales for Kane County — including this stately $1M home on Feece Court in Mill Creek.

☑️ Local obits: Recent obituaries posted by Tri-Cities funeral homes.

☑️ Best of 2024: The 2025 Tournament of Books lists 70 works of fiction from 2024, plus Spotify revealed the top artists, songs, albums, podcasts, and audiobooks of 2024.

☑️ City meetings + police reports:

The 🎟️ symbol indicates an admission fee.

☑️ Babies R Us Registry Celebration | Tues 12/17, 1-3PM | Kohl’s, Batavia | The first 50 expectant parents will get a baby gift bag.

🎟️ Dinner with the Grinch | Tues 12/17 & Wed 12/18, 6PM | Baker Community Center, STC | Food and fun activities with the lovable villain himself.

🎟️ Winter Wonderland Workshop | Tues 12/17, 6:30PM | Up North Wine Tasting, Geneva | Enjoy wine while creating gorgeous festive decor.

☑️ Traditional Irish Christmas Dinner | Wed 12/18, 6-9PM | McNally’s Pub, STC | Irish cuisine with live Irish music. Sounds like my kind of party!

🎟️ Witness Trees | Thurs 12/19, 6:30-8PM | Creek Bend Nature Center, STC | Learn about centuries-old local trees and the incredible history they’ve witnessed.

☑️ A Staged Reading of ‘A Christmas Carol’ | Thurs 12/19, 6:30PM | Geneva Winery, Batavia | See a talented actor put on a magical, festive performance.

🎟️ Holiday Sip & Paint | Thurs 12/19, 7PM | The Hive, STC | Entertainment, laughter and professional guidance for your canvas painting.

🌧️ Today: High 46F | Low 29F | AM precip

⛅️ Tuesday: High 39F | Low 28F | Clouds but dry

⛅️ Wednesday: High 34F | Low 18F | Meh

⛅️ Thursday: High 32F | Low 22F | More meh

Apple’s latest iOS update includes a big change that could impact how you receive our newsletter (and others). Thankfully, you can stay in good shape with a few simple steps.

What’s changing? Apple Mail has introduced an inbox categorization feature, much like Gmail’s tabs. Once you update to iOS 18.2, your inbox will now sort emails into four tabs:

By default, most newsletters will land in the Updates tab. But you’ll want Tri-Cities Central (and your other favorite newsletters) in your Primary tab to avoid getting buried.

Voilà! Future issues will pop up right where they belong.

For now, Apple allows you to turn off the inbox sorting feature entirely. If you want things to go back to the way they were, just open your inbox and tap the three dots in the upper-right corner:

Go deeper: Here’s more info on the Apple Mail update and how to revert the changes.

If you enjoy Tri-Cities Central, please spread the word and/or leave a review!

_{Subscribe to Tri-Cities Central | Advertise with us | View previous newsletters}