The briefs: Help for day care center

Day care center to get help

The Children's Home & Aid Society of Illinois will take over construction of a long-delayed low-income day care center at Schaumburg and Plum Grove roads in Schaumburg. The center's construction was previously handled by the Woodfield Area Children's Organization. But the freezing of state funding shortly after Gov. Rod Blagojevich's inauguration in 2003 left the never-completed project a collection of exposed girders ever since. The Children's Home & Aid Society was always connected to the project as the provider of services, but recently stepped forward as the main partner for the construction as well. It will also organize a fundraising effort for the more than half of the $2.4 million project that's still needed. The building is expected to resume construction in the spring and be done by the time school starts in late summer, Woodfield Area Children's Organization President Joe Sernett said.

New Year's rice party

Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights is hosting its annual "Rice Pounding" ceremony all day on New Year's Day. The annual mochi tsuki -- or traditional rice pounding ceremony -- will take place at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. on New Year's Day at the marketplace at Arlington Heights and Algonquin roads in Arlington Heights. Mochi is a traditional Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice. On Tuesday, it will be pounded into a paste and molded into shape. Pounding the rice symbolizes longevity in Japan. The free event is open to the public.

Wheeling dept. moves

The village of Wheeling's Community Development Department has moved to 233 W. Hintz Road. The department is responsible for planning, building, zoning and public health functions. The phone number for the department remains (847) 459-2620, or contact Director James Kelly at jkelly@wheelingil.gov.