Fox Valley briefs

Candidates forum tonight

The Northeast Neighborhood Association of Elgin is hosting a candidates forum for Elgin City Council, Elgin Area School Disrict U-46 and Elgin Township from 7 to 9 p.m. today at the assembly hall at Sherman Hospital, 934 Center St., Elgin. The forum is free and open to all residents.

Hopeful files as write-in in Grafton

An opponent of plans to build a new $3.5-million Grafton Township hall has filed to run as a write-in candidate for the township board. Dan Ziller of Huntley has filed for a spot on the April 7 ballot. He will face the three incumbents and one challenger who emerged from the Feb. 24 Republican primary. "I want to get on there to make sure the voters are represented fairly and are given the chance to vote on these kind of projects," Ziller said.

Da Vinci Academy looks for annual auction help

The Da Vinci Academy will hold its annual benefit auction at 6 p.m. May 2 at The Q Center in St. Charles. Local businesses are invited to donate items, purchase sponsorship benefit packages and advertise in the auction catalog. Tickets are $75 and attendees enjoy a gourmet meal, raffle drawings and live and silent auctions. This year's top-level raffle items are an iMac desktop computer and a 47-inch LCD TV with a Blue Ray player. Raffle tickets are $10 each, and attendance at the event is not required to win the raffle items. For details, e-mail auction@dvacademy.org or visit the auction page at www.dvacademy.org.