Briefs: City celebrates substation

Naperville's department of public utilities will celebrate the opening of the new Jefferson electric substation with a dedication ceremony at 1 p.m. Jan. 22 at the station, 1676 W. Jefferson Ave. A reception will follow at 2 p.m. at the Electric Services Center, 1392 Aurora Ave. Work on the substation began in May 2006; construction was completed last month. The $6 million facility will serve new-load growth, provide emergency backup and improve transmission reliability.

Edward defers on Plainfield

A proposal to build a new Edward Hospital in Plainfield was postponed until April by a state oversight board. Edward officials were not surprised by the action since they had recently been notified their proposal had not been studied using new population growth assessments required under recently passed state law. The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board notified Edward officials earlier this month that future population growth considerations were not taken into account because another state committee hadn't signed off on the new rules. Planning board officials told hospital officials that the rules "may" be in place in April.

Early childhood screening

Marquardt Elementary District 15 will hold an early childhood screening for 3- to 5-year-olds not yet in kindergarten on Feb. 12. The free screening is designed for residents of Black Hawk, Reskin, Winnebago and Hall schools. Children are screened for vision, hearing, speech and language and general concepts. The hourlong screening is available by appointment only. For details, call (630) 469-7615 prior to Feb. 4.

Internet safety lessons

Bloomingdale Elementary District 13 is sponsoring an Internet safety program from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at Westfield Middle School, 149 Fairfield Way. Police officer Dawn Odoi will teach children and their parents how to be safe and avoid online predators.