Fox Valley briefs

ECC opens Spartan Drive:Elgin Community College officials, along with representatives from the city of Elgin, will hold a brief ceremony at 10:30 a.m. today to mark the completion of Spartan Drive, the main access road to the college. The road actually opened last week and the city borrowed $2.3 million from the college to accelerate the project. The loan will be repaid in 2015. Work crews closed the street last fall.Wait til next year:Ernie Wittrick of Elgin, Mike Penkava from Crystal Lake and Rosemary Libby of Barrington fell short in their attempts to win the Chicago Cubs "It's a Way of Life" contest to throw out the first pitch during a game on June 30. The team announced over the weekend that Mary Dineed of Palos Park won the contest, in which fans were asked to write essays. Wittrick, Penkava and Libby were in the top 10 finalists.Community garage sale: The South Elgin Rehabilitation and Health Care Center will hold a community garage sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 18 at 746 W. Spring St., South Elgin. Participants can set up their own garage sale and keep their profits or donate items for the rehabilitation staff to sell and raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Space reservations are required. For more information, call Mary Dwyer at (630) 677-5828 or e-mail mdwyer@petersenhealthcare.net.