DuPage County briefs

Aurora mayor up for debates

Aurora Mayor Thomas Weisner answered challenger Richard Irvin's call for debates Wednesday saying he is looking forward to them. "Not only have I anticipated there would be some debates, but the campaign has been hard at work to find sponsors for that kind of forum," he said. Irvin on Tuesday challenged Weisner and the other challenger, Stephanie Kifowit, to a series of four debates before April's mayoral election. Kifowit also said she is eager to debate.

Lane closures in Naperville

Periodic daytime lane closures in the vicinity of Washington and 75th streets in Naperville are scheduled to begin the week of Jan. 12 and continue until March as part of a project to widen the intersection. Traffic along westbound 75th Street from Oxford Lane to Clyde Drive will be reduced to one lane between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. The closure is expected to be in effect for about six weeks. In March, major road and bridge construction is slated to begin. At that time traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction on 75th and Washington. Motorists are encouraged to seek alternate routes through the duration of construction, scheduled to wrap up in 2011.

Former professor dies

Marvin Edwin Camburn, a former professor and administrator at Benedictine University in Lisle, died Jan. 3 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Camburn, 70, retired in 2003 and battled Alzheimer's disease for five years. He completed more than 20 paintings of Arizona landscapes before his death. "His ashes will be scattered in the Arizona mountains that he so loved to paint," said Phyllis Kittel, vice president academic affairs/dean of faculty emeritus at Benedictine. "His sense of the color and form of the mountains was pretty incredible. He was able to paint until the end."