Old lights out for Kane County courthouse

The Kane County courthouse and Juvenile Justice Center, both in St. Charles, will be a bit more energy-efficient by the end of May thanks to a lighting makeover.

Starting next month, the county plans to swap out the buildings' existing interior and exterior lights with more efficient bulbs, and also upgrade parking lamps in the lots surrounding them.

Karen Kosky, a watershed engineer for the county, said the project is being funded through a combination of state incentives valued at $82,544 for energy-efficient projects and a $97,113 federal conservation grant. The changes are expected to save the county $28,031 a year moving forward.

Kosky said regular visitors won't notice much of a difference in terms of lighting once the work is completed.

"It should be a virtually indistinguishable change," she said. "The upgrades are meant to maintain the same color of light and the same brightness of light."

The project entails swapping fluorescent lights with energy-efficient bulbs and upgrading incandescent lights to fluorescent.

The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of May, as required for the state incentive. Kosky said it shouldn't pose any problems for regular county business.

"It's a very tight time frame, but we'll do the best we can," she said.

Waiting for it: Officers from the Aurora Police Department and Kane County sheriff's office will wait tables for charity this month at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Aurora. The fundraiser is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, at 1460 N. Orchard Road.

Any tips the officers generate will be donated to Special Olympics Illinois, as part of a larger effort to raise more than $22,000 (last year's total) for the organization.

In addition, Buffalo Wild Wings is donating 15 percent of food sale proceeds from 11 a.m. to midnight, as long as purchases are accompanied by a special certificate available at the Aurora Police Department, 1200 E. Indian Trail Road, or at eteamz.com/RUNFORTHEATHLETES/handouts/

Quinn taps Perez: Gov. Pat Quinn has appointed Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez to a statewide organization that administers grants and tackles issues facing the criminal justice system in Illinois.

The appointment to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority "will give Kane County a voice in the statewide administration of the criminal justice system and potentially open up additional grant funding opportunities," according to a news release from Perez's office.

Perez also serves on the statewide Juvenile Justice Authority, which works on policy and budget issues. Both groups, comprised of criminal justice officials from across the state, meet quarterly.