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Good News Sunday: Meet the Naperville 18-year-old who is the youngest American woman to summit Mount Everest

Good News Sunday: Meet the Naperville 18-year-old who is the youngest American woman to summit Mount Everest

This is Good News Sunday, a compilation of some of the more upbeat and inspiring stories published recently by the Daily Herald:

Lucy Westlake did it.

The 18-year-old Naperville native became the youngest American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, according to a post on the Instagram account of the expedition group she's climbing with.

The Xtreme Climbers group made "an official announcement" at about 7:30 p.m. Central time that Westlake, a recent Naperville North High School graduate, "successfully stood on the summit of Mount Everest 8848.86m on 12.May.2022 at 5:36 a.m. Nepali time."

After spending a couple of minutes "on the top of The World," Westlake and her sherpa, Mingma Chhiring, began the descent back to lower camp, expected to take four to five hours, the expedition group said.

Reaching the highest point on the planet - at an altitude of more than 29,000 feet - is the latest goal achieved by Westlake, whose bigger plan is to complete the Explorers Grand Slam.

That's a challenge to reach the North and South poles and climb the highest mountains in each of the seven continents, also known as the Seven Summits.

For the full story, click here.

Local men recognized by Kane County for heroic efforts

  Jose Bosque Jr., center, and Jose Bosque III, center left, receive a Heroic Citizen Award from Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain during the Kane County Board meeting Tuesday in Geneva. Deputy Matt Drab, whom the Bosques assisted, is pictured on the left. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com

March was a month for heroism in Kane County as three area residents put their safety on the line to assist sheriff's deputies during two incidents, including one an official described as "straight out of a movie."

In an incident in Elgin, Jose Bosque Jr. and his son, also named Jose, helped a deputy take a suspect into custody by holding him down so the deputy could put handcuffs on him. This was after the deputy had chased the suspect by car and on foot and had used a Taser on him, and the deputy had been injured in his struggles with the suspect. Without the Bosques' aid, the offender may have escaped, according to the sheriff's department.

In another incident, Michael J. Curtis, a ComEd line worker on the scene of a car crash near Route 25 and Dunham Road, helped deputies remove an injured driver from a burning vehicle that was surrounded by live wires from a downed utility pole.

The Bosques received official commendations Tuesday from Sheriff Ron Hain and the Kane County Board. Curtis also received a citation commending him for his bravery and lifesaving efforts.

For the full story, click here.

Neighborhood hardware store tradition renewed in Lake Zurich

  Dipak Patel, left, co-owner of the new Ace Hardware store in Lake Zurich, with manager Christi Hartigan. The store recently opened in the building formerly occupied by Casper's True Value on Route 22 and Old Rand Road. Mick Zawislak/mzawislak@dailyherald.com

A neighborhood tradition is being renewed in downtown Lake Zurich.

"People like their local hardware store," said Christi Hartigan, co-manager of the Ace Hardware that opened last week in a familiar spot on Route 22 and Old Rand Road in the village's Main Street District.

"We're here and happy to be open," she added.

Until last fall, the prominent building on 2 acres had been occupied by Casper's True Value Hardware, built by the family in the mid-1980s to accommodate expansion.

Even before the business closed last fall, circumstances merged to ensure it wouldn't be empty long.

As John Casper was considering retirement, business partners Dipak Patel and Rick Vora, who owned Ace stores in Barrington, St. Charles and Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, wanted to expand.

"We reached out to John Casper. We were discussing back and forth for about a year," Vora said. The deal closed in October, with Casper as a tenant overseeing a liquidation sale that ended in January.

Several True Value employees accepted jobs with the new operation, which had its "soft" opening last week.

"I think people like seeing the old employees here. It's good for them and good for us," said Hartigan, a Hawthorn Woods resident, who has been in the hardware business since 2006.

For the full story, click here.

• Good News Sunday will run each weekend. Please visit dailyherald.com/newsletters to sign up for our Good News Sunday newsletter.

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