Snapshots

Photo: YMS Staff Supports Push for the Path

Yorkville Middle School staff donated $1,000 during May to the Kennedy Road shared use path effort.

A special thanks to Lynn Dubajic of Push for the Path for providing the following news release and this photograph. The Yorkville Middle School staff donated $1,000 during the month of May for "Push for the Path".  Staff members were encouraged to donate if they wanted to wear jeans to support the planned bike path. Members were (Left to right): Kristi Walker, Lauren Livingston, Erin Hairell, Jeanne Deichmueller, Jes Danzer, Jean McGinnis, Lynn Dubajic, Melissa Reece, Nikki Jones, Meghan Kerr, Jackie Bargmann, Carrie Sloboda, Melinda Hafenrichter, Nancy McCree, Megan Johnson, Christy Motley, Jeff Szymczak, Marnie Brophy, Josh Blomberg, Nancy Ascolani, and Chris Palmisano. Not pictured: Julie Graziano, Danielle Kelly, Jenn Smith, Jeff …

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Driver Charged in Fatal Accident

Keith M. Stanislaus faces two felony counts in connection with the crash that killed Ryan Perina, authorities said.

The 21-year-old Yorkville driver in last week’s fatal accident remained in jail Thursday morning, unable to post $25,000 after being charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence. Authorities charged Keith M. Stanislaus, of the 500 block of Yellowstone Lane in Yorkville with the two felonies connected with being drunk when the 1999 Honda Accord he was driving hit several trees and broke a utility pole off Kennedy Road near McHugh Road. The crash happened at about 12:40 a.m. April 26. Ryan Perina, 21, of Yorkville, died on the scene, while Stanislaus and a 20-year-old front-seat passenger were injured. Perina was remembered as a tough athlete and friend eager to help others and make them laugh. The 2009 Yorkville High …

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Family, Friends Remember Ryan Perina

The 2009 Yorkville High School graduate died early Thursday in a car crash on Kennedy Road.

Ryan Perina recently drove 50 miles, roundtrip, to help a friend with a flat tire. Perina, who died last week in a car crash on Kennedy Road, was memorialized as a tough athlete, a friend whose antics made mundane workdays fun, and the type of kid who would loan you lunch money if you needed it. Perina’s funeral was Wednesday morning. His friend Andy remembered him joking years ago that Andy’s mom had paid him $100 to let Andy win an important wrestling match. The referee ended up telling them to stop talking. “He had that freak strength and that explosive power,” Andy said. “He had so much passion, he’d never give up.” Perina’s former wrestling coach Shane Darnell couldn’t attend the service, but Barry Norris, senior pastor at Park Place …

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Push for the Path Effort Centers on 705

The anniversary of the fatal accident on Kennedy Road is a rallying point for a fund-raising effort to build a bike path there.

Lynn Dubajic didn’t request post office box 705 for Push for the Path; it’s what the post office had available. Dubajic, who is executive director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation, helped start the non-profit to raise money for a bike path along the roadway where her dear friend was fatally injured. Darlene McCue was riding her bicycle with her daughter when Darlene McCue was struck by a vehicle on Kennedy Road. It happened on July 5, 2009 – a date you might write as 7-05. McCue was more than Dubajic's neighbor: Her husband, Dan, died of cancer in 2005, about two years before Dubajic’s husband was diagnosed with cancer in April 2007 and about three years before Dubajic’s husband died in February 2008. “We leaned on each …

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Updated: Aldermen Accept Kennedy Road Bike Trail Grant

The article about the Feb. 28 City Council meeting has been updated with comments from aldermen that night. Readers were pretty active in the Patch comments section, too.

Updated: Aldermen Accept Kennedy Road Bike Trail Grant

The City Council meeting was moved to the library due to the number of residents who commented, many in support of a private fundraising effort.

After more than an hour of public comment on the Kennedy Road bike trail grant, Ward 2 Alderman Jackie Milschewski issued a challenge to supporters who promised to raise the city's portion of the project cost. “I’m going to take a leap of faith,” Milschewski said. “I’m going to vote for this. I’m going to ask all of you: ‘Don’t let me down.’” She was among the five aldermen that voted Tuesday to accept a $1.4 million state grant to build a multi-use path along Kennedy Road from Route 47 to Mill Road, which is just south of Galena Road. Voting against it were Ward 4 alderman Rose Spears and Ward 1 aldermen Carlo Colosimo and George Gilson Jr. Several residents spoke in support Push for the Path, the private organization that has vowed to …

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Another Push for Push for the Path

Yorkville aldermen are expected to discuss the Kennedy Road trail grant and a private fundraising effort Tuesday.

A Kennedy Road bike trail supporter has taken her cause to YouTube, posting a video this week encouraging people to attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Rachel Engelhardt had followed the bike trail issue through the failed referendum and through public discussions of creating a non-profit called Push for the Path. She finally got involved when it appeared aldermen were going to reject a $1.4 million grant over concerns about funding the city’s 20 percent share of the project. “I’ve been sitting at home thinking I’ll make a contribution, all I need to know is where to write a check and where to send it to,” Engelhardt said. “(Then) I started having a panic moment: ‘Oh we’re going to let this go.’” So, she called Lynn Dubajic, executive …

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Poll: Donate Toward Kennedy Road Bike Path?

We ask the question as private fundraising efforts were discussed at Yorkville's Public Works Committee meeting Tuesday.

Aldermen might reject a $1.4 million grant for a bike trail along Kennedy Road over the city's 20 percent share of the overall project costs. A private group called Push for the Path has offered to raise the city's $357,320 share over several years, but some aldermen want to see the money upfront to avoid diverting city funds if fundraising efforts fall flat.

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Yorkville Poised to Reject Kennedy Trail Grant

Aldermen in the city's Public Works Committee voted 3-1 to reject a $1.38 million grant that required a $357,320 match from the city.

City leaders are moving forward with bike trails along route 47 and 71, but a committee voted to halt plans for a bike trail along Kennedy Road, where a woman was killed in 2009 biking with her daughter. The City Council’s Public Works Committee voted 3-1 Tuesday not to accept a $1.38 million state grant for a trail along Kennedy Road. The grant would have required the city to provide $357,320 for the project. City leaders were researching on Friday if a City Council vote was needed to reject the grant or if the committee vote accomplished it, according to The Beacon-News. Voting against accepting the grant were Public Works Committee Chairman George Gilson Jr., Committee Vice Chair Jackie Milschewski and Committee Member Larry Kot. …

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