Tri-Cities Talk: Are You Happy With Your Child's School Lunch Options?

Tri-Cities residents, Patch wants to hear from you on the issues that affect you and your neighbors.

Welcome to Tri-Cities Talk—a regular feature in which we ask our Facebook fans to share their views on current issues facing Geneva, Batavia and St. Charles. Every week, we get the conversation started by taking a look back at a question we asked the Tri-Cities community in recent days on local Patch Facebook pages. There's been discussion recently about the quality of food served to our children in school lunches. Some parents say there should be healthier or more affordable options for students; others control what their children eat by packing their lunches at home. That brings us to this week's question: Take a look at what people had to say and join the conversation in the comments section.  Manou Chahmirzadi: Since the change of …

• Photos (1)

House WOW!

For $1.6M, Roomy Fox Glen Home Has 3 Finished Floors On Acre of Land

Every week, Patch profiles a luxury home currently for sale in the Tri-Cities.

Cost: $1,595,000 Bedrooms: 6 Baths: 9 Square footage: 6,445 Built: 2001 Details: Seated on a lush acre of land within the Woods of Fox Glen neighborhood, the custom home at 2909 Glenbriar Drive in St. Charles has offers lots of extras and expansive space throughout three finished levels. Upgrades and unique architectural features include cherry floors in the foyer, a gourmet kitchen, a floating curved staircase beside the living and dining rooms, and detailed columns and arches throughout.  The master bedroom is on the first floor, while all other bedrooms are located upstairs. Each bedroom comes with a private bath. The finished English basement includes a bar, indoor gym and sports court, and other rooms for exercise, games and theater. …

• Photos (34)

Gas Guide: Best in Batavia Is BP *

Use our weekly guide to find the lowest gasoline prices in the Tri-Cities of Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles.

National average gasoline prices rose 4.9 cents per gallon over the past week and are up 6.2 cents per gallon of regular gasoline from a month ago. Meantime, Tri-Cities gas prices continued to outpace the $3.976 statewide average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and the national average of $3.588 a gallon. The Daily Herald had a nice column by Marni Pyke on Monday that explained why Illinois prices are so much higher than the rest of the country. As you might guess, there are multiple factors. Paid-membership gas stations Costco in St. Charles and Sam’s Club in Batavia had the No. 1 and No. 2 lowest prices per gallon of regular gasoline in the Tri-Cities on Wednesday, according to Illinois Gas Prices. The highest recorded national …

• Photos (1)

Introducing Small Business Patch

The newly launched site offers tips, info and digital know-how for small business owners.

Patch has launched a new site to educate and empower small businesses with the digital tools, social media strategies and marketing know-how needed to ensure long-term growth. Readers will have access to exclusive interviews with well-known founders and CEOs and small business industry experts who share their experiences, advice and tips for success. One of the latest articles features an exclusive interview with successful real estate entrepreneur Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group. In this Q&A, Corcoran discusses the how to take advantage of the size of a small businesses, and why making big “mistakes” made all the difference in her success. Click here to read about the tactics Corcoran used to grow her business. Additional…

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Batavia Job Center: Machine Operators, Cadence Health, Auto Specialist and More

Take a look at the public and private sector job openings we found in the Tri-Cities of Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles.

Welcome back to Job Center, Patch's listing of local job advertisements in the Tri-Cities area. Most listings were found via the direct websites of the local agencies, but we found more on Indeed.com, an aggregator of job postings from all over the nation. Still searching? Still searching? Still searching?

• Photos (1)

Flood Pushes Batavia's May 18 'Cocktails in the Park' to New Location

Did someone say ‘Spring, Cocktails, Tasty Small Plates and Live Music?

Batavia MainStreet is gearing up for the 2nd Annual Cocktails in the Park from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday May 18, 2013, at a new location this year. "Due to the recent flooding MainStreet had to relocate the event from Clark Island to the East Bend of the Riverwalk just east of City Hall in downtown Batavia," according to a Batavia Main Street press release. Now named Cocktails in the Park, the event is a fundraiser dedicated to showcasing Batavia restaurants and is an opportunity to discover a unique location in Downtown Batavia; all while raising funds and awareness for Batavia MainStreet and their revitalization efforts for the downtown. "Last year, Cocktails on Clark received rave reviews and we are thrilled to be bringing it back …

• Photos (4)

Fermilab Proposes Neutrino Construction Project

Construction of the project would take place on the western portion of the laboratory site, close to Kirk and Giese roads in Batavia, and could begin as early as 2015.

It would be the world’s most ambitious neutrino experiment. And Fermilab wants everybody to know about it, especially its neighbors. Construction of the project would take place on the western portion of the laboratory site, close to Kirk and Giese roads in Batavia, and could begin as early as 2015. The Department of Energy and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are inviting the local community to an informational meeting about the proposed Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment. The meeting, which will feature illustrative posters and short presentations, will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at Fermilab's Wilson Hall atrium in Batavia. The meeting will provide neighbors and the local community with an opportunity to…

• Photos (1)