Good morning, DuPage! It's a beautiful day ahead with a high of 44°F and a low of 29°F, so grab a light jacket and enjoy the sunshine! 

One of the most significant healthcare developments in DuPage County history reaches a major milestone tomorrow evening. Lurie Children’s Hospital is holding a public meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel in Downers Grove to officially unveil its plans for a new pediatric hospital in the village. While the hospital system has long signaled its intent to expand its footprint in the western suburbs, the specific location and scale of the facility have remained under wraps until now.

The project is expected to bring specialized pediatric emergency and inpatient care closer to thousands of families in central and southern DuPage, who currently often travel to Chicago for complex treatments. Tomorrow’s meeting will offer residents their first look at the architectural renderings and the proposed timeline for construction. Local officials are watching closely, as a project of this magnitude would not only transform the local medical landscape but also serve as a massive economic engine for the Butterfield Road corridor.

The "Original March Madness" begins in earnest tomorrow as the IHSA Boys Basketball State Finals tip off in Champaign. DuPage County is exceptionally well-represented this year by two dominant powerhouses: Benet Academy and York High School. Benet, the defending Class 4A state champion, enters the tournament as a heavy favorite to repeat, led by a veteran core that has been described as the state's most dominant team in years. Meanwhile, the Elmhurst community is celebrating a historic resurgence as York heads to the state tournament for the first time since 1967 following a thrilling overtime victory in the supersectionals.

Fans from Naperville and Elmhurst are expected to flood the State Farm Center. For Benet, the journey to a repeat title starts with a high-stakes semifinal showdown on Friday, while the tournament's opening rounds for Class 1A and 2A begin tomorrow. Whether you're a Redwing or a Duke, the next 72 hours promise to be a defining moment for suburban high school sports.

Mayor Phil Suess will deliver the annual State of the City Address tomorrow, March 12, at the Arrowhead Golf Club. The address, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., serves as the definitive look at Wheaton’s 2026 strategic goals, infrastructure priorities, and financial health. A primary focus of this year's speech is expected to be the "America 250" celebration preparations, including the downtown mural projects and the massive parkway tree-planting initiative that has already seen high community engagement.

The Mayor is also expected to address the city’s response to recent weather events and provide updates on several key Community Project Funding requests that were recently approved by Congress. For Wheaton residents and business owners, this is the "must-attend" event of the quarter to understand the direction of local governance and the status of downtown redevelopment projects scheduled for the spring and summer seasons.

See our Calendar of Events Here!

On this day in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee submitted his proposal to CERN for what would eventually blossom into the World Wide Web. Can you imagine life without it? From cat videos to online shopping, it all started with a simple idea! So here's to progress and innovation, DuPage—let's keep moving forward together!

🕵️ The Great County Seat Heist (1867)
For the first 30 years of DuPage County’s history, Naperville was the county seat. However, after the Civil War, the "Wheaton brothers" (Jesse and Warren) argued that because Wheaton was more centrally located and sat on the main railroad line, they should be the seat of power.

A county-wide referendum was held in 1867, and Wheaton won by a razor-thin margin of just 51 votes (1,686 to 1,635). Naperville, claiming voter fraud, refused to hand over the official county records and individual files.

Fed up with the legal stalling, a group of Civil War veterans from Wheaton marched into Naperville in the middle of the night. They broke into the local courthouse, loaded all the heavy iron safes and official county ledgers onto wagons, and "spirited them away" to Wheaton before the sun came up.

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