Good morning, DuPage! Get ready for a beautiful Tuesday under broken clouds, with today's high hitting a lovely 71°F and the low settling at a mild 46°F. It's the perfect day to enjoy that spring air!

A massive congratulations is in order for Seth Brady, a social studies teacher at Naperville Central High School, who was officially named the 2026 Illinois Teacher of the Year. Known for his work in global education and for helping create the Illinois Global Scholar Certificate, Brady was surprised with the honor in his classroom by state officials. This is the highest award a teacher can receive in Illinois, and it marks a proud moment for the entire DuPage educational community. Brady's impact, which spans over two decades, is often cited by students as the reason they engage more deeply with world issues and civic duty.

Tonight, the Downers Grove Village Council is set to finalize several key projects for the community. On the "Active Agenda" is a new contract with Sculpture Milwaukee to select and install public art in the Linda Kunze Plaza and other flexible amenity areas downtown. Additionally, the village is moving forward with an Enhanced Tree Inventory and Urban Forest Management Plan, aiming to protect and grow the village’s iconic canopy. It’s a busy night for local governance, as they also look to approve infrastructure improvements for 39th Street.

Fire officials believe a lightning strike was the cause of a destructive attic fire that broke out late Monday night in the 1100 block of Muirfield Avenue in Wheaton. The residents were inside the home when they heard a loud bang and noticed smoke, prompting a 911 call just before 11:00 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they encountered heavy fire conditions concentrated in the roof and attic space, necessitating a collaborative response from several nearby fire departments, including Winfield, Warrenville, and Carol Stream.

While the fire was eventually brought under control, the residence sustained heavy damage to the upper structure and second floor, rendering it uninhabitable for the time being. No injuries were reported to the homeowners or the responding crews. This fire serves as a stark reminder of the power of recent spring storms, following a similar pattern of lightning-related incidents across the DuPage and Kane County areas this week.

See our Calendar of Events Here!

On This Day in 1972, astronauts John Young and Charles Duke made history when Apollo 16's Lunar Module touched down on the Moon's surface, marking NASA's fifth crewed lunar landing.

You might not expect a DuPage County resident to have started the most famous battle of the Civil War, but Marcellus Jones of Glen Ellyn (then known as Danby) holds that distinction.

On July 1, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Jones was a lieutenant in the 8th Illinois Cavalry. He spotted a Confederate column approaching and, borrowing a carbine from one of his men, fired the very first shot of the battle. In 1886, Jones returned to Gettysburg to place a small memorial at the exact spot where he pulled the trigger. Today, you can still see his name honored in Glen Ellyn, a town that was renamed in 1891 to sound more like a "resort destination"—but its connection to American history remains as sharp as ever.

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