Aurora looks to update building codes with federal grant

The city of Aurora is considering updating its building codes, which are now several years out of date, using a nearly $40,000 grant from the federal government, officials said.

The update would move the city to building codes based on the 2024 International Code instead of the currently-used 2015 version. City staff told the Aurora City Council Finance Committee last week that the city’s current building codes need to be updated anyway, but this grant will allow staff to get it done more efficiently and with more training.

The better standards will hopefully help make new and remodeled buildings in the city more resilient against disasters like fires, tornadoes or floods, as well as help those buildings better recover from disasters, Aurora Director of Development Services Josh Ream said at the meeting.

The project also fulfills one of the goals outlined in the 2023 Kane County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, according to the presentation.

In addition to using the federal money for the upgrade, Aurora would also have to put forward at least $13,327 of its own funds as a condition of the grant. Ream said Development Services’ 2025 budget already includes the funds needed to cover this amount.

The grant and matching city funds would allow the city to purchase new code books for city staff and the public, according to Ream. His presentation showed that the city plans to buy 15 full book sets as well as three to five separate books, which are expected to cost in total around $32,400.

The rest of the funds would go toward training, expected to cost around $23,400, and books comparing the old codes to the new codes, which are expected to cost around $1,000, he said.

According to the presentation, city inspectors and managers will need multiple trainings each, and prices on those trainings range from $160 to $600 per registration.

The $39,981 grant comes from the Department of Homeland Security’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. According to the program’s official website, it is designed to support state and local governments, along with Tribal Nations, in reducing their hazard risk.

A resolution accepting the federal grant was unanimously recommended by the Finance Committee.

On Tuesday, the Committee of the Whole placed the resolution on the consent agenda of the Aurora City Council’s Jan. 28 meeting. The consent agenda is typically used for routine or non-controversial items that are all approved with one vote and without discussion instead of needing to vote on and talk about each individual item.

According to Ream, the project must start within 30 days of the City Council accepting the grant, but he said that won’t be an issue. The city has until September 2027 to spend the funds, but this time constraint also won’t be an issue, Ream said.

John Curley, Aurora’s chief development services officer, told The Beacon-News on Wednesday that staff has already worked to create some recommendations for ways to amend current city building codes to bring them up to the 2024 International Code.

These proposals are set to be presented to the city’s Permanent Building and Fire Code Committee, and that committee’s recommendations will then be presented to the City Council, according to Curley. He said that, when those recommendations are brought forward for final approval, staff will also present an overview of code changes.

rsmith@chicagotribune.com

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Live updates: Trump pushes ahead on border plans, anti-DEI efforts; Dems grill OMB nominee

Rubber is meeting the road in President Trump’s first week back at the White House, as the administration warned federal workers in roles related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) that they would be placed on paid leave in less than 24 hours.

It was just the latest move in a swirl of executive orders and resolutions that started Monday, only hours into the new Trump administration.

The president is expected to sign at least one more executive order on Wednesday afternoon. Watch the signing here . Earlier in the day, he sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity for an interview, which will air at 9 p.m. EST.

The “get things done” tone extended to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told the upper chamber on Tuesday night that votes could extend into the weekend to get Trump’s Cabinet members — in particular, Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth — in place.

Votes are expected in the Senate on an abortion measure and in the House on the Laken Riley Act.

In Senate committees, Office of Management and Budget nominee Russell Vought faces a hearing, and Transportation secretary nominee Sean Duffy faces a confirmation vote.

Follow along for the latest news.

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Hammond man charged with shooting at repo man

A Hammond man is facing charges for shooting at a man repossessing his car, records allege.

Jeremy Palmer, 38, was charged Jan. 17 with armed robbery, attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm.

He’s in custody, held on a $6,000 cash surety bond. His next court date is Jan. 29.

Hammond Police responded Jan. 16 to the 2700 block of Cleveland Street.

The victim called 911.

The man said he was loading Palmer’s black Chrysler 300 onto a tow truck. Palmer ran out screaming, “Drop my (stuff).”

A woman gave Palmer the keys. He went into the car, pulled out a gun and fired one shot.

The victim released the car and took off. He told cops he heard a second shot as he was fleeing, but wasn’t hit.

mcolias@post-trib.com

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After successful pilot, Aurora plans to update business registration process

Aurora is planning to update its business registration process to be easier and more streamlined, but also provide businesses more support, after the success of a pilot program that started last year, officials said.

Almost all businesses within Aurora are required to register with the city annually, but city staff said at meetings recently that the old registration process, which began in 2019, had low participation because it was frustrating and inconvenient.

The ongoing pilot approved last April, which lowered the number of questions required to register from over 60 to just 15, along with other changes, brought in more applications last year than ever before, even without a large marketing push, according to Aurora Chief Development Services Officer John Curley.

“This process represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing economic development and evolution of our city, particularly around improving the communication with businesses all over the city and taking a proactive approach in increasing the visibility of our business services and products,” Aurora Economic Development Coordinator Kenneth Campbell said.

Campbell and Curley gave a presentation on the business registration process pilot to the City Council Committee of the Whole at a meeting earlier this month.

During that presentation, Curley said the business registration process was originally planned to be a catch-all for questions about a business that emergency responders like fire and police may want to have answered, especially after the mass shooting at Henry Pratt Co. in 2019.

While the new process is more streamlined, it keeps key questions that emergency responders need answered, according to Curley. He said the most important thing for first responders to have is an annually-updated database of contact information for city businesses, which this registration process will provide.

In addition to gathering data for first responders, the registration process will also feed data into a map of city businesses powered by GIS and into a data analytics system that city officials can use when making decisions, Campbell said.

This data, particularly the map, will also help market the city to new developers who want to see what products and services are offered within certain areas and will help market businesses that otherwise may not have the funding to do it themselves, he said.

However, businesses will get the chance to opt-out of publicly displaying their information.

The new business registration program will also let the city better keep local businesses informed about potential grant opportunities and how to do business with the city, along with updates and other general information, Curley said. A website hosting videos, instructions and other content to keep businesses informed is planned to be launched for the program, Campbell said.

Around 481 businesses registered with the city in 2024, an increase over the 328 businesses that registered in 2023, according to Curley’s presentation.

The number of minority and women-owned business enterprises that registered with the city also saw a significant increase in 2024, making up 52.8% of the registrations, compared to 1.8% of registrations in 2023, which was one of the goals of the pilot, the presentation said.

“It’s getting closer to being representative of our business community here in the city of Aurora,” Curley said.

Now, a marketing campaign is currently being worked on for the new business development program, Campbell told The Beacon-News. He said the goal is to have a variety of options to communicate with the public, including the website that will have information about the registration process and its benefits.

Also this year, city staff are planning to propose a number of “significant changes” to city ordinances related to the new business registration program, according to Deputy Chief of Staff Alex Voigt. She told the City Council Rules, Administration and Procedures Committee recently that the changes would come in sections, similar to how other “substantive changes” have been made in the past.

Some of the amendments will look at how the business registration process can improve city interactions with businesses, including enforcement but also communication, which the current ordinance lacks, Voigt said. The two city departments that will be involved with those changes are the Fire Prevention Bureau and Property Standards, she said.

City staff will also be reviewing the ordinances about the business registration application, licenses, exceptions from registration and others, according to Voigt.

Currently, more information about the city’s business registration process can be found at: www.aurora-il.org/2217/Business-Registration

rsmith@chicagotribune.com

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Tim Kaine Fumes At Trump Appointee In Tense Hearing Exchange For ‘Gleefully’ Wishing ‘Trauma’ On Federal Employees

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) threw down on Wednesday with Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, over his past comments saying he wanted to leave federal employees “in trauma.”

Vought, a key contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 agenda, made the comments in private speeches, which were made public by ProPublica in October 2024. Trump nominated Vought, who has advocated for replacing the federal workforce with Trump loyalists, saying he “will dismantle the Deep State.”

“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” Vought said , adding, “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can’t do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so. We want to put them in trauma.”

Kaine sought additional context for those remarks, asking, “Were you talking about the federal workforce?”

“I was talking about the bureaucracy that I experienced and– at the federal level,” replied Vought , who also ran the OMB during Trump’s first term.

“You were not talking about state employees?” Kaine pressed.

“I have no experience with the states,” Vought replied as Kaine added, “You are not talking about local employees?”

“I was not,” Vought said.

“Your mother was a public school teacher, correct?” Kaine added.

“Yes, senator,” replied Vought.

“And so you were talking about you want the federal workforce to be traumatized?” Kaine pressed again as the two spoke over each other.

Kaine continued, “I like a lot of presidents. I’m a Lincoln fan. Are you a Lincoln fan?”

“Yes, senator,” Vought replied.

“Lincoln spoke to a nation at war and he said with ‘malice towards none and charity towards all.’ And he was saying that to the north and the south. He didn’t say, we want you to be traumatized. He was a bridge builder and a unifier. And that’s what public servants should be. They shouldn’t gleefully be wishing trauma on people who are trying to serve their fellow man,” Kaine fumed before moving on.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

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Mike Johnson Vows to Investigate Biden’s ‘Disgusting’ Pardons Moments After Saying We Shouldn’t ‘Look Backwards’ at Trump Pardons

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Congress will be “looking” into former President Joe Biden’s pardons for his family shortly after defending President Donald Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.

At a Wednesday House GOP press conference, Johnson defended Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons after CNN’s Manu Raju asked whether standing by those pardons go against the typical “Back the Blue” rhetoric from Republicans.

Johnson made clear it was Trump’s decision and within his authority to pardon about 1,500 people convicted in the Capitol riot. The Republican leader said the party is “not looking backwards.”

“We believe in redemption. We believe in second chances,” he said . “If you could, you would argue that those people didn’t pay a heavy penalty after being incarcerated, and all of that is up to you. But the president’s made a decision. We move forward. There are better days ahead of us. That’s what we’re excited about. We’re not looking backwards, we’re looking forwards.”

Just moments and one question later, Johnson was asked about Biden’s own pardons announced before he left office. Johnson called them “shocking.”

Among Biden’s last-minute pardons were family members James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden.

“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” the then-president wrote , citing “attacks and threats” from Republicans as the reason for the pardons.

Johnson said on Wednesday that the pardons only reinforce allegations of the Bidens being a “crime family.”

He said:

It was shocking. I mean, it was shocking. What President Biden did on his way out, pardoning his family for a decade of any activity, any non-violent [activity]. It was breathtaking to us. I don’t think anything like that’s been anticipated. And by the way, go look at the tape four years ago. When it was just implied that President Trump might do something similar, they were apoplectic. Joe Biden himself, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer. Roll the tape. They all said that would be crazy and unconscionable and now they’re cheering it along. To us, it is disgusting. To us, it probably proves the point, the suspicion, that, you know, they call it the Biden crime family — if they weren’t the ‘crime family,’ why would they need pardons? Look, there’s a lot of attention that’s going to be paid to this and that is appropriate and we will be looking at it as well.

Watch above via C-SPAN2 .

The post Mike Johnson Vows to Investigate Biden’s ‘Disgusting’ Pardons Moments After Saying We Shouldn’t ‘Look Backwards’ at Trump Pardons first appeared on Mediaite .