John W. Keyes III's tragic death last November sent shock waves through Elgin, even reaching the offices of local legislators.

Congressman Bill Foster announced Monday that Larkin High School will receive a $47,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which will provide academic tutoring and anger management counseling for students affected by the tragedy. The award will also allow the school to hire another social worker to assist with the increased need for grief and trauma counseling.

"This is immediate," District Safety Coordinator John Heiderscheidt said about grant, which will help students through the remainder of the school year. "We're going to get services running as quickly as we can."

The money comes at a time when every penny counts for the Elgin school and the 41,000-student district. Nearly $5 million has already been cut from this year's budget. In order to reduce a $48.6 million deficit, the school board is set to approve hundreds of budget cuts and staff layoffs later this month.

Keyes, 17, a former Larkin High School student, died Nov. 8 after he was crushed by a car against an Elgin apartment building on the 200 block of Center Street. Timera D. Branch, 33, of Streamwood, faces first-degree murder charges. The killing happened, according to Keyes' relatives, a day after Keyes punched Branch's 16-year-old son in a feud over a girl.

After the death, Larkin High School has reported that grieving students are having trouble focusing on school work, and school counselors have reported an increase in the number of referrals.

Heiderscheidt first learned about the grant while attending a school safety conference earlier this fall.

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ELBURN – Social worker Judy Hanson traveled from St. Charles to Elburn Saturday afternoon to share her concerns about health care with U.S. Congressman Bill Foster, D-Batavia.

She wasn't alone.

At least a dozen citizens showed up at Elburn Village Hall to share their concerns with or ask questions of Foster during private, one-on-one conversations in the mayor's conference room.

The format took Hanson by surprise – she expected a town hall setup – but she said she was glad she stayed, noting Foster was a good listener.

For Elburn resident Carol Green, Saturday was at least her fourth time attending such a meeting with the representative.

"Congressman Foster has been the most accessible congressman that I have ever come across," she said. "He listens, and he doesn't hide, and you don't have to go to a fundraiser to talk to him."

Green attended Saturday's event to talk to Foster about health care. He illustrated how complicated the issues are – something she said she already knew – and said her concerns are similar to many other constituents, she said.

Village Trustee Gordon Dierschow spoke to Foster about some of Elburn's needs, such as upgrading water mains and sewer lines.

"If any stimulus money is available, I'd like to see the taxpayers here get our share," he said.

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DeKALB – A federal grant will allow Northern Illinois University to take the lead in improving medical technology in Illinois, school officials said Thursday.

The $7.5 million grant, which will be dispersed over two years, is from the federal stimulus package. The funding will be used to create a Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center to help doctors throughout the state adopt digital health information records that can be shared quickly and securely.

The NIU center will be one of 70 such facilities nationwide and will cover all of Illinois, with the exception of Chicago, NIU President John Peters said. Northwestern University is receiving $7.6 million to create a Regional Extension Center to serve those residents. Officials hope to have the system substantially complete in two years, according to a news release from NIU.

“We are delighted to announce that Northern Illinois University has been selected to receive a grant that will help create a health care revolution across the state of Illinois,” Peters said Thursday during a news conference at the NIU Family Health, Wellness and Literacy Center in DeKalb.

The goal of the centers is to create an electronic medical records system that allows any medical professionals to pull up all information about a patient, with the aim of improving care and cutting costs. All of the information is protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which mandates medical information be confidential.

The grant will allow physicians to utilize the REC’s services at a minimal cost, according to NIU officials. Starting in 2011, the federal government will increase Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements rates for physicians who have the systems in place and are using them.

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Batavia, said the REC will create and retain 105 jobs. The RECs will work with priority care providers, such as doctors who treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. Those doctors provide about 80 percent of the nations’ health care, he said, but only 20 percent are using electronic health records.

Dr. Stasia Kahn, with the Fox Prairie Medical Group in St. Charles and the vice president of Northern Illinois Physicians for Connectivity, said she has had electronic medical records for more than seven years. Using them provides a bevy of benefits, she said, such as allowing her to see what medications her patients are already on so she won’t prescribe another drug that would interact badly.

It also allows her to see what tests other doctors have ordered on a patient, ensuring duplicate tests aren’t ordered – which saves money for the patient, Kahn said.

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Nearly $100,000 in federal stimulus money has been earmarked to help create jobs in Whiteside County, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster announced Tuesday. With the grant, Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies will partner with business and government leaders and agencies, such as the Morrison Area Community and Economic Development Office, the Whiteside County Enterprise Zone and Economic Development Office, and Prophetstown Main Street.

“Of all the counties in the 14th District, Whiteside County has one of the highest unemployment rates. With this grant, NIU and community partners will be able to create jobs that are so desperately needed,” Foster, a Geneva Democrat, said in a news release.

The money will be used to assist entrepreneurs, market the area to businesses outside the region, and implement the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs strategic economic plan, the release said.

NIU will provide technical assistance, including highlighting potential growth areas, entrepreneur education, Web site upgrades, marketing expertise and project coordination.

“Projects like this are opportunities to strengthen our relationships with local communities and help leaders in our region find new paths back to prosperity,” CGS Director Bob Gleeson said.

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DeKALB – Northern Illinois University has been awarded a $7.5 million grant that will be used to help improve medical technology in the state.

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Batavia, and NIU President John Peters, along with local health care providers, will announce the grant and provide more details during a news conference at 10 a.m. today, according to a media advisory from NIU.

NIU will use the funding to create a Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center to help doctors throughout the state adopt digital health information records that can be shared quickly and securely, according to Sen. Dick Durbin’s office.

The grant will be dispersed over two years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is made possible from the federal stimulus package passed last year.

Durbin, a Democrat who represents Illinois, said the money NIU is getting is part of the $34 million coming to Illinois through the stimulus package to improve the quality and efficiency of health care in the state by strengthening the technology medical providers use.

“Because they can be shared instantaneously with multiple doctors and can be transmitted hundreds of miles in seconds, electronic health records are an effective tool for improving the quality of health care and saving lives,” Durbin said in a separate news release. “Today’s Recovery Act funding will help achieve President Obama’s goal of adopting a nationwide health information technology infrastructure.”

Today’s news conference will be at the NIU Family Health, Wellness and Literacy Center at 3100 Sycamore Road in DeKalb.

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DEKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois University will get nearly $100,000 in federal stimulus cash to help rural businesses expand.

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster says the goal is to create jobs in Whiteside County. He says the northwestern Illinois county has been especially hard hit by job losses during the economic downturn.

The money will go to pay for a variety of assistance, including marketing, educational programming and upgrading Web sites.

NIU will work on projects with several local groups, including the Whiteside County Enterprise Zone and Economic Development Office, and the Prophetstown Main Street Program.

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MONTGOMERY -- U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Geneva, will conduct his 54th Congress on Your Corner session today, with Marilyn Michelini, village president of Montgomery, as his special guest.

The event will run from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Montgomery Village Hall, 200 N. River St.

Congress on Your Corner is a regular series of meetings in which residents of the 14th Congressional District can talk with Foster one on one, without an appointment.

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AURORA -- An early morning business breakfast attended by dozens of business presidents, CEOs and managers turned out to be pretty heavy Friday, but the food had nothing to do with it.

U.S. Reps. Bill Foster, a Geneva Democrat, and Judy Biggert, a Republican from Hinsdale, joined more than 50 Aurora Chamber of Commerce members to talk about issues that are far from light: health care, jobs and the economic outlook.

Biggert opened the discussion and acknowledged the sense of cooperation she has experienced with Foster, despite the two sitting on opposite sides of the aisle.

After stating her views that the health care bills of the Senate and House could hurt small businesses and impose more taxes, Foster countered that the plan proposed by Republicans could leave more people uninsured 10 years from now.

Foster told business owners to consider the "big picture" of the health care proposal, "that everyone must carry a basic level of health care" to cover the 30 million citizens without health insurance.

"It's not going to be a private room in the Mayo Clinic, but it's not going to be zero," Foster said.

A little-known fact about the economic crisis, according to Foster, is that during the last 18 months of the previous administration, about $15 trillion of household net worth was already destroyed. That amounts to $50,000 for every man, woman and child, he said.

"More wealth was destroyed than the national debt under the previous administration," Foster said.

But after the $787 billion stimulus bill passed, that wealth began to increase instantly, Foster said.

Before responding about the economy, Biggert fired back: "I would've worn my armor if I knew this was such a debate."

Biggert stressed that constituents nationwide do not want government-run health care, but health care that is accessible and affordable.

"In a recession, to raise taxes, it's the worst thing you can do," she said.

As for the economy, Biggert said the stimulus has not promised the completion of "shovel-ready" projects, and that companies in her district are not qualifying for stimulus funding to help them grow.

As the session closed, Foster agreed with Biggert when she said bipartisan bickering needs to end.

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U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Batavia and Rep. Bob Etheridge of North Carolina will co-chair the newly formed Budget Discipline Working Group, which will promote fiscally responsible policies that target federal spending and the reduction of the deficit and national debt.

The Budget Discipline Working Group was created within the New Democrat Coalition, according to a news release from Foster’s office.

“The New Democrat Coalition is a group of moderate, pro-business Democrats, many of whom have started or participated in a business before their elections to Congress,” Foster said in a written statement. “We understand that we are not going to have a healthy business climate until we get our fiscal house in order.”

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ELGIN -- Congressman Bill Foster will hold his upcoming "Congress on Your Corner" session at state Rep. Keith Farnham's district office in downtown Elgin from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

According to a press release from Farnham's office, Foster has held 51 similar sessions since taking office last spring. On Saturday, people will have the chance to meet with Foster and Farnham to discuss concerns or ideas they may have.

"I encourage residents to come out on Saturday for this unique opportunity to talk with their representatives on both the state and federal level," Farnham said. "I look forward to discussing with Foster ways to bring more money into our district for job creation. We have to get people back to work, and I will talk with Foster about ways to partner at all levels of government to improve our local economy."

Foster was unopposed in this week's Democratic primary and will face Republican Randy Hultgren in November for the 14th Congressional District seat.

Farnham also was nominated Tuesday without opposition and will face former GOP state Rep. Ruth Munson of Elgin in November.

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Congressman Bill Foster spoke to the Elgin Lions Club at their Jan. 5 meeting at the Holiday Inn in Elgin.

Members of the Dundee, Algonquin and Elburn Lions clubs also attend as well as several members of the Elgin Community Crisis Center. Foster's address was not a campaign appearance, but was very informative about the manner in which laws are made in our nation's capital. He spoke of the humor attendant to his duties, provided insight into how he came to abandon a very successful career as a prominent physicist and businessman to take up a second or third career as a legislator. Moreover, the main focus of his address concerned the pending health care legislation in Congress. Foster included the point that there are a number of things wrong with the way that laws are made these days, but expressed confidence that flaws in the system are fixable by people with good intentions.

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Congressman Bill Foster delivered a message of hard work, education and the importance of every person devoting some portion of their life helping others during a visit Thursday at the Glenwood School for Boys and Girls.

The visit followed Foster's recent success in securing $100,000 in a federal earmark that will help fund programing at the school.

The campus on Silver Glen Road originally sat on about 400 acres of farmland. Now the property serves as the home, school and family setting for the approximately 55 students who live there Sunday night through Friday afternoon.

Glenwood President Sam Banks said the campus is the best chance many of the students have to make it out of situations where they are surrounded by violence, drugs and otherwise broken communities.

"So many of them come from situations that are very chaotic," Banks said. "We provide a way for kids to get out of the environment that they're in and get them into an environment where they can learn some social skills and some coping skills. Here they can relax, focus, feel safe. It's quite an opportunity for our kids."

Foster, whose 14th District encompasses many of the Aurora and Elgin neighborhoods from which the kids come, toured the campus to see what daily life is like for the students.

Dry erase boards with lists of chores and basic military drill techniques are part of the lives of students to instill values of personal responsibility, discipline and working as a team. But air hockey, computer games and Jenga also are part of everyday life for the students.

The entire student body joined Foster for a meal and peppered him with questions about his education, why he likes science so much and what lawmakers are doing to help prevent homelessness.

"Most of the time, when you look at someone who's successful, it's because they worked and worked and worked," Foster told them. "A happy life requires hard work."

Foster told the students they should appreciate living in a setting where they are assured a good education.

"We have to make sure that every child in the United States gets the very best education there can be," he said. "When you help one of your little brothers or friends understand something that they didn't understand before, then you are helping out the education of this country."

The Congressman also urged the students to take an interest in politics and establish informed views of the world around them.

"You have to give politicians a hard time," Foster said. "You can't just assume what a politician says is right. You have to question authority. Think it through. Is what they're really proposing to do the best for the country?"

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ST. CHARLES – The Northern Illinois Food Bank has been recently awarded with a $1,000 “Victory Against Hunger” Grant.

Northern Illinois Food Bank received the “Victory Against Hunger” award from the Congressional Hunger Center and Victory Wholesale Group. Twenty-five $1,000 grants were awarded to food banks that demonstrate innovative anti-hunger initiatives assisting families and children in their communities. This grant is awarded annually, and food banks must apply for the award. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Batavia, provided a letter of support with NIFB’s application.

“We are honored and proud to be one of only 25 food assistance organizations nationwide to be recognized by the Congressional Hunger Center for the work we do providing food to hungry neighbors in northern Illinois," said H. Dennis Smith, president of Northern Illinois Food Bank.

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