RANTOUL – Village officials in Rantoul have been hoping the Champaign County town’s new Family Sports Complex will attract new commercial development. Now they say a deal on the first such development is in the works. Rantoul officials say an affiliate of Chicago-based developer Core Acquisitions LLC is in the process of buying the vacant…
RANTOUL – There’s a three-way race for mayor in the village of Rantoul in northern Champaign County. But that’s not the only contest on the April 6 ballot for Rantoul voters. They will also be voting for candidates to fill every seat on the Rantoul Village Board. And for the first time, they will choose…
SAVOY – Larger towns in Illinois with more than 25,000 people have home rule powers automatically granted to them under the state constitution. Smaller towns have to ask voters for permission. And that’s what’s happening with the April 6 election in Savoy, just south of Champaign. Home rule powers allow a city or village…
URBANA – The fate of the Champaign County Recorder’s office is up to the voters. If they approve a referendum on the April 6 ballot, the work of the recorder of deeds will be merged into the county clerk’s office The referendum, which the county board voted in January to place on the ballot, asks:…
UPDATE: Champaign city officials say the Black Lives Matter honorary street signs were installed on Wednesday, Mary 13, eight days after their approval by the city council. The signs are on Chester Street, where it meets Neil Street and Walnut Street, on either side of the City Building. – Jim Meadows, March 24 2021. CHAMPAIGN…
CHAMPAIGN – Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis hasn’t said he’s running for governor. But the 13th District U.S. representative sounded like someone who might, during a meeting with farmers in Champaign on Monday. Listen to this story here. At a meeting of his Agriculture Advisory Coalition, Davis blamed Governor J.B. Pritzker for problems in the state’s…
URBANA – Champaign County has been living with COVID-19 for one year. Sunday, March 15, 2020, was the day when the first COVID-19 case was announced in Champaign County. The news turned the coronavirus from a headline for county residents, to an eminent danger that has yet to let up. An effort was made to…
RANTOUL – Construction crews are finishing up their work on the Rantoul Family Sports Complex for a mid-April opening. The village-owned facility, with 18 fields for baseball, soccer and other sports, will host local sports programs in Rantoul. But it’s really aimed at sports tourism: regional sports events that can bring families and their dollars…
UPDATE: Champaign’s NOAA Weather Radio station could be back on the air in a couple of months. The National Weather Service office in Lincoln announced Thursday, March 11, that a new lease has been signed on a transmitting tower for WXJ-76. The station broadcasts weather information from Champaign to a nine county area. But it’s…
URBANA – The University of Illinois’ COVID-19 testing process has received Emergency Use Authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration. Authorization was granted in a February 24 letter to the university from FDA Chief Scientist, Rear Admiral Denise M. Hinton. Ben Taylor, spokesman for Shield Illinois, the U of I’s program for marketing…
WASHINGTON — Illinois lawmakers voted along party lines Thursday, as the House of Representatives voted 224-206 to pass H.R. 5, titled the Equality Act, a bill to protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination. Listen to this story here. An earlier version of the bill passed the House once before in 2019, with the support of eight…
URBANA – Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin easily defeated two challengers in Tuesday’s Democratic local election primary. Listen to this story here. Mayor Marlin won 1,845 votes, or 72.3% of the total, well ahead of Alderman Dennis Roberts, the 2nd-place finisher with 440 votes or 17.24%, and recent U of I graduate Andy Ma with 267…
Leaders of Illinois’ hospitality sector are asking the state to work with them on a plan to help them recover from 2020’s pandemic shutdown. Representatives of Illinois’ hotel, restaurant and convention industry testified Thursday at a hearing before the state Senate Tourism and Hospitality Committee, asking for relief from state coronavirus restrictions. “We need to…
URBANA – Racial justice and police reform have been on the minds of Americans across the nation. And they’re a major issue in the race for mayor of Urbana. The three candidates running for the post in the Feb. 23 Democratic primary in Urbana all say they would make change in the city’s police policies….
URBANA – Local governments in the Champaign-Urbana area all have crews out, working to clear streets of the snow that fell on central Illinois Monday and Monday night. Public Works staff with both Champaign and Urbana began work on keeping the roads clear on Sunday night, during the first wave of snowfall. Crews give priority…