CHAMPAIGN – Firefighters and staff from the Champaign Fire Department and Neighborhood Services Department along with the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance are offering a free public service this week. They will be going door-to-door in a north Champaign neighborhood on October 25 offering to check smoke alarms and installing free smoke alarms in homes that…
Thousands of Illinois residents may have a check from the state waiting for them in their mailboxes. The Illinois State Treasurer’s office recently sent unclaimed property checks to 138,561 people in Illinois, totaling a record $13.2 million. Treasurer Michael Frerichs held a news conference Tuesday to remind Illinois residents to cash these checks. “We have…
Brenda Protz lost her 14-year-old daughter in November 2019 in a distracted-driving crash. Jenna and a friend were riding home from a football game with Jenna’s paternal grandparents when their car was struck by a distracted driver. Jenna and the others in her car died; the other driver survived. “Jenna’s life was cut short,” said…
By October 21st, 2023, some 6,000 people in the Gaza Strip and Israel had been killed in the expanding Israel- Hamas War. Here on the University of Illinois Campus and around the world, tensions between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli communities were rising. As part of their coverage of the conflict last fall, Illinois journalism students spoke…
28-year-old Corey Thompsen started out as an intern with ISP and became a trooper 5 years ago.
The climate in the Midwest is ever-changing — and that’s what makes it fascinating, says Jim Angel. Angel is a climate scientist with the Illinois State Water Survey. He served as Illinois State Climatologist for more than two decades until 2018, and has been studying climate extremes in Illinois and the Midwest for almost 40…
DANVILLE – The City of Danville has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Inflation Reduction Act and the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program. This grant will be used in launching a new program, Community Roots: Danville’s Urban Reforestation and Revitalization Plan. “This initiative is designed to enhance tree canopy…
When 6-year-old Palestinian American boy Wadee Alfayoumi was stabbed to death in October of 2023 in suburban Plainfield Township in an alleged hate crime, it was as though the Muslim community itself had been stabbed. That’s how Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, described the effect of…
A year ago, on October 13, Israel began a ground operation in Gaza in response to the devastating attack by Hamas on October 7. The conflict has claimed more than 43,000 lives with some one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza. Now, the regional war the United States has spent a year trying to…
With back-to-back hurricanes canceling hundreds of blood drives in Southeastern parts of the United States in recent weeks, the American Red Cross is calling for help from other parts of the country, including Central Illinois. The Red Cross will host numerous blood drives in Champaign County over the next month., Dozens of students attended a…
CHAMPAIGN– Vigils and gatherings were held around the country and in Champaign Monday to mark one year since an attack by Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel. Hillel and the Chabad Center came together on the University of Illinois Quad to mourn those lost and those still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. An…
One year ago today, Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 men, women and children and kidnapped more than 200 others after entering Israel from the Gaza Strip. In response to the attack, Israel launched a military offensive that has killed more than 41,000 people in Gaza. More than half of those killed were women and…
The Champaign Park District hosted its 8th annual Halloween costume giveaway on Saturday, offering people of all ages the chance to find something fun for the fall season. Throughout the past month, community members donated their old costumes to the drive, resulting in over one hundred options to choose from this year. Lynne Franco, program…
URBANA – A group has Champaign-Urbana residents dancing away with new moves by teaching them a beloved Chicago tradition. The Era Footwork Collective came to Champaign-Urbana on September 7 to teach people how to do “footwork” at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The organization’s mantra is “Footwork Saves Lives”. Sterling “Steelo” Lofton is…
URBANA – Champaign County is launching a new grant-funded program, which will provide free gun locks and safes for residents. The county has been awarded a grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health to enhance public health and safety through firearm safe storage solutions and education on firearms restraining orders, according to a news…