After taking a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fireworks shows are returning to central Illinois. Here’s where you can see all the area’s displays: URBANA – Here’s a partial list of professional fireworks displays for Independence Day weekend, July 1-4, 2022: July 1 Freedom Fest – Lake of the Woods, Mahomet – fireworks begin…
This is a developing story. It will be updated as we learn new details. CHAMPAIGN – Champaign Police say a 17-year-old male was killed and four other people were wounded Friday afternoon, in a shooting at a large post-funeral gathering for a previous shooting victim at the American Legion Post 559 on Hickory Street on…
CHAMPAIGN – June 30 marks the end of Pride Month, but that doesn’t mean that activists and LGBTQ+ allies are done celebrating the LGBTQ+ community or reflecting on change that still needs to happen. Illinois Newsroom student journalist Carolina Garibay spoke with Nicole Frydman of Champaign, one of these activists. This month, she attended several…
This is a developing story. It will be updated as we learn new details. UPDATE: 56 summer residents are moving back into Hendrick House at the University of Illinois — ten days after an explosion forced them to evacuate. Management for the privately-owned residence hall announced on social media Wednesday that the city of Urbana had…
URBANA – The Champaign County Board is getting ready to study ways to improve local broadband. That includes a Finance Committee-of-the-Whole study session Tuesday evening, June 29, beginning at 6 PM at the county’s Brookens Administrative Center in Urbana. The county board is considering spending some of Champaign County’s more than $40 million in American…
CHAMPAIGN – Investigators are looking into why a portion of a vacant commercial building collapsed in Champaign on Saturday afternoon. Champaign Fire Department Public Information Officer Randy Smith says firefighters responded to the structure at 63 Chester Street at 5:47 p.m. The department says no one was hurt. Upon arrival, Smith says firefighters reported the…
CHAMPAIGN — Following state and national trends, Champaign County is seeing an uptick in drug overdose deaths and homicides. Over the past five years, the number of people who’ve died from a drug overdose — in both Champaign County and the state of Illinois — has roughly doubled. Last year, 52 Champaign County residents died…
URBANA — The Boneyard Arts Festival came back for an in-person showcase of local artists’ work at more than 50 venues in Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding area this weekend. Before the pandemic, art exhibitions would be displayed in over 100 venues around the county in April, but after a virtual showcase in 2020, organizers decided…
The average age of farmworkers born outside the U.S. steadily increased from 2008 to 2019, while the average age of U.S.-born workers has stayed about the same over the same period. Foreign-born farmworkers are on average 5 years older than their U.S.-born counterparts. An analysis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Research Service attributes the…
URBANA — Clothing has the power to determine the ways people view others and the way they view themselves. Many people use clothes as a form of self-expression and as a way to show how they want to be perceived by others. For the LGBTQ+ community, access to gender-affirming is crucial says Uniting Pride of…
CHAMPAIGN – Organizers throughout Champaign County say Juneteenth is about history, but also about bringing attention to systemic issues that the African American community still faces. Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, is also now an official state holiday, after Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation on Wednesday. Rantoul resident Debbra Sweat was having coffee with…
CHAMPAIGN – Many LGBTQ individuals experience issues such as prejudice and healthcare barriers, contributing to higher rates of mental illness among this community than the general population, according to nurse practitioner Kate Srikant. Individuals often feel isolated, or that healthcare providers don’t understand their struggles, Srikant says. Data from the advocacy group Mental Health America…
URBANA – On Monday, Joanne Geigner helped raise the rainbow flag above the Urbana City Building. She is part of Uniting Pride, which advocates for Champaign County’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. Geigner is also the mother of a transgender son. She says the flag’s visibility sends a message to community members who may…
CHAMPAIGN — June is Pride Month, and LGBTQ+ folks and allies in Champaign are ready to kick off the month with a Drag Picnic taking place at West Side Park this Saturday. CJ Brown is the host and organizer of the picnic, as well as one of the drag performers taking the stage this weekend….
DECATUR – An estimated 2,000 friends, family and police officers filled a church in Decatur Wednesday for the funeral of Champaign Police Officer Chris Oberheim. He was killed last week while answering a domestic disturbance call. The funeral was closed to the public and the news media. But the public was encouraged to come out…