UPDATE: All appointments for the January 12-14 COVID-19 vaccination clinics are full. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District cites an “overwhelming response.” CUPHD says it will announce its next vaccination clinic via their website and social media, once they get an additional supply of vaccines. – JM 1/9/21 11:25 p.m. URBANA – Champaign County health officials…
PAXTON — The organizer of Paxton’s Grand Old Flag project hopes that 2021 is the year that their flag start flying. Denny Kingren has set the dedication ceremony for this coming Memorial Day. Listen to this story here. The Grand Old Flag’s 150-foot flagpole went up last summer, on the west side of Paxton-Buckley-Loda High…
URBANA — Officials in Urbana now have a feasibility study, for a proposed extension of the Kickapoo Rail Trail through the city. But Mayor Diane Marlin says it could be some time before the project becomes a reality. The proposed extension would be different in nature from the Kickapoo Rail Trail, which is a rail-to-trail…
CHAMPAIGN – A rainbow flag, Black Lives Matter pins and a roll of toilet paper are among items Parkland College students recently ‘laid to rest’ in a time capsule featuring the events of 2020. Phi Theta Kappa, the Honors Society chapter at Parkland created the time capsule. The students buried the capsuled during a physically…
The annual Community Christmas Dinner in Champaign will not be held this year. But it wasn’t the coronavirus that canceled it. No doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic would have canceled the event, which served a free Christmas Day dinner to hundreds of guests at Champaign’s First Christian Church. But organizer Lynne Barnes says they had announced…
CHAMPAIGN – The United Way of Champaign County hopes residents who are able to give back to the community will consider doing so this holiday season. The organization has compiled a list of local holiday giving opportunities. They include adopt-a-family programs that pair people with families who have specific needs, as well as collection drives…
A plan for addressing issues related to the University of Illinois’ use of Chief Illiniwek as a mascot includes formation of a student council to look at the development of new traditions for the Urbana campus. Chancellor Robert Jones released the implementation plan on Friday. The plan draws from input from a series of community-wide…
Timothy D. Gover, the longtime mayor of the eastern Illinois town of Mattoon, has died. A statement issued by the city says Gover died Thursday morning, from “lingering health issues”. He was believed to be in his early 80s. Gover, a Mattoon native, loved his home town and his home county, Coles County, according to…
CHAMPAIGN – The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on in-person shopping, especially at small, local businesses. Those are just the type of businesses hoping to grab shoppers’ attention during the holiday shopping season, with the Hometown Holiday Shop & Stroll, a promotional event that starts on Tuesday, December 1st, and continues through the 20th. This…
For many families, this Thanksgiving will look like no other.
URBANA – Since March, Eastern Illinois Foodbank has distributed almost nine million pounds of food. At this point last year, that number was just over seven million pounds. And demand isn’t slowing down. “The volume of food that we’ve been putting out has definitely changed because of the pandemic,” says Molly Delaney, Vice President of Development…
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include information about the number of counselors and funds for mental health services provided by the University of Illinois. URBANA – Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign held a vigil Nov. 1 to honor the life of a student who died by suicide in late…
URBANA – The University of Illinois’ saliva-based COVID-19 testing program will soon be available to the larger Champaign-Urbana community, according to university officials. Currently, the test is only available to students and staff on some college campuses. But officials say plans are now in the works to make it available to Champaign-Urbana community members, too….
ROCKFORD – Sandra Martell is in a tough spot. As public health administrator in northern Illinois’ Winnebago County, Martell was threatened with lawsuits from several area bar owners after she included them on a list of businesses allegedly defying the governor’s orders to halt indoor dining. The county is part of a region that faced…
CHAMPAIGN – Halloween is just around the corner, and public health officials are encouraging everyone to celebrate safely. The biggest advice is the same we’ve been hearing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: practice social distancing, avoid large gatherings, and wear a mask. But a spooky plastic mask is no substitute for a cloth face covering, when…