CHAMPAIGN – Champaign Unit 4 Schools are preparing to return to distance learning this quarter when school starts on August 26. At a press briefing Thursday, Superintendent Susan Zola said one of the district’s main priorities is meeting WiFi and technical needs for students. Starting next week through August 25, the district will distribute Chromebooks…
CHAMPAIGN – Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been analyzing COVID-19 data to help the state — and campus — make decisions throughout the pandemic. Nigel Goldenfeld, professor of physics, and Sergei Maslov, professor of bioengineering and physics, spoke at a live-streamed COVID-19 briefing Thursday. Goldenfeld said that at the start of…
Schools across Illinois are finalizing their reopening plans for the fall term amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Some parents of students with disabilities are concerned about how these plans will take their needs into account. Rebekah Strate has three children at home — all with special needs. Her family lives south of Jacksonville in a rural…
CHAMPAIGN – In a change of direction, the Champaign Unit 4 school district has announced that fall classes will be held on a remote basis only, through at least mid-October, as a continuing precaution against spreading COVID-19. Unit 4 Superintendent Susan Zola said in a statement released Wednesday evening that the district will use Distance…
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students are calling on the institution to sever ties with the college town’s local police departments and dissolve the university’s own police force. Following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and the protests that followed, students at both the U of I’s Urbana and Chicago campuses are…
As schools across Illinois finalize their plans to reopen this fall, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is urging students, teachers and school staff members to wear masks at all times and stay at least six feet apart. The C-UPHD recently released guidelines and recommendations for schools and families as they prepare to begin the next…
URBANA – Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert remembers watching a man dressed up in Native American regalia dance across a football field as “surreal” and “in many ways silly.” It was the fall of 2006, and the University of Illinois’ former mascot, Chief Illiniwek, sported a feather headdress and face paint, as he wove in and out…
URBANA – Illinois Newsroom held a complex and sometimes spirited discussion over the history and future of police and policing in Central Illinois. The following people participated in a 90-minute discussion on Facebook live event on July 23 to discuss their views and visions for the future.: Tatianna Ammons, community activist & Champaign County Board…
URBANA – As universities prepare to welcome students back to campus for the fall semester, some are counting on widespread COVID-19 testing to help clamp down on potential outbreaks. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, large white tents, with signs reading “Walk-Up COVID-19 Testing,” have been popping up across campus. On a sunny summer…
Kush Gupta says he panicked when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a rule last week barring international students from taking a full online course load for the upcoming fall semester. The rule would have forced international students to take in-person classes at American universities and colleges this fall. Otherwise, they’d be barred from…
CHAMPAIGN – The Champaign Unit 4 School District is changing their reopening plans for this fall. At a meeting this week, the district’s Board of Education asked school administrators to target special education, emergent bilingual learners and other vulnerable students for in-person instruction — with everyone else beginning the school year virtually. The district released…
CHAMPAIGN – The largest bars in Champaign’s Campustown area will be closed on Friday and Saturday, July 10-11, in an attempt to avoid spreading the coronavirus during Greek Reunion. In fact, local officials say the more people stay away from Greek Reunion this year, the better. Greek Reunion brings students back to the University of…
URBANA – University leaders from across the Midwest say they’re concerned about a drop in international student enrollment this fall, given new restrictions imposed on foreign students by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones, Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank and Loyola…
URBANA – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued new restrictions Monday on international students planning to attend American colleges and universities this fall. The guidance from ICE states that international students are forbidden from taking a full online course load while residing in the U.S. The news comes as universities and colleges formulate plans to…
CHAMPAIGN – On Friday, the Illinois High School Association released guidelines for allowing student athletes to practice and play. It comes as the Illinois Department of Public Health announced the number of confirmed coronavirus cases grew to 145,750 including 7,005 deaths. Here are a few of the Phase 4 Return To Play Guidelines: Schools must…