Local Weekend Roundup: Bicycles and Brunch Booze

 
Tom's Mailbag is a local question and answer feature of the News-Gazette and it had a couple local highlights that intersected with local government. First off, brunch booze:

Outdoor alcohol service

"While at brunch in downtown Champaign on Sunday last weekend we were surprisingly told that we could not purchase alcohol in the outside dining area until noon. Some research indicates that a new bill (2018-045) included several amendments to the city code, one of which restricts the sale of alcohol at an outdoor cafe until noon on Sundays (Article III (Sec. 5-31.1)). I wasn't able to find any discussion about this in the city council minutes or study sessions. This certainly puts a damper on Sunday morning brunches on beautiful mornings! Any idea why this 'no outdoor alcohol' until noon on Sundays law suddenly appeared?"

Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen said the rule all along has prohibited outdoor alcohol service before noon, but that because of your question (and others the city has received) a change is in the offing, perhaps in August.

"This was an existing provision in the outdoor café rider language already that was not changed. We have stepped up all around enforcement of downtown cafes this summer and the prior non-compliance came to light," she explained. "I have been contacted by several people about this issue and just this week talked to council and the deputy liquor commissioner about revising the outdoor café rules and liquor code to allow for an earlier time frame for outdoor service.

"Staff got the go ahead (Tuesday) night (after the council meeting) and I expect that we will try to move quickly to get this on an agenda so that people can still enjoy the remainder of the good weather."

The full mailbag is available here. It answers a question about who owns the dockless bikes and the cost of theft (unlike some other systems, the cities do not in ours). There was also a question about the surface work on country roads making a bicyclist's journey a bit more perilous than usual. The response by the Champaign Township struck me as a bit cold-hearted (Update: apparently others too as it got a few responses in the next mailbag as well), while perhaps intending to be deadly serious:

The roads you were riding on are township roads and are the responsibility of Champaign Township Highway Commissioner Keith Padgett.

"It is unfortunate that the bike rider chooses to ride on rural roads while there are many bike dedicated paths in the Champaign-Urbana area. There are far too many bike rider/vehicle deaths in rural areas of townships but that is the choice they are making," he said. "Champaign Township as well as many other townships utilize the oil and chip method to maintain the desired integrity of rural roadways within the boundaries of each township."

There was also an article today on Urbana "dismount zones" to encourage riders to walk their bikes through pedestrian areas in downtown:

Circle marks the spot to dismount
...
Round blue decals reading, “Dismount zone, walk your wheels,” popped up last week on Main Street, between Race Street and Broadway Avenue.

The idea is to prompt bicyclists to get off their bikes and walk them through the busy downtown business area, said Assistant City Engineer Craig Shonkwiler.

“We’ve had some issues with bicyclists riding their bicycles on the downtown sidewalks,” which is prohibited by a city ordinance that carries a $100 fine, he said.

“But we’re trying to take a more positive approach,” Shonkwiler said.

The decals were also put down on Goodwin Avenue north of University Avenue, near Durst Bicycle shop.

“We had a situation where a bicyclist was riding on the sidewalk, and somebody opened the door to one of the businesses there, and they hit the door,” he said.

“Particularly downtown, where there’s so many pedestrians, with doors that open onto the sidewalk, we’d really like people to dismount from their bicycles or skateboards and just walk through there,” he said.

Full article here.

August Meetings

Champaign (calendar)

Meetings are held at the City Council Chambers ( or you can Live Stream or watch the videos later here) unless otherwise indicated. How to address the council information. 102 N. Neil St., Champaign (map)

Champaign Human Relations Commission: August 6th @ 5:30pm

Meetings are held on the 1st Monday of each month at 5:30 pm in City Council Chambers, 102 N. Neil St., Champaign.

Champaign City Council:

• Regular Meetings: August 7th and August 21st @ 7pm
•  Regular meetings of the City Council are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 pm in the Council Chambers of the City Building, 102 N Neil Street, Champaign.  Regular meetings are used to conduct the legislative work of the City, including voting on Ordinances, Resolutions, holding public hearings, and approving expenditures.  Major items of legislation are often discussed in Study Session meetings prior to being voted on during a Regular Meeting.

• Study Session Meetings: August 14th and August 28th @ 7pm
•  Study Session meetings of the City Council are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 pm in the Council Chambers of the City Building, 102 N Neil Street, Champaign. Study Session meetings are used to engage in an in-depth analysis and discussion of a particular topic.  Informal polls are commonly taken by the Council to provide general staff direction on the subject being discussed, but no formal action is taken during Study Session meetings.  Study Session topics needing formal approval will be place on a subsequent Regular Meeting agenda for a Council vote.

Urbana (calendar)

Meetings are held at the Urbana City Council Chambers (links to agendas and videos here) unless indicated otherwise. Meeting brochure with protocols. 400 S. Vine St., Urbana (map)

Urbana Human Relations Commission: Auguest 8th @ 5:30pm

The Commission holds regular monthly meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the Urbana City Council Chambers. Special meetings may be held as deemed necessary. 

Urbana City Council:

• Regular Meetings: August 6th and August 20th @ 7pm
•  The Council meets twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month at 7pm.
• Committee of the Whole Meetings: August 13th and August 27th @ 7pm
•  The Committee of the Whole meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month at 7pm.

The City Council establishes laws for citizen welfare, determines policies that govern providing municipal services and approves certain Mayoral appointments.

County Government: The Week Ahead posts

Preparing Kids to Survive Active Shooters

In a follow up of other "Stop the Bleed" training in the area, area teens are also learning at summer camps to stop their friends from bleeding to death if and when their schools are a target of an active shooter. A sign of the times? The "cost of freedom?" I leave it to the reader to decide. From today's News-Gazette:

Stop the Bleed: Teens get a lesson in trauma response
Instead of relaxing by the pool on their summer vacation, 75 teens were thinking about worst-case scenarios Thursday afternoon. While learning about health care procedures at Carle's three-day Scrub Camp, they were also taught how to survive a school shooting.

"Even if they're in a library, we think every kid should know how to stop their friend from bleeding to death," said Mary Beth Voights, nurse practitioner and coordinator of trauma services at Carle...

The students were split into groups to test what they learned by practicing putting tourniquets on one another, making sure they were tight enough to stop the blood flow of a potential injury...

The national campaign Stop the Bleed has been offering presentations to public schools since last year. Now, Carle's trauma department offers Stop the Bleed training to schools in a 21-county area of East Central Illinois and has trained nearly 1,200 school employees through its hour-long training presentation.

"We start with the schools because students are a captive audience, and it's where the most traumatic injuries have occurred in groups," Voights said. "Schools are where we see the biggest mass shootings."

Moore said local schools have been receiving Stop the Bleed kits — with instructions, quick-clotting gauze, gloves, a marker and a tourniquet — which are installed near their automated external defibrillators.

"We want to teach not only schools but churches and assembly centers what to do during a traumatic event," he said. "For now, we'll start with places where big groups of people gather. Our next goal is to hit the universities. And soon, it has to go out to everyone."

Full article here.

C-U Metro Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate is essentially unchanged, but did tick up a smidge in the C-U metropolitan area. The News-Gazette had a breakdown and some explanation today:

June unemployment rate ticks up in Champaign County
For the first time in 26 months, the local unemployment rate increased compared to a year ago.

But that may not be a bad thing, as it could indicate more unemployed people were looking for jobs, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

In the Champaign-Urbana metro area, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent a year ago June.

In the same period, C-U added 2,200 jobs...

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measures employment each month through a survey, and only counts people as unemployed if they've looked for a job in the past four weeks. So if more people are looking for jobs, but haven't yet found employment, the unemployment rate would increase.

According to the state, area employers advertised 4,700 positions in June, including 84 percent for full-time employment.

In the C-U metro area, eight sectors added jobs compared to a year ago, including 1,000 more government jobs; 600 more in education and health services; 500 in leisure and hospitality; 300 in professional and business services; 200 in transportation, warehousing and utilities; 100 in durable goods manufacturing; 100 in information; and 100 in other services.

Meanwhile, wholesale trade lost 300 jobs, retail trade lost 200 and non-durable manufacturing lost 100.

Full article here with some comparisons to Danville.

Urbana Police Relations Meeting

A public meeting to discuss relations between the Urbana community and the Urbana Police Department is coming up at the Urbana Civic Center. From the News-Gazette today:

Champaign Roundup

An easement that has conflicting concerns for land owned by the park district, but with an easement for use by the school district. From yesterday's News-Gazette:

Unit 4 schools and Champaign Park Board still at odds over land
The Champaign Park Board and Unit 4 schools remain at odds over a proposal to use park-owned land for storm-water detention from Centennial High School and Tommy Stewart Field, prompting Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen to ask the two sides Wednesday night to work together for the good of the community.

The school district has proposed building a storm-water detention basin, enough to handle a 100-year storm event, on a site north of the Centennial parking lot straddling school and park district land. However, the majority of it would be on park district property.

According to the easement proposal, 100 percent of the cost of constructing and installing the facility would be paid for by Unit 4.

At their meeting Wednesday night, park commissioners expressed concern over liability issues associated with having the school's detention basin on park land...

The board directed park district attorney Guy Hall to meet with Unit 4 representatives to talk about the liability issues.

Meanwhile, at least some park board members want Unit 4 to consider either buying the affected park land outright or trading it for Unit 4-owned land elsewhere.

Full article, including a plea from the Mayor to work together as we are all part of the same community family, here.

Proposal on Champaign's house-to-lot ratio will get hearing

On the issue of what many view as oversized houses, there will be a public hearing and consideration for rule changes. From the News-Gazette today:

Months after Mike Reed and his neighbors began meeting about a home-building trend they don't like, they're going to have a chance next week to hear about how the city may be changing the rules.

Reed co-founded a group called No Giant Houses, opposed to the construction of behemoth houses on smaller-size lots — many of which are in their central Champaign neighborhood surrounding Clark Park.

Objectors have contended large new houses being built on small lots in their neighborhood are both dwarfing the older, smaller ones already there and gobbling up too much open space.

Reed said he and his neighbors haven't heard anything from the city about their concerns since a January Champaign City Council meeting, "so we're anxious to hear what they have to say."

Before proposed changes in requirements about house-versus-lot size are brought back to the council next month, city planning officials plan to present them to the public at a meeting set for 6-8 p.m. Monday at the Champaign Public Library.

More at the full article here.

Champaign City Council Housing Ordinance

On Tuesday the Champaign City Council heard from numerous local activists, organizations, and directly impacted citizens about repealing the exemption for housing discrimination protections for certain convicted felons. Various realtors, mainly in favor of keeping the exemption, also came out and made their case. Video is available here and a write up is below. The housing issue began with Public Participation for those who want to skip straight to that.


Meeting Notes (agenda here):

The meeting kicked off with the mayor inducting two firefighters by oath to positions in the City of Champaign.

There was a "public hearing" for the Stormwater Quality Program to allow public input to the council, but no one from the public took the opportunity to speak.

The council moved forward on a Honorary Street Name request for Robert Grossman, although as I understand there still needs to be final approval in a regular city council meeting. The applicant for the request spoke in support and stated his appreciation for the consideration and highlighted Mr. Grossman's charitable work.

There was a presentation and overview of the Snow and Ice Control Plan by Public Works Director Dennis Schmidt and Supervisor Brock Summers, a 20 year veteran of Public Works. In general the plan is essentially the same as what has been in effect for over a decade. A priority is put on the main thoroughfares first and on down to cul-de-sacs and dead end streets. Council members brought up concerns raised by their constituents about equality as some residents feel left behind waiting for their streets to be cleared.

The director highlighted that eight of the last ten budgets went over budget, and the other two were simply one storm away from going over budget as well. He asked for a more realistic budget ahead of time rather than current trend of underestimating the need. Mayor Feinen made her annual plea for individuals and businesses to uphold their obligations for snow shoveling and helping neighbors who may need assistance.

The council discussed changes to the yard waste program, including spring collection dates and expanding it back to all residential properties again.


Public Participation and Housing:

Groups supporting the reform included First Followers, the ACLU, the Champaign County Reentry Council, the NAACP, the City of Champaign Human Relations Commission, CU Indivisible, a Mennonite Church, and the C-U Tenant Union. Several individuals, some with felony convictions in their past, also argued the supporting arguments and data that access to housing helps lower recidivism and aids opportunity for rehabilitation.

A couple landlords argued in favor of the change. It was pointed out that the restriction on low income tenants does not apply to homeowners or landlords who may have been convicted of the same crimes.

The realtors overall stayed on a very focused message at each opportunity to speak. They want to protect their right to ask questions and ensure the safety of their residents. They framed changing the ordinance back to the original and in line with Urbana as discrimination against realtors and their property rights. They highlighted the scariest scenarios and most dismal anecdotes as inevitable, as if they'd be powerless to screen tenants without being able to discriminate solely on history of criminal conviction.

The speakers speaking for larger realtor groups kept close to that framing with as much deference to the hard work and empathy with speakers on the other side who work with reentry and have gone through reentry themselves. A couple more frustrated people made sure to make digs at "the criminals" daring to criticize their town.

The pro-reform arguments pointed to the vast racial disparities in the criminal justice system outcomes, even for the same crimes, as why they shouldn't be relied on to further racial discrimination in housing. Landlords refused to acknowledge the connection and or outright put that responsibility on the state even if they use those outcomes.

The landlords generally argued for their own discretion and painted a picture of Champaign area landlords as overwhelmingly being beyond racism and going out of their way to give rehabilitated felons a chance with extra scrutiny. Organizations and impacted tenants pointed to statistics and personal stories of hardship as they struggle to avoid discrimination in Champaign versus other area locations.


Board Comments:

Overall the board seemed to appreciate the civility and and level heads of everybody who came out to argue on both sides of the issue. There seemed to be interest in at least having a study session to look at the data and discuss possible compromise language as opposed to just a flat out repeal of the language.

Council member Fourman made a personal argument about the need to ensure the safety of residents and her constituents. She argued that it's premature to have a study session and doing so will give people the impression the council is ready to begin implementation when it's not. She pointed to other solutions to address aiding employment, reentry programs, etc. "How do you know you're helping people be safe? I'm asking you?" She pointed out that what she regularly hears from her constituents is frustration that the City isn't helping get the bad actors out of their neighborhoods, from drug dealers to dangerous criminals.

There was some back and forth between Fourman and Beck (even as the Mayor reiterated that the comment opportunity wasn't for such back and forth discussion). There was a disagreement on what was said before, where, and Fourman complained that Beck interrupted her as an example of the problem with her communication. "You won't let me finish talking."

Gladney and Kyles talked in favor of having the conversation, though wanted to learn more before taking a stance on any particular changes, if any.

Stock and Brix viewed compromise as the way forward and described taking the language back to the original as an "absolute." Perhaps it was just my impression as someone with an opinion on the subject, but it seemed like they didn't like the choice being described as whether the City would be allowing discrimination or not. They say the trick to compromise isn't making everyone happy, but getting enough unhappy people on board. I suppose we'll see how that works out in the future.

The Mayor also reiterated the appreciation for the overall respect and civility by everyone and pointed to this meeting as an example of local government at its best when it can hear from well meaning people on both sides of an important issue. She pointed out that unlike many contentious issues, the people getting up to speak were all mixed together instead of on one side of the room or the other.

The meeting adjourned at 10:14pm with a reminder that next week is the 5th Tuesday of the month and there's no City Council meeting scheduled (for those who attend regularly on the 1st through 4th Tuesday regular/study session meetings.).

Urbana Traffic Stop Disparities Smaller

Some modest improvement was noted at the recent Urbana City Council meeting when it comes to racial disparities in traffic stops. From the News-Gazette today:

Urbana police report traffic stops for minorities down in first half of 2018
The Urbana Police Department on Monday announced a downtick in traffic stops of black and Asian drivers during the first half of this year.

The difference was discovered when comparing traffic stop data, from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2018, to stop numbers from that same period of time for the past five years.

Despite the decrease, Urbana police crime analyst Melissa Haynes told the Urbana City Council that black and Hispanic drivers were still more likely to be stopped than expected, based on the city’s driving population...

White drivers saw an uptick in traffic stops this year, while continuing to be stopped less than expected when looking at the driving population. Hispanic drivers also saw an uptick, making them just more than likely to be stopped than expected.

Urbana Police Chief Sylvia Morgan said she has been working with officers on recognizing implicit bias and changing the way they think while on the job.

More at the full article here, including a change being made by the council on parking on Federal Drive.

Update on School Punishment Disparities

In a follow up on equity efforts on punishment and racial disparities in local schools and school districts, the News-Gazette had recently flagged districts by the Illinois State Board of Education. Here's a highlighted excerpt from today's paper:

5 area districts listed for racial disparities in discipline practices
...
'What does this mean?'

Thomas went on to detail various district-wide efforts, including the implementation of restorative practices and teaching staffers about trauma-informed care. The latter refers to the practice of identifying and responding appropriately to issues that may have been caused by underlying trauma issues.

Similarly, restorative practices mark a shift from "punitive responses" to behavioral issues to ones meant to "repair harm" and understand underlying issues, Thomas explained.

In Urbana, district officials say they've been implementing a shift toward restorative practices since 2015. Earlier this year, that led to changes in personnel — out in 2018-19 are deans in the secondary schools; in are more student support staff.

"An exclusionary consequence, an out-of-school suspension, is more harmful to a black student than a white student in terms for further educational outcomes," Superintendent Don Owen said. "That means that there's some systemic and implicit racial biases in our society that we, as educators, if we really want public education to be an equalizer, that we have to take a more active role in dismantling."

That shift could explain why Urbana went from being among the top 20 percent in racially disproportionate districts in 2014-15 and 2015-16 to off the list by 2016-17.

Officials in districts that have reduced the number of expulsions and suspensions also point to the 2015 passage of SB 100, which required them to "exhaust" discipline alternatives before resorting to drastic measures. Among the changes: Districts using zero-tolerance discipline policies were forced to scale back.

Full article with more information, charts, and other details here. Related recent Cheat Sheet posts on local school and district punishment and race data, Urbana restorative changes and Champaign schools addressing "pushout."

City of Champaign Roundup

[UPDATE - The Burnham deal terminated after the Monday deadline to show proof of the secured new location wasn't presented. The hard deadline effectively dooms the mansion for those hoping to save it. Demolition will be arranged tomorrow. From the News-Gazette website tonight:

Burnham Mansion again slated for demolition after UI alum misses deadline
...
University of Illinois architecture graduate Chris Enck faced a deadline of 5 p.m. Monday to show school officials proof that he'd bought a relocation site for the mansion, and the deadline passed, Kloeppel said...

The Monday deadline was included in an extension the school board granted Enck. Originally, he was to have the mansion moved by July 15, but the board wound up giving Enck nearly another month — until Aug. 10 — provided he produce a bill of sale for the relocation site by Monday.

Kloeppel said the school district's agreement with Enck was terminated after the Monday deadline passed, and on Tuesday, the district will set in motion plans for the salvage operation.

There isn't a firm date yet for the demolition of the mansion, but a Peoria salvage organization will have 30 days to remove items from the property, Kloeppel said.]

There were a few oddball and interesting news items related to the City of Champaign government this weekend. The big one is the reentry housing issue which I talk about at length in a separate post. There were also some updates on the Burnham mansion's lack of movement, some information about "smart covers" over sewage manholes with sensors, and the history of the City's seal.

On the Burnham Mansion's fate rolling toward demolition if plans to get it literally rolling fall through tomorrow:

Financing snag puts deal to move Burnham Mansion on ropes
...
Since Enck ran into the financing snag, he said he’s been meeting with people in town to come up with a solution.

“At one point, it seemed there was someone local who was willing to step in to pay for the land until we refined the details with the bank,” he wrote. “But that appears to have fallen through as of yesterday afternoon.”

Enck faces another deadline Monday to show the district a bill of sale, and appears to be running out of options.

“Unfortunately, short of someone purchasing the land outright quickly or a temporary location for the house to sit while we finalize the details, I don’t know how we can proceed from here,” he wrote. “As you can imagine, I am extremely disappointed by the current status as many have put in so much time and effort over the last two months and I know there are a lot of people locally who are excited about the project that I hate to disappoint.”

Full article on the mansion here. An N-G reader question on manhole covers with blue dots led to an interesting note on how the city is keeping track of the state of our various drainage:

Just Askin' | 'Smart' manhole covers
...
They're called SmartCovers, and Champaign has nine of them to monitor liquid levels in the sewer system...

The SmartCovers, which are made by a company in California, use sensors mounted on the underside of the manhole cover to help the city detect sewer blockages or other problems.

"SmartCover provides instant alarming for water level and intrusion, and alerts for system maintenance," Blackmon said...

Each SmartCover costs about $4,900 initially, and Blackmon said they're worth the cost.

"They give us real-time data on what is happening underground in our sanitary sewer system," she said. "An atypical increase in the sanitary sewer flow level may indicate a clog and we can send a crew out to fix the problem before anyone has service issues. We also put them in areas where the sanitary sewers have high flow levels during heavy rains, giving us data to help define the extent of the problem."

Full article on the sewage tracking here. And finally a look back at that city seal from Tom's Mailbag:

Former Champaign Mayor Dan McCollum, who also is the city historian, said “the city’s seal stamp shows agricultural images, and dates back to the 19th century, possibly as far back as 1860 when a vote was taken to incorporate as a city. The actual incorporation was recognized in 1861 when a second vote was taken. Note, nevertheless, the date on the seal is 1860. The seal is still in the City Building. That far back, my guess is that the seal was a commercial job, possibly from design offerings but its origins lost in the sands of time.”

Another city-used image, which uses the City Building, is not the city seal, he said.

That article available here.

[Updated. Originally posted 7/22/2018 at 3:44pm]

CUPHD Saturdays

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District will have some extra Saturday hours this summer according to the News-Gazette yesterday:

C-U Public Health District launching Saturday hours
...
The health district said it is adding the hours at its location at 201 W. Kenyon Road, C, for the benefit of people who can't get there during the work week. It will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month.

The district said in particular, there will be help available for those needing school physicals and shots and those in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.

Reentry Housing Issue

For some background, CU Indivisible has laid out an overview of the issue which I've shared in a Cheat Sheet post here. More on the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations here.From the News-Gazette today:

For felons, Champaign's housing code a hindrance
When a person returns to society after prison, the clock immediately starts ticking.

To reintegrate back into civilian life, most journeys start with finding sustainable employment and housing. Time is of the essence as each post-release day and week goes by.

The longer one goes without employment or housing could heighten their chances of falling back into the criminal justice system. Once a month has passed, James Kilgore argues, a person's future is likely determined.

"Some people even talk about the first week being the most critical," the former Symbionese Liberation Army activist said about his own recovery after spending 6 years in a California prison. "It's real easy to lapse into depression or self-medication — a downward spiral."

As co-director of the First Followers re-entry program, Kilgore navigates people through the stark changes that life after prison can bring. He's also part of a push to modify the portion of Champaign's city code that allows for housing discrimination against certain former inmates.

Chapter 17 of the code concerns human rights, and section 17-4.5 was added in 1994 to allow "discrimination in the leasing of residential property based upon a person's record of convictions for a forcible felony or a felony drug conviction or the conviction of the sale, manufacture or distribution of illegal drugs," up to five years after release.

Despite that, the section states that it shouldn't be used to discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, disability and other protected categories.

More at the full article here. The key problem with the current language is that it pretends that the results of our criminal justice system haven't already built discrimination into their results. As we've found out time and time again on the national and local level. For example, from a recent RJTF presentation to the County Board (direct video link here):

There was a presentation by Ryan Huges and Doctor Carolyn Randolph from the Racial Justice Task Force advocating for the Community Engagement recommendations to be adopted. They discusses a project (more information here and database here) in coordination with Dr. Bev Wilson and U of I students collecting and analyzing criminal justice statistics in the area from the County Sheriff's department, Jail, Circuit Clerk, and four other police departments. One example they noted was that controlling for age, sex, and type of crime across five departments, Africian-Americans were still four times more likely to go to jail than white suspects.

And it starts early. Unit 4 is already trying to address "pushout" that criminalizes young black women (more on that in a Cheat Sheet post here). The school to prison pipeline isn't some concept foreign to Champaign-Urbana here. Local school disciplinary data shows racial disparities in local school districts and individual schools right here in Champaign County: Education Racial Disparity Data. At every step of the way from police contact, to bail, to legal counsel, prosecution, sentencing, and reentry,... many minorities experience the same justice system differently than whites. Racial disparity rears its ugly head even while controlling for factors other than race.

It is dangerous and unnecessary to throw our hands up in the air and take no responsibility for the discrimination with a law that directly perpetuates it. We can't willfully ignore the other problems and not become complicit in them.

The counter-argument given in this article turns the whole issue on its head. They make it sound like they could no longer screen problematic tenants, which is bass-ackwards. It would require them to actually screen for problematic tenants in order to deny them housing and not just assume all convicts are problematic tenants. There are plenty of completely legal and valid reasons for landlords not to rent to someone with or without a criminal conviction. All of the safety concerns of victims and limits on predators are still there.

The scare tactics are unfortunate given that this language was originally changed without any of the nightmare scenarios being the driving force. In fact, it was exactly what you'd expect it to be... they brought it on themselves. There was zero-regard for inequities in the system or any expectation of rehabilitation or redemption. The message was clear (click to enlarge):

As our community has tried to improve on race and equity, this language remains an anachronistic stain on our community. HUD and the Housing Authority have documented the need for better housing access nationally and laid out why they're also starting to end such restrictions. They perpetuate discrimination and increase recidivism (HUD guidance here).

It's worth noting that this applies only to renters. A wealthy fellow who pleads out to the same felony can still buy a house right next door. It would be illegal to discriminate against him for that conviction. He could rent it out. He could legally discriminate against tenants in the same situation. He could be your landlord. That says it all really.

Public Transportation and Public Input

Do you have transportation needs or ideas that you wish local government would consider. Wish there was bike access here, or rail access there, or parking somewhere else? They want to hear from you and they have an interactive map where you can plop down your input and get support from others. From their website:

Area residents have helped shape transportation in the area. In the past, residents have voiced to the Champaign Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study (CUUATS) the desire for a high-speed rail line to Chicago, more bike trails, and restructuring road corridors to help with traffic flow and safety, among other projects.

CUUATS needs public input to continue implementing innovative transportation projects. Residents of Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, Tolono, Bondville, and Mahomet may post comments directly on the map web page. Public input shapes the content of the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and people may suggest ideas for all modes of transportation: walking, driving, biking, taking the bus or train, or riding on an airplane. CUUATS staff will set up information tables at local events to explain the initiative to the public and collect feedback on transportation.
Rita Morocoima-Black, Director of Planning and Community Development, passes out water bottles and information packets

“It’s difficult to get people to come to meetings, so we like to set up information tables at popular public events around the region” explains Ashlee McLaughlin, a planner with CUUATS. “People seem to really appreciate that we come to their neighborhood. Once we explain the project, people are happy to provide input, good or bad.”

CUUATS completes an updated LRTP every five years. The plan helps secure transportation project funding from state and federal transportation agencies. The plan models proposed projects using a suite of models to predict and evaluate transportation conditions and impacts 25 years into the future. “It’s almost like our brochure for the funding agencies,” says McLaughlin. “When they have funding, or they are looking for places to invest in certain types of projects, the LRTP is the main document for seeing what our regional priorities are.”

Area residents can directly place their comments in the correlating location on the interactive map. People may also star or “like” other residents’ comments if they agree. The map’s web page includes a transportation survey to gauge current and future mobility trends in the area, as well. McLaughlin says the public will shape the 2045 plan by providing feedback.

“That’s the most exciting part for us because it’s a total unknown until we go out and talk to our fellow community members,” she comments. “We received over 2,000 comments on a variety of topics last time and we are continually working to improve our outreach methods.”

More information at the link, including upcoming area events where they'll be looking for more public input.

Unit 4 Admin Receives Crime Fighter Award

Champaign County Crime Stoppers awarded a local Central High School administrator for running towards the sound of danger to usher people to safety. From today's News-Gazette:

Crime Stoppers honors Central admin for actions during shooting
Brandon Thomas and Bryan Yacko were doing what they had done countless Friday nights before at Champaign Central High School — keeping a watchful eye on the crowd leaving after a basketball game.

But for the Champaign police sergeant and the assistant principal, Dec. 15, 2017, differed markedly from previous Fridays — when gunfire outside the 83-year-old school building created fear in the departing crowd and wounded three young people.

As Thomas, the police sergeant, ran with other officers toward the shots, Yacko the educator, radioed to coworkers about what was happening, then headed toward the shots to direct people back inside to safety.

For his quick thinking and action, the 38-year-old Yacko was honored Thursday with the Dave Benton Crime Fighter of the Year Award by Champaign County Crime Stoppers at its annual meeting in Savoy.

The award is named in honor of the late television anchorman who served on the Crime Stoppers board for many years prior to his death in 2015.

Full article here.

School Lunch Debt Covered

Three local GoFundMe campaigns raised over three thousand dollars to help students and families with unpaid student lunch debt. From the News-Gazette yesterday:

Student-lunch debts at 3 Champaign schools erased with crowdfunding
...
It's not uncommon for districts to end the year with debt from unpaid student lunches, and that includes Champaign.

"Families forget to pay, or perhaps haven't signed up for free or reduced meals yet," Unit 4 spokeswoman Emily Schmit said. "We continue to feed kids, regardless of the debt."

What is less common is a community-backed erasure of a school's entire debt, which is what all three GoFundMe campaigns accomplished. In May, Carrie Busey's student debt totaled $821, South Side's was $593 and Barkstall's was $1,126.

All three campaigns exceeded their goals and gave extra money to the district.

— Carrie Busey donors raised $1,055, just more than the $1,000 goal.

— South Side donations pulled in $1,255, beating a $1,000 goal.

— Barkstall donations reached $1,359 with only seven donations, thanks to an anonymous donation of $1,100.

Martha Mills said she started the South Side fundraiser after seeing Sweet's page online. Then, another campaign popped up after that.

"Basically what happened was we were kind of copycats," she said. "I just kind of went off the (Carrie Busey) page, and I know that someone tried to do it at Barkstall after ours."

More information at the full article here.

Fix-It Ticket Update

Urbana's program to offer vouchers for traffic stops having to do with light replacement is apparently going well about a third of the way through the pilot program's 150 total vouchers. WCIA had a web article with a video segment yesterday:

Police giving vouchers for car light fixes instead of tickets
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The police department is handing out vouchers for any lights on your car which have gone out and need to be replaced.

Police started with 150 vouchers. They have about 100 left. Officers just started handing them out at the beginning of this month and say, so far, it seems to be a big success.

"We want officers to go out and make contact with people. We don't always have the image of helping, even though that's our main job..."

"This is a way we can prevent people from unnecessarily being penalized for being poor."

Police say it's hitting two birds with one stone: safety and community caretaking.

"A light is something we can help you with, so you don't get pulled over in the future. So, when you turn your blinker light on, or turn your headlights on, both of them are functioning correctly. It's definitely working and being successful."

This is all coming from the Human Relations Caretaking Budget. James says after the program is over,  they'll study how it impacted the community. That will determine what they do next year.

Full article here. This is following up on an April Cheat Sheet post that explained the program in more detail and had some initial concerns and reaction.

Transportation and Housing Updates

There were a couple positive updates on MCORE construction and dockless bikes in the News-Gazette today.

Stretch of Green Street in Urbana reopens after MCORE work
A stretch of Green Street near campus is reopening to two-way traffic Monday afternoon, a month ahead of schedule, after the latest phase of the Multimodal Corridor Enhancement Project.

The city of Urbana announced that Green between Goodwin and Lincoln avenues would be fully open by 3 p.m., weather permitting...

Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus routes are expected to resume after the road is fully open to two-way traffic.

Across town in Champaign, MCORE improvements on Green between Third and Fourth streets, as well as a section of Wright Street, are scheduled to wrap up by Aug. 17.

The construction is part of the four-year, $46.9 million MCORE Project designed to improve Green, Wright and White streets and Armory Avenue. The goal is to balance cars, bikes, and bus traffic, upgrade the infrastructure and improve connections between the UI and the two cities.

The full blurb is available here. And on dockless bikes:

Urbana council gives final approval to dockless bike sharing
Dockless bike sharing will become a reality in Urbana following the Urbana City Council’s approval of an ordinance regulating how the program will operate.

Dockless bike sharing allows the use of rental bike rides after which bikes don’t need to be parked on docking infrastructure.

Back on June 18, the city council approved an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Champaign and the University of Illinois for the program..."

The full article with more details is available here. The same article also noted another item the Council addressed on low income housing:

In other business, the city council certified that Habitat for Humanity meets the requirements to receive federal HOME Investments Partnership Program funding and then awarded $94,468 in federal funds to Habitat for two homes for low income persons...

Community Development Services Director John Schneider said the Urbana City Council was responsible for the votes because it is the lead agency in the Urbana Home Consortium Community Housing Development Organization.

Law Enforcement Fundraisers

Local law enforcement will be supporting efforts to raise money for the Illinois Special Olympics next week. From the News-Gazette today:

Fundraising lunch to benefit Special Olympics set July 26 at Texas Roadhouse
Police officers from all over Champaign County are inviting people to eat lunch at Texas Roadhouse on July 26 to benefit Special Olympics Illinois.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., officers will serve a pulled-pork sandwich, corn, fresh-baked bread with honey-cinnamon butter and a non-alcoholic beverage. Diners are asked to leave a donation for their meal, which is valued at $10.

Diners also have a chance to win a free dinner for two at Texas Roadhouse by posting a photo from their location on social media using the hashtag "#IGotServed."

Donations benefit the more than 22,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities who participate in Special Olympics Illinois. The Law Enforcement Torch Run is the single largest year-round fundraising vehicle benefiting the group.

Additional activity and event details here. Police with the FOP Lodge 70 in Urbana will also be helping the Urbana School District with a school supplies drive:

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70 in Urbana is holding a backpack/school supply drive.

A donation box is in the lobby of the Urbana Police Department.

All items donated will go to kids in the Urbana School District elementary grades.

Donations are being accepted from July 5 through August 10.

A list of items being accepted for donation here.

Transportation Roundup

New stoplights and "bumpouts" in Champaign. In Urbana there are "Bike boxes" for bicycle traffic and potential Kickapoo Trail collaboration with Carle.

Coming soon to downtown Champaign: More stoplights
More than three years after a woman was injured by a bus while crossing at a downtown intersection, the city plans to add stoplights there.

At the intersections of Walnut and Logan and Neil and Clark streets, construction crews have been busy since May adding "bump-outs" to shorten the crossing for pedestrians, and they'll soon add traffic lights there as well.

Even before the February 2015 accident, the city had begun a traffic study and had been in discussions with Christie Clinic, where many of the pedestrians crossing those intersections work.

After the accident, which cost a Christie Clinic employee her legs and the MTD nearly $10 million after a lawsuit, a donation by Christie resulted in the installation of flashing beacons that pedestrians can activate by pushing a button.

But the traffic study showed the need for traffic lights, according to Champaign City Council documents.

More information on businesses impacted and other location details at the full article here. Over on the Urbana side of town, the News-Gazette yesterday described "bike boxes" as helping a time honored left turn tactic for bicyclists, with a bit more space to maneuver:

Urbana intersection's new 'bike boxes' gives cyclists a bit more direction
For bicyclists, turning left at a busy intersection can be a bit dodgy — literally.

Cyclists using a right-hand bike lane have to merge across one or two lanes of traffic in order to enter a left-turn lane while hoping they're seen by cars in the intersection.

New "bike boxes" — flat, bright-green pavement markings — at the intersection of Green Street and Goodwin Avenue in Urbana are designed to make those left turns easier and reduce conflicts between bikes and cars.

They're the first of their kind in the city of Urbana and, as far as assistant city engineer Craig Shonkwiler knows, the first in the region, part of the Multimodal Corridor Enhancement Project, or MCORE...

The green boxes are positioned at each corner of the intersection, with a left-turn arrow painted in white.

When cyclists approach an intersection, they stay in the bike lane through the intersection, stop in the bike box across the street, then turn their bikes 90 degrees and wait. When the light facing the opposite direction turns green, they can proceed with traffic.

More information at the full article here. And finally today the News-Gazette talked about a potential collaboration on the Kickapoo Trail work:

Urbana working with Carle on proposed Kickapoo Rail Trail expansion
Amid ongoing litigation between the city and Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin thinks the two entities should still collaborate, and a plan to expand the Kickapoo Rail Trail will allow them to do just that.

The plan requires a collaborative effort from the city and hospital, along with the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission and Urbana Park District. Carle is contributing $25,000 as a grant match to $100,000 from the Illinois Department of Transportation, which will allow the planning commission to conduct a feasibility study on expanding the rail trail.

The vision, Marlin said, is to expand the pedestrian and bike trail westward from its current terminus at the intersection of East Main Street and U.S. 150/University Avenue through the northern edge of downtown, the southern edge of Crystal Lake Parkand Carle's hospital campus, stopping at the intersection of Lincoln and University avenues, near the northeastern edge of the University of Illinois campus...

Local and state taxing authorities have been in a years-long legal battle with Carle over property taxes. The state Supreme Court sent the case back to circuit court in 2017, when former Mayor Laurel Prussing was in office.

Marlin said that collaborating with Carle has been one of her goals since she was elected, which came later in 2017. She noted that the proposed trail expansion would allow Carle employees to easily go downtown for lunch.

More at the full article here.

Active Shooter Drills and Community Action Plans

[UPDATE - WCCU had more on the Champaign Community Coalition meeting with more voices and a video segment here.] 

The News-Gazette highlighted two ways the community is responding to the threat of gun violence. First a blurb informing the public that SWAT and Student Resource Officers will be training for active shooter scenarios in a couple local school facilities. While there may be simulated screaming, there is no simulated gun fire expected:

There was also a blurb about the Champaign Community Coalition's meeting yesterday where they were following up on last month's special meeting on gun violence in the community:

More information at the Champaign Community Coalition website.

Opioid Use in the Community

A local project with the U of I Extension Program, that connects the U of I with the community, will highlight the local impact of the opioid crisis in our area communities. From the News-Gazette today:

Family Life | UI Extension plans resource fair, film screening on opioids
...
Between July 2016 and September 2017, opioid overdoses rose 30 percent in 45 states; in the Midwestern region, the increase was 70 percent.

Last fall, University of Illinois Extension was approached about doing a program about opioid use in our community.

Kathy Sweedler and I realized that this was not a topic that was in our wheelhouse and decided to host an event to bring in other experts to talk about the issue and highlight local resources.

The event is set for tonight at the UI Extension office at 801 N. Country Fair Drive, C. Doors open around 5:30 p.m. with resource tables available, following by a screening of the film "The Heroin Project" at 6.

The documentary looks at the heroin epidemic in Madison County and shows how it affects the entire community...

Following the movie, a panel of local experts will be on hand to talk and answer questions. Confirmed panelists include Jonathan Sweedler, a UI chemistry professor and director of the Neuroproteomics and Neurometabolomics Center on Cell-Cell Signaling, which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse; as well as representatives from Dominion Diagnostic, Rosecrance, Chestnut Health Systems, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, UI police and the Champaign Fire Department.

The health district, Rosecrance, Chestnut Health Systems and Dominion Diagnostic will also be hosting resources tables.

More information at the full article here. At the bottom of the article are numerous resource links for help and services. The event registration itself, however, appears to be closed at this time at the link given: go.illinois.edu/filmseries.

Unit 4 and Burnham Last Chance

In the never ending clash between Unit 4's referendum projects around Central High School and local initiatives to save the Burnham Mansion in the path of those projects, it appears a final deadline is being reached. From the News-Gazette coverage of last night's Unit 4 school board meeting in the paper today:

Unit 4 board agrees to extend deadline for moving Burnham to Aug. 10
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After two district-set deadlines came and went, the preservationist aiming to save the Burnham Mansion and the Champaign school board decided Monday evening to reset the terms of their agreement.

A unanimous vote gave UI architecture grad Chris Enck the board's blessing in continuing the project despite the missed deadlines, extending the home's move-by date from July 15 to 32 days from now.

Board member Kathy Shannon emphasized Monday that the new timeline is final.

"I appreciate your stepping up on this, but if those deadlines aren't met, it's not going to happen," she told Enck, who was in attendance at the Mellon Administrative Center. "I think it's important that we say this in public: that we are doing what we feel like we have to do, and this is the absolute last we can do."

More at the full article here.

UIUC Carle Medicine Shortfall

[UPDATE - The News-Gazette had a blurb and a podcast of the WDWS Morning Show radio interviews of Carle President and CEO expressing his belief that donations will pick up now that the medical college is open: Carle CEO expects donations to UI med school to pick up now that it's open]

The recently opened Carle Illinois College of Medicine on the UIUC campus that merges Engineering and medicine education is running into budget hurdles according to the Board of Trustees. From the News-Gazette yesterday:

UI pledges $25 million to cover fundraising shortfall at med school
A slower-than-projected fundraising pace for the new Carle Illinois College of Medicine has prompted the University of Illinois to pledge up to $25 million of UI discretionary funds over the next decade to support medical-school operations.

The medical school is also hiring a chief advancement officer to "amplify" fundraising there, and the UI is recruiting a new associate vice chancellor to coordinate fundraising for all health sciences, including the Beckman Institute, a new Cancer Center and the Department of Biology, according to Provost Andreas Cangellaris.

The UI and Carle recently updated the budget agreement for the medical school's first 10 years, with the UI pledging to cover any shortfall resulting from the fundraising challenges.

The engineering-based medical school, which opened last week, was designed to be privately funded. The Carle Health System is carrying the financial load initially, pledging $100 million over 10 years as well as $1.5 million annually for operating costs.

But the university is about $25 million behind its target in an eight-year, $135 million fundraising plan to support the medical school.

So far, the UI has raised $20 million, but administrators had hoped to have $44.8 million in gifts and pledges by this time, according to the agreement signed with Carle in August 2015.

As a result, the school's endowment isn't generating as much income as planned, leading to a potential budget shortfall, said Cangellaris, who briefed UI trustees at a board committee meeting Monday afternoon.

The new agreement ensures the 10-year budget plan remains on track and "the college has the funds it needs," Cangellaris said.

More information at the full article here. More on the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at a previous article here.

Urbana Disability Housing and Police Contract

UPDATE: The disability housing agreement and police contract was approved by the Urbana City Council at the meeting previewed below. More on that from the News-Gazette yesterday: Urbana council gives initial OK to plan to create housing for disabled]

The Housing Authority of Champaign County (Cheat Sheet post on HACC here) and Urbana are working together on a housing collaboration for residents with disabilities and financial constraints. In today's News-Gazette article it highlights some of the county organizations that work with local governments and in concert with federal and other programs:

Housing for disabled may get boost from grant, other funds
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The Urbana City Council will vote tonight on entering into an intergovernmental agreement with the Housing Authority of Champaign County. If approved, the HACC will apply for funding — from the Illinois Housing Development Authority — to create up to 24 units of permanent supportive housing.

Cunningham Township supervisor and HACC board member Danielle Chynoweth said the subsidized units, slated for 1606 E. Colorado Ave., would be targeted to single people from vulnerable populations who have mental or physical disabilities...

Chynoweth said local recipients of Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance are rent burdened, by federal standards, if they pay more than $250 a month.

"Even a tiny room in a boarding house is typically $450 and up," Chynoweth said. "I brought the grant opportunity to the HACC because we have extremely insufficient housing for people with disabilities."

There are three organizations in Champaign County that award permanent supportive housing rental vouchers, according to data from the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission. They are Rosecrance, the HACC and the CCRPC.

Urbana wouldn't contribute financially to the tax-exempt housing, according to a city staff report. Instead, a combination of the grant, HACC funding and private funding would be used.

More information at the full article here. If you missed some of the drama about Chynoweth being seated on the HACC board of commissioners, here's a quick Cheat Sheet post with links to catch you up: Chynoweth Cleared by HUD for HACC. The News-Gazette also had a blurb up on their website last night on the Urbana Police contract being voted on tonight:

Urbana council set to vote on new contract with police officers
The city council is set to vote on a new three-year contract with police officers that includes raises.

Under the terms of the new agreement, which is retroactive to July 2017 and runs until July 2020, all union police officers would see a 2 percent pay increase in each year, with sergeants getting an additional $1,000 each year.

The contract also broadens the rules related to time off for the death of a loved one and mandates that if an officer trades a shift with another but can't work the new shift due to illness or injury, they will be docked sick time.