Urbana City Government

First off, it's worth noting that longtime activist and recent Urbana City Alderman Erik Jakobsson died this month. The News-Gazette had a long article with comments by those who knew him and some of his public work here.

The big news item for Urbana City government this month involved gun violence and Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology as a tool to help police solve some of the cases. The News-Gazette had an overview of the recent town hall meetings last week, including comments for and against the technology and concerns about how it may be used or abused. The content of the presentations was very similar in both town hall meetings, but had varying public questions and input (October 28th Town Hall video available here, the 29th here).

The News-Gazette article also noted some Urbana council members present:

Council members who were present Friday included Chris Evans, Maryalice Wu and Shirese Hursey.

Only Hursey was willing to express her support for the technology.

Evans said he is still gathering research and Wu said she wanted to see the final policy.

“I’m not a ‘no,’ but I’m not a ‘yes,’” Wu said.

The full News-Gazette article is here. More on the ALPR issue in both Champaign and Urbana from the News-Gazette here. WCIA had extensive coverage on the subject here. Excerpt:

Chief Seraphin said the ALPR’s cost about $2,500 per unit nd about $250 to install. He says he hopes they can install around 20 throughout Urbana.

Urbana got this idea after watching it work for surrounding cities. Rantoul recently caught a suspect by using the ALDR’s. Decatur also has them.

Mayor Marlin also said the University of Illinois Police and Champaign County Sheriff’s Office are looking into installing them as well. Chief Seraphin and the mayor said this would be helpful to work together with the surrounding areas.

That full article here with video segment. WCIA also had coverage of the first town hall on ALPRs put together by the Urbana Police Department and the Champaign County Branch of the NAACP who was advocating for the measure. This follows previous discussions by the City of Urbana on dealing with the vast increase in gun violence locally. WCIA also had coverage of the University of Illinois Police Department and co-responder model updates in Champaign County here.

The News-Gazette also had some updates on the pilot program between the Urbana Police Department and Rosecrance, a local mental health services provider, for responding to mental health crisis calls and alternatives to jail for certain non-violent scenarios.

Plans for the crisis co-responder team call for a Rosecrance social worker and an Urbana police officer who has a master’s degree in social work to follow up on calls for service related to mental or behavioral health crises, Marlin said.

The Urbana officer to work on this team will have a new title — behavioral health detective — and since she will be redeployed from her current police job, there will be no new city money involved, the mayor said.

Urbana Police Lt. Corey Koker, who is overseeing this program for the police department, said the police-Rosecrance response team will be focused on public service and will have its own dedicated office and resources.

In follow-up response visits, the team will try to connect people in crisis to available community services that can help them, he said.

That full article is here. WCIA also had coverage on this topic here.

More government related news from Urbana:

• Urbana schools offering more pay to deal with a substitute teacher shortage from Illinois Newsroom.

• COVID testing in Urbana schools from Illinois Newsroom.

• The City won an AARP challenge grant for a public arts initiative. Link from Smile Politely.

City of Champaign Updates

The City presented Garden Hills with its updated infrastructure plan for the neighborhood, including an accelerated plan for dealing with the flooding issues there. WCIA had coverage of the meeting and plans here. Excerpt:

The City’s Public Works Department went to the garden hills neighborhood meeting. They presented an infrastructure plan neighbors have heard before. Crews would fix drainage problems, add street lights, sidewalks and more.

“The focal point of the project is a detention basin on the south side of the railroad tracks in Garden Hills to alleviate the flooding issues in the neighborhood in the community,” Chris Sokolowski, Assistant Engineer with the City of Champaign’s Transportation Department, said.

The neighborhood has dealt with flooding for years. Any strong rain will flood streets, but a big topic at the meeting was the urge for street lights and sidewalks. People say its a safety necessity.

Full article with video segment here. The City Council also got updates on Bristol Place plans moving forward according to the News-Gazette. More details on that from the Study Session report here.

The City of Champaign also moved forward with Automatic License Plate Reader technology as a tool to help with recent increases in gun violence and prosecuting related cases. From Tom's Mailbag last month:

"During their study session meeting on Oct. 5, the city council gave preliminary approval to install Automated License Plate Readers and other technology in areas experiencing an increase in criminal activity. If formally approved by the council in November, this equipment could help police identity vehicles driven by people engaged in criminal activity and fleeing the area."

Full Mailbag article available here. More on the ALPR issue in both Champaign and Urbana from the News-Gazette here. Previous Cheat Sheet post on Champaign's ALPR discussions here.

There was a generally positive financial forecast presented to the City Council in a recent study session. That report is available here.

There was also a study session report on implementing an improved crisis response policy for non-violent mental health calls. That report is available here.

More recent news from the City of Champaign:

• Private security and costs at Champaign public schools from Illinois Newsroom.

• Illinois Newsroom on Centennial High School building back community in the wake of gun violence at the school and in the community, as well as with the pandemic interruptions.

• A Champaign City Council member spoke on a recent suspected road rage shooting in Champaign with the News-Gazette and also with WCIA.

• Thursday Night Live has returned to downtown with coverage from the Daily Illini.

• The City is partnering with the LIFT program and launching a trauma informed care initiative today at the Novak Academy according to Smile Politely.

• The Parade of Lights is looking for volunteers and support. Links and more information available at Smile Politely here.

Local Health Updates

This post covers availability of the COVID vaccine for children and other recent local health news. A recent uptick of COVID cases on campus is covered under the Campus News post on the local Cheat Sheet here.

COVID vaccines for children are becoming available locally. From the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District's facebook post on the subject:

Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Is Now Available for Children

Community vaccination clinics available by appointment for children aged 5-11

CHAMPAIGN, IL – The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD), in partnership with Carle Health, OSF HealthCare, Christie Clinic, Promise Healthcare, and the University of Illinois Urban-Champaign, are organizing community clinics for va Pfizer COVID-19 cunation for children aged 5-11 years.

According to a press release from the US Food and Drug Administration. U.S. (FDA), “In the USA. U.S. , COVID-19 cases in children aged 5 to 11 make up 39% of cases in people under 18 years old. According to the CDC, approximately 8,300 cases of COVID-19 in children aged 5 to 11 resulted in hospitalization. As of October 17, there have been 691 COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. U.S. in people under the age of 18, with 146 deaths in the age group of 5-11 years.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years old is administered as a two-dose series, 3 weeks apart, but is a lower dose (10 micrograms) than that used for people aged 12 or older. (30 micrograms).

iHotel & Conference Center – 111 St. Mary’s Road, Champaign

• No walk ins allowed; schedule online at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B054CA8A82CA5F94-511

• Friday, November 5 from 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

• Saturday, November 6 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Kohl’s Plaza – 1901 N. Market Street, Champaign

• Appointments will be available soon via MyCarle and Carle.org

 Carle community vaccination clinics will feature many of the care providers in the Carle Pediatric and Family Medicine areas or are especially trained to administer the vaccine to children.

• Starting this Saturday, weekends of November:

Saturdays, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

o Domingos, 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

• Vaccine appointments will be available at primary medical care locations at a later date.

...

OSF HealthCare:

• Appointments will be available at all primary medical care offices and can be scheduled via osfhealthcare.org/vaccine

 .

Pharmacies:

• Visit www.vaccinefinder.org

 for appointments available at local pharmacies.

Keep in mind that additional vaccination options may be available through the child's school(a).

You can find additional information about COVID-19 vaccines at: https://www.c-uphd.org/covid-vaccinations.html

Smile Politely had a quick list for vaccine for children here. More from the News-Gazette this week on the health department, schools, and others offering the vaccine:

Carle Health is also offering vaccine appointments for kids from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sundays this weekend and every weekend next month at its location at Kohl’s Plaza, 1901 N. Market St., C. Those can be made through the MyCarle patient portal and at Carle.org.

Carle’s clinic will be staffed by pediatric and family-medicine providers trained to administer vaccines to children. It will also be offering appointments to get kids vaccinated at primary-care locations at a later date.

OSF HealthCare is also offering vaccine appointments through primary-care offices at osfhealthcare.org/vaccine.

More at that full article here. Illinois Newsroom had an article previewing the children's vaccine news earlier in October here.

Illinois Newsroom had coverage of absences during the pandemic with links to the latest State "report cards" that allows folks to look up individual schools and district information. Excerpt:

Learning did slow last year during pandemic school – especially for the state’s most vulnerable students...

“We need to recognize that for our Black and Hispanic children, remote learning was not very effective, particularly for English learners. When they are in their community environment, or they’re in their home, they may or may not be utilizing English as much as they would have if they were in a school setting,” says State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala.

English and math proficiency rates did decrease across all grade levels for Illinois students as a whole, according to preliminary testing data from the spring.

The differences between 2019 and 2021 were starkest among young English learners. For third through fifth grade English learners, sometimes half as many students were at grade level as before the pandemic.

Full article here. The State's annual report card website link is here.

Carle is splitting from Aetna's Medicare insurance coverage. From Illinois Newsroom:

Medicare is a federal insurance program for those ages 65 and up or who have certain disabilities. Many Medicare recipients choose to supplement with private insurance, like Aetna, to cover prescription drugs or lower their out-of-pocket cost.

[Bridget McGill, an Urbana resident,] received a letter in the mail from Aetna about two weeks ago informing her that the company’s Medicare Advantage will no longer be accepted at Carle Foundation Hospital. This means that the hospital will go out of the company’s network and her costs for hospital and doctor’s visits will go up.

That full article here. Carle was also in the news for its collaboration with the University on cognitive research with new MRI technology. More on that from the Daily Illini here.

Campus Updates and Microreactors

 

The News-Gazette is reporting a recent uptick of COVID infections on the U of I campus in today's newspaper, partially due to the colder weather and more indoor activity.

After a month-and-a-half of negligible spread on the University of Illinois campus, COVID-19 cases have ticked up again in the last week.

In the seven-day stretch that ended Tuesday, there were 94 cases detected on campus— four more than the previous three weeks combined. Most of them — 76 — were among undergraduates.

According to UI epidemiologist and Associate Professor Rebecca Smith, an uptick around Halloween weekend was entirely expected, but the holiday isn’t the only suspected variable.

More at the full article here in the News-Gazette eEdition. Just about a month and a half ago, the Daily Illini was reporting that cases were decreasing after an initial surge in the beginning of the fall semester. More on area health care news and COVID vaccine information here.

With the pros and cons of adding microreactor research at the University being debated locally, it's worth highlighting a program at Parkland's planetarium tomorrow explaining the topic. From Smile Politely:

Parkland’s Staerkel Planetarium is hosting the James B. Kaler Science Lecture Series at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, November 5th. Dr. Caleb Brooks, associate professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois, is giving a lecture called "Rethinking Nuclear Power: Small Systems, Big Potential." 

Lectures are $2, and capacity is limited to 60 people. 

You can learn a little more about nuclear microreactors in two recent articles (for the current plan and against the current plan). 

That full blurb here. More information at the lecture series link here.

More recent campus news:

• UIUC building and dining workers protesting ahead of contract negotiations. From the News-Gazette eEdition today.

• The impact of disinformation on rural areas, including the impact of the pandemic, being studied at the University.

• U of I Senate meeting and rumors of a Quad Cities expansion, coverage from Illinois Newsroom.

• Jewish local historical archives being established at the University according to the Daily Illini.

• Illinois Public Media announces its collaboration with the Department of Journalism in the "Illinois Public Media Student Newsroom." More at Smile Politely here.

• There will be a pop-up Holocaust museum on campus next week in line with the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht. More information from Smile Politely here and the Hillel Center event page here.