Other C-U Updates

 

A few news items this month that impacted the C-U local area and government bodies more generally than the usual individual City of Champaign or Urbana Cheat Sheet updates.

The leader of the Ford County militia group, that firebombed a Minnesota mosque and attempted to firebomb a women's clinic here locally in Champaign, pleaded guilty to various federal charges related to the local incident. Hari has already been convicted and sentenced for crimes related to the mosque bombing. From the News-Gazette last month:

Hari’s plea agreement in Urbana wraps up four years of work by government agents against the former Ford County sheriff’s deputy turned leader of a Muslim-hating militia group dubbed “The Patriot Freedom Fighters,” later changed to “The White Rabbits.”

[Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller] laid out for Long a summary of the Illinois case.

He said Hari’s leadership of the small band of followers, based in tiny Clarence in northern Ford County, wreaked havoc in several Illinois communities, including Champaign, Watseka, Mount Vernon and Effingham, and reached into Indiana...

The plan to firebomb the Champaign clinic fizzled — literally — when the PVC pipe stuffed with an ignitable powder did not catch fire. Morris admitted he broke a window at the clinic and put the homemade bomb inside. Hari had rented the truck that took the would-be arsonists to the office.

More at the full article here. As a previous Cheat Sheet post noted, the local attack preceded the end of surgical abortion services at that local Clinic, and the last of such services in Champaign County and much of the surrounding region.

In related law enforcement news, the intergovernmental METCAD agency that handles dispatch for many local and County government emergency services is dealing with staffing issues. From WCIA:

Vacancies are not unusual at METCAD 9-1-1, but they are unusually high right now at the dispatch center that answers all of Champaign County’s emergency calls.

Staff members are often working 12-hour days, sometimes five or more days a week and it’s taking a toll, according to METCAD operations manager Betsy Smith.

It’s not far removed from the trend seen at local law enforcement agencies, and although they’re not officially recognized by state and federal government as first responders, Smith described those fielding initial emergency calls as the first, first-responders. What police, firefighters and EMS see, they hear.

That full article here. One METCAD employee is also being recognized for his work on a tough 911 call.

The new health inspection system was covered by Illinois Newsroom:

The new system started in January 2019 and uses a different evaluation system than its prior scoring system to pass or fail a restaurant. Sarah Michaels, environmental health program director, said the old scoring system was outdated. 

Before the new inspection system went into effect, a restaurant would be scored on a 100-point scale, with additional points deducted by the number of violations and the type of violations cited. A restaurant would fail with an adjusted score below 36 and would be shut down if it scored below 0. 

Both the new and old inspection systems are based on series of risk factors related to foodborne illnesses imposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Model Food Code. The five risk factors inspectors look for are improper holding temperatures, inadequate cooking, contaminated equipment, food from unsafe sources and poor personal hygiene.

That full article with a lot of additional information here. 

The mayors of both Champaign and Urbana marked the first . More on that from Smile Politely here, and more information at the Champaign County Cheat Sheet's Health Update post earlier this month.

Other C-U Local news stories:

There were Cheat Sheet updates specifically for the City of Urbana here and the City of Champaign here this month. Below are news stories that impact the governments or services across both cities:

• The director of the Champaign Public Library is retiring June 1st, according to the News-Gazette.
• Smile Politely highlighted the upcoming UC Books to Prisoners book sale in April here.
• Tom Kacich on the dwindling revelry around "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" from Tom's Mailbag.
• The Illinois Marathon will be limited this year to shorter races according to Smile Politely.
• FirstFollowers had an event on its H3, Harm Healing & Hope initiative briefly highlighted by WCIA. For folks interested in more information, their website has an informational page here and video of their August 2021 presentation to the Finance Committee of the Champaign County Board is available here.
• Smile Politely had an interview with DeShawn Williams about his BlackVest project.

Urbana Updates

 

The News-Gazette had a preview of one major transportation item on the agenda for tonight's Urbana City Council Committee of the Whole meeting (which appears to still be remote by Zoom):

A long-awaited reconstruction project for Florida Avenue in Urbana stands to be expanded, with much of the new higher cost potentially covered by a federal grant.

At Monday’s committee-of-the-whole meeting, the city council will be asked to sign off on a change in the city’s 2021 capital improvement plan to reflect a cost update for the Florida Avenue project — from the original $4.5 million to $12.03 million — due to an expanded scope of the project and higher construction costs.

Originally planned for the section of Florida between Vine Street and Lincoln Avenue, the new version would extend from Vine to the city line near Illinois Field.

That full article here with more details. For even more details, the resolution itself has spreadsheets for anyone wanting to figure out the various funding sources (summarized on page 2 and spreadsheets after). The agenda also continues the conversation on council goals (agenda item overview here).

A previous meeting on council goals was covered in a brief overview by WCCU here. Local activists claimed that there were Open Meeting Act violations on a local government blog here. Mayor Marlin responded to concerns on social media, arguing that the City complied with the rules, but the activists were disruptive:

"This meeting was the 5th city council goal-setting session held with city council and staff. It was held in person at Stone Creek Church in order to give space for working in small groups. It was publicly noticed and public input was held per the Open Meetings Act. Minutes were taken by the City Clerk. No formal action was taken at this session. The so-called media you reference were two private citizens who placed recording devices on tables and set up multiple cameras. They recorded throughout the meeting. The meeting was fully compliant with the Open Meetings Act." - Mayor Diane Marlin's facebook comment on 2/24/2022.

In the latest news on local gun violence, the City of Urbana is also looking at ways to use ARPA funding to interrupt the cycles of violence from WAND: 

The city is considering funding a temporary apartment or house for victims, paid for with federal COVID-19 dollars or possibly general funds.

"Looking at the ARPA funds that are coming into the community at the county level and at, of course, across each of the local municipalities as well," [Beverley Baker, chief impact officer for the United Way of Champaign County] explained.

This would ensure victims have somewhere safe to stay, while they make plans for the future. Advocates hope this will break the cycle of violence and help victims heal.

That full article here. The city's survey link here.

The retiring Chief of Police in Urbana was interviewed as part of the News-Gazette's Community Conversation on Gun Violence. That podcast segment is available here. Just after the 10 minute mark the Chief responds to a question about local shootings on the nature of the weapons evolving: e.g. from low quality and low rounds to firearms with automatic fire selector switches and far more round capacity. The latest of the Community Conversation series, Part 15, is available on the News-Gazette website here along with links to the previous parts and other related links. This includes an overview of Automatic License Plate Reader systems and policies in cities across Illinois.

There was some discussion about parking and entertainment in downtown Urbana. WCIA had summary of the issue last week:

The city of Urbana wants to turn a parking lot into a money-making opportunity – but surrounding business owners are divided.

They’re requesting proposals to use a downtown parking lot for arts and culture activities and to generate sales tax revenue. That lot is behind Rose Bowl Tavern – a music venue that began hosting outdoor events when the pandemic hit...

They said the outdoor shows drove a lot of people downtown – and that’s the city’s goal. But neighbors are concerned their customers won’t have space to park if they lose that city lot.

That full article here. Tom Kacich had a longer look at the issue and interested parties in the News-Gazette the day before that here. That article has already aroused at least one letter to the editor in support of the Rose Bowl using it as an entertainment draw to downtown. WDWS had an interview with Mayor Marlin on this issue and few others last week here.

Other Urbana Updates:

There were some news items that more broadly impacted or involved both Champaign and Urbana in a separate post here. It includes updates on the case against a local white nationalist terrorist, memorializing local COVID deaths, area staffing and other organizational news items.

• Urbana saw antisemitic pamphlets distributed, according to WCIA. More on this issue and local reactions on the recent UIUC Updates Cheat Sheet post. WCCU had more on other incidents in the region here.
• The Urbana Fire Chief is expecting to retire in early May, according to the News-Gazette. WCIA also had coverage here.
• The Urbana Police Department is also pushing for new hiring, from WCIA.
• Updates on the City's 2nd Poet Laureate and inaugural Youth Poet Laureate from Smile Politely.
• The city won an award for its budget process, according to WAND.
• Leaf collection week (April 4 - 8, 2022) information from the City website.
• Latest Park District COVID protocols from WCIA (from March 3rd, so check their news webpage for updates).
• Information on Urbana arts and cultural grants from Smile Politely.
• Carle is getting more grant funding for its local mobile clinics. From WCIA.
• Information on the upcoming UC Books to Prisoners Sale from Smile Politely.

UIUC Updates

The News-Gazette had some of the latest updates on COVID protocols on campus:

On the University of Illinois campus, you couldn’t have scripted a better day to partially lift the state’s indoor mask mandate.

The weather had bounced to a crisp 50 degrees, and a couple days previous, there was a welcome COVID-19 testing landmark: 0 new cases of the virus detected on campus for the first time in four months...

The UI campus is easing into this new shift in the pandemic. While plenty of K-12 school districts, like Champaign, went mask-optional this week, the UI is keeping face coverings required in its classrooms...

Masks are still required in health care facilities, like McKinley Health Center, campus counseling services and COVID-19 testing sites. Transportation areas like C-U Mass Transit District bus stops and Willard Airport are federally obligated to require masks.

That full article here. The University has its latest guidelines, including its guidelines on returning from spring break here.

This past month saw a lot of coverage of antisemitic messages and response from the campus and community. From WCIA last month:

Illini Hillel is responding to reports of anti-Semitic flyers placed across campus Sunday.

Executive Director Erez Cohen said dozens of students found bags with hateful messages Sunday. Some of those students are concerned for their safety...

“I think it’s important to know regardless of this intimidation tactic, our Jewish community is very strong and very welcoming,” Cohen said. “And if there’s anyone that is curious about what Jewish history is all about – what Jewish culture is all about – we would always welcome people at Hillel.”

That full article here. More response coverage from local Jewish students is available here from WCCU. More coverage from the News-Gazette here and here. WCIA also had a portion of the Chancellor's response here:

These messages are offensive, outrageous and they represent unacceptable attacks on members of our Jewish community. They are antithetical to our university values of inclusion and tolerance, and they are another disheartening example of the kind of anti-Semitic acts and expressions that are too common in our nation and right here in the community where we all live, learn and work… Sneaking around and delivering hateful, hurtful and racist messages in little plastic sandwich bags filled with gravel is a cowardly and craven way to spew hate and division in our community.

The full email is available here from the UIUC massmail system. The incident and the police investigation into it made news in regional and national news (e.g. this blurb in the Chicago Tribune and another in US News, also via the Associated Press).

WCIA also reported Illinois lawmakers speaking out against the messages and the Chancellor warning of increasing antisemitism:

The Anti-Defamation League reported antisemitic incidents increased in the Midwest by 84% between 2016 and 2020...

“What you see playing out in Urbana-Champaign, in Chicago, is kind of a microcosm of what’s going on across this nation of ours in this climate of intolerance where it just seems to be growing exponentially,” [U of I Chancellor Robert Jones] said.

The Anti-Defamation League notes college campuses are hotbeds for antisemitism because hatemongers are skilled in using academic language to express bigoted ideas to intellectually curious students.

That full article here.

The University's Chancellor has been highlighted in the news and interviews in the last month. The most detailed might be his interview with WGN that goes into his personal history, background, and what drives him to make the University equitable. Excerpt:

Jones’ high school was still segregated. Fort Valley is a historically black college. As a postgraduate, he experienced a defining part of his life. 

“Blatant issues and challenges around race. I won’t get into any details, but it was one of the most challenging periods of my academic career and I had to say to myself that I’m not going to let anybody define my future,” Jones said. 

That future took shape with its first step toward administration and away from science after becoming tenured at Minnesota as a research professor. 

That full article with video clip here. Illinois newsroom had an interview with Chancellor Jones earlier in February (with audio segment links) here.

Tom Kacich had coverage of UI President Tim Killeen's presentation on University enrollment and other topics a couple weeks back in the News-Gazette. Excerpts:

Killeen, Jones and other UI execs last week had their annual appearance before the House committee that oversees the UI appropriation — held remotely instead of in a crowded room in the Stratton Building across from the State Capitol — and it lacked some of the drama of past hearings...

In particular, Killeen asked for more money for student mental-health services, more faculty members and increased student aid...

There was a particular focus last week on the UI’s dismal numbers in attracting African American students. Last fall, there were 3,833 Black students on campus, just 6.8 percent of total enrollment. That was far less than the 17.6 percent of students who identified as Asian or the 11.2 percent who identified as Hispanic.

That full article here.

Updates on the University related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

• The University is working with students affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The News-Gazette had coverage of their efforts here. 
• The college of medicine is organizing relief efforts, according to their website.
• There was a rally in support of Ukraine by students and others on campus. The Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures had a brief summary and links to local news coverage here. More from WCIA here.

Other University Updates:

• Student elections coverage from WPGU (audio segment) here. The Daily Illini had some recent criticisms and shared some campus perspectives on Illinois Student Government here.
• Three faculty members in engineering were recognized by the National Academy of Engineering according to Illinois Newsroom.
• The University's new emergency management director was highlighted in the News-Gazette with a lot of information on his background here.
• Background on the new interim dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine here at UIUC from the News-Gazette.
• More on the new permanent dean of the Carle medical school coming in May, also from the News-Gazette.
• The last charges were dismissed against Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, who initially was in the news due to a University sexual harassment case, but then got involved in a number of bizarre incidents over data.
• In an article missed in last month's UIUC update on the Cheat Sheet, there was an apology and some reconciliation between some of the campus Jewish community and an athlete who had apologized over slurs during a recorded video gaming session.
• A local University professor participated in the television gameshow Jeopardy. That blurb from WCIA. The Daily Illini had more here.
• At the state level, the governor is supporting increases to financial aid such as the MAP grant, according to Illinois Newsroom. Our local State representative made an appearance with the governor locally at an event on the subject.

School District Updates

The biggest news for many may be that masking has become optional in most schools over the past month, although not without some last minute changes, disparate enforcement, and confusion as lawsuits played out towards that end. Urbana schools, for example, required masks through the end of the State mandate and then on to Spring Break (regardless of court rulings that made it possible for some districts to make them optional even earlier).

Champaign / Unit 4:

In addition to contract negotiations with teachers (more below), Unit 4 has been struggling to retain its special education nursing staff. From WCIA:

Some special education nurses are planning on leaving the Champaign School District. They say the district increased nurse salaries an extra five dollars an hour, but they weren’t included.

Bridget Tribout says there are 13 special education students at her child’s school who need a variety of intense care, including feeding tubes, help walking and going to the bathroom. When she found out the nurses put in their two weeks notice to leave since they weren’t getting a fair pay, she tried to take action. Now, she’s lost on what to do and afraid if her child doesn’t get the treatment she needs it could be detrimental.

WCIA spoke with one of those special education nurses over the phone. She didn’t want to go on camera, but said she put in her two weeks notice. She says the district’s four special education nurses are paid less than the building nurses, so she and another nurse are planning on leaving. Parents, like Bridget Tribout, are upset.

That full article here, which included the district's response and denials. Parents and teachers showed up to show their support for the nurses at a school board meeting, mentioned in another WCIA article here. As of 3/14/2022 there are still numerous Special Education nursing position vacancies on the district's website. 

Back in late January, Teachers voted to authorize a possible strike as negotiations continued with the District on a contract and the School Board's discussions on extending the school day. From WCIA:

As contentious contract talks continue, Champaign teachers have taken the next step toward walking off the job.

The teachers union on Wednesday night released the results of a strike authorization vote, saying members voted in favor of continuing strike discussions. Of the 733 teachers that voted, 91% voted to authorize a strike.

Another more formal vote – an intent to strike vote – would be needed next. That vote along with a state filing would start a countdown to when teachers could legally walk off the job. During that window of time, each side’s offer would be posted online for public viewing.

Full article here with the District responding with its disappointment. WCIA also had coverage of the context heading into the vote here. More on the initial reactions on the extended school day here as well as a solidarity rally with parents and teachers here. Additional coverage is available from Illinois Newsroom here. By late February the teachers union was still describing a stalemate with the district over the extended day, according to WCIA. Illinois Newsroom had an article on what parents might be able to do to deal with a sudden childcare emergency last month.

The following informational links and descriptions help highlight how the discussions have gone since then to the most recent updates from the News-Gazette:

• The union's next step towards a strike sets in motion a process that could see a strike as early as March 22nd, from the News-Gazette.
• "On Friday, the union initiated the next step toward a strike: the public posting process, where both parties have to submit their most recent contract offers to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board within a week’s time." - News-Gazette 2/22/2022
• The paper reported an airing of frustrations at school board meeting by teachers and parents and the Superintendent's response here. The News-Gazette took issue with her blaming "the media" as part of the problem in an editorial here.

And finally, the public posting of contract offers, reported a few days ago in the News-Gazette:

The Champaign Federation of Teachers is willing to consider an extended school day in two years, according to their first publicly disclosed contract proposal amid tense negotiations with the district.

Unlike the district’s four-year proposal, though, they’d like to hammer out some details over the course of a proposed two-year deal before agreeing to the measure...

Both proposals were publicly posted for the first time as part of a process put in place by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, and both are on the district’s website at champaign schools.org. Union members voted in January to authorize a strike with 91 percent support, and initiated the posting process on Feb. 18.

WCIA also had coverage and included the contract offers on their website as well here. 

I don't know what the future holds, but the next Unit 4 Board of Education meeting appears to be on March 28 (regularly the 2nd Monday of each month). The Board has a "Bargaining Update" page here. The local union has updates on their facebook page here.

Other Unit 4 Updates:

• Updated masking rules for staff from the News-Gazette.
• WCIA had coverage of the new metal detectors installed at some Unit 4 schools.
• The "Yes" program appears to be getting a boost after two years of pandemic issues, according to WCIA.
• Coverage of Centennial High School's blood drive in the News-Gazette.
• Street pavers from around Central High School are available for anyone who wants a piece of local history. Blurb from WCIA here.

Urbana / District 116:

COVID Masking Updates from the News-Gazette:

As school districts around the state drop mask requirements, the Urbana school board voted Tuesday to keep its requirement, at least through spring break.

“If we see a big increase in positivity due to spring-break travel, it will be way harder to say, ‘Hey, we’ve taken our masks off, let’s put them back on,’” Superintendent Jennifer Ivory-Tatum told the board. “Once we take the toothpaste out of the tube, we cannot put it back...

Ivory-Tatum said she’s been in close contact with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, specifically about the new omicron BA.2 variant and its prevalence, and has gotten positive feedback about the district’s plan to move forward.

That full article with a lot of additional information available here. A preview of that decision before the board meeting highlighted some of the context going in, from the News-Gazette.

Urbana's school board also voted to approve metal detectors this school year. From WCIA:

The Urbana High School Board of Education approved on Tuesday the implementation of metal detectors for the high school.

The board voted 6 to 1 to bring a special kind of metal detector at the school. The detectors are specifically designed for weapons detection as opposed to detecting cell phones and keys.

Surveys among students and staff showed a majority of them wanted something to be done to increase security at the school.

Full blurb available here. An overview of the meeting and vote is available here. More meeting information is available at the District 116 updates page here.

A student's petition on pandemic measures got a lot of attention last month. From WCIA:

Lily Wells is a sophomore at Urbana High School. She says at first, the school district handled the pandemic really well. But now, she says there are not enough safety measures in place.

Wells posted a petition online asking for required COVID-19 testing, KN95 masks and transparency. When she woke up the next day, 20 signatures turned into 120. Right now, she has almost 200 signatures. She says the other students are supportive but they suspect funding will be an obstacle. School officials are set to meet with Wells to discuss what can be done...

A district spokesperson says the school district has many measures in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, including weekly surveillance testing. You can find the district’s COVID Testing Plan & Protocols by clicking here, its Back to School Plans here and the district’s COVID dashboard here. All of that information can be found on the district website.

Full blurb here.

District 116 was highlighting recent efforts to collect donations for Ukrainian refugees on their twitter and facebook pages today:

The City of Urbana is offering new opportunities to honor students for good citizenship. From WCIA:

A new program will help honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and support young people in developing skill sets to exercise their rights and responsibility as citizens.

The Urbana School District, along with the City of Urbana, launched the Mayoral Recognition Program on Monday to recognize Urbana High School (UHS) students who make meaningful contributions in the community.

The program is open to any UHS student who commits to a minimum of 30 hours of volunteer service during the academic year. Students with 30 hours of service will receive a Certificate of Service from Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin, USD #116 Superintendent Dr. Ivory-Tatum and UHS Principal Nance. Students with 50, 75 or 100 hours of service will also earn bronze, silver or gold status and receive an additional recognition item. 

Full blurb here.

Independent Schools:

COVID updates: Safety measures ahead of Spring Break from WCIA.

The Academy High school is moving into a new building according to WCIA:

An independent, non-profit high school in Champaign will move up the road into a bigger building this summer to keep up with growth of the student body.

Academy High has been at 2302 Fox Drive since 2017. It will move a half-mile north to 2001 Fox Drive. The school has partnered with BLDD Architects to renovate 20,000 square-feet in the new building, taking into account feedback of parents, students, staff, and other stakeholders. The school has launched a four-year, $2.2 million dollar fundraising campaign to support the move and renovations. But fundraising is not expected to prevent students from starting in the new building this fall.

Full article here.

Other local school news:

• In a recent Illinois Public Media’s News, Brews and Beatz, there was a discussion on the need for schools to adapt to the culture of their students to be more effective and welcoming.
• Before the mask mandate ended, Illinois Newsroom had an overview of the varying quarantine protocols by the local districts after earlier CDC guidance.
• The CU Schools Foundation named its distinguished alumni from Unit 4 and District 116. From Smile Politely.
• Illinois Newsroom had an overview of the teacher and substitute teacher shortage in East Central Illinois here.
• Illinois Newsroom also had a general overview of the teacher and substitute teacher shortage in Illinois here. Another article specifically highlighted the regional superintendent for Champaign and Ford counties here.
• Illinois will be looking to employ tutors to deal with pandemic related learning loss, according to the Illinois Newsroom.

City of Champaign Updates

There was a lot of big news in Champaign City government this past month or so. A major blueprint to address local gun violence and outrage over Council member's comments dominated a lot of the local coverage. This post also covers updates on emergency services staffing issues and links to many other City government updates. Probably the most covered policy issue was the new Community Gun Violence Reduction Blueprint (fixed link / original link broken). From the News-Gazette last month:

City council members voted 7-0 at Tuesday night’s meeting to adopt a plan to reduce gun violence that has been in the works for months.

The plan will see the city spend an estimated $3.21 million annually in the form of grants and investments to address gun violence in the area.

“The primary objective of the blueprint is to identify the paths that frequently lead to interpersonal violence and homicide and closing them through early intervention,” the document says. “This will be done primarily by targeting high-risk offenders and at-risk youth, community mobilization, conflict mediation and providing outreach to ensure access to social services.”

That full article with a lot of additional details here. A full overview of the blueprint is available from the City's website here. The City Council's Study Session report on the blueprint is available here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage on issues like outreach at the street level:

Champaign will seek an entity to lead this street-outreach strategy through a request for proposals, which is “estimated to be finalized within the next several weeks,” Deputy City Manager Joan Walls said.

The city’s blueprint outlined a few key traits sought for street-outreach workers. They’ll likely be native to the community and have prior experience with gangs and street organizations. Interventionists could lean on their pasts to build relationships with at-risk youth who are most likely to perpetrate or experience gun violence.

The model takes after the methods of Chicago and Boston’s “CeaseFire” programs and Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, a 20-year violence-prevention program in Richmond, Calif., all of which used street interventionists to reduce firearm-related violence in their communities.

That full article here. And issues like Carle hospital's potential role in the changes:

Carle, which would be one of multiple organizations partnering with the city as part of the program, would cover half of the $800,000 two-year cost of staffing the hospital’s emergency room with a social worker around the clock. A grant from the city would cover the other half.

As the Level 1 trauma center for a broad area, Carle’s emergency room receives many of the victims of violence and all of the critically injured victims in the region, according to Allen Rinehart, vice president of inpatient hospital operations...

Through collaborating with the city, he said, Carle would not only have social workers available 24/7 in the emergency room to talk to victims and their families, it would also have a network of other organizations involved with the city’s program to make a rapid referral to head off potential retaliatory violence.

More at that full article here. And some of the organizational and staffing changes that have already begun:

[Rachel Joy], who currently serves as community-relations manager, has been named director of the new Equity and Engagement Department and chief equity officer, effective March 21.

The new department is actually an expansion of a current division of the city manager’s office — what has been called the Office of Equity, Community and Human Rights — and is being spun off into a new and larger department of its own as a reflection of the work that needs to be done, according to city spokesman Jeff Hamilton.

It will have three divisions, among them one that will oversee the city’s massive plan intended to address the root causes of gun violence and work partner agencies.

That article here. WCIA had a brief overview here as well.

In City staffing news, there has been a lot of recent news on staffing issues in emergency services in the last month. 

• A detailed example on the Champaign Police Department staffing issues from the News-Gazette, including comparisons to other local departments and analysis.
• The Champaign PD is hiring. Quick overview from WCIA.
• Staffing issues at METCAD, an intergovernmental dispatch service for many County and local emergency services, from WCIA. The City of Champaign plays a primary role in staffing the agency.

There was also a large outcry about a Champaign City Council member's admonishment of a couple of public speakers on gun violence in their neighborhood. Illinois Newsroom had a fairly objective overview of the incident here. Video of their last of the public comments and Council Member Alicia Beck's admonishment in the first of the Council Comments immediately afterward is available here. The opinions editor of the News-Gazette and the local GOP have depicted the admonishment as an attempt to silence local citizens. An example from one of Jim Dey's columns here. 

The context of the remarks appears to be in encouraging people to speak up for all communities dealing with gun violence, and not just when it shows up at one's own doorstep. Regardless of how the remarks themselves are being portrayed, however, it is hard to see admonishing any victims of gun violence as good politics. WCIA had statements from the Council members and Mayor assuring residents of their support for public comments here.

Tom's Mailbag has received questions on the possibility of censure or recall of City Council members (Tom Kacich notes that's not currently within the laws/statutes here). The editors of the News-Gazette chose to initially respond to the incident with an unusual opinion column on the front page, above the fold. Written by Jim Dey, his framing was seized upon and spread rapidly on local social media.

With local municipal elections still a ways away, it appears the current push is for demanding the resignations of Council member Alicia Beck for her comments and another Council member who seconded her remarks.

Other City of Champaign Updates:

• The City will be releasing its Annual Action Plan this week and will be looking for public input. From Smile Politely.
• The Champaign Police Department offered tips on avoiding many of the scams going around lately. From WCIA.
• Champaign PD also restarted its "coffee with a cop" events according to WCIA.
• WCIA also had coverage of city properties purchased by Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County. A listing of all the properties that were up for sale here.
• The City will be offering closed captioning on their television programming, also via WCIA.
• WCIA also had a blurb on Garden Hills "amenities" being developed.