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.