UIUC Updates

This post covers numerous recent news items and updates on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign related to policy and government. There's a separate Cheat Sheet post on recent news and updates on the University of Illinois Police Department and public safety here.

At the recent Board of Trustees meeting, a tuition freeze was approved. From Smile Politely:

The Board of Trustees announced last week they would be freezing tuition rates for incoming in-state freshmen and non-resident undergraduates for the 2021-22 academic year...

The board also approved small increases in room and board fees.

Full blurb here. Full news release from the Board of Trustees meeting here. President Tim Killeen reiterated the need for additional aid last week, noting that the pandemic may end up costing the University system half of a billion dollars altogether:

Killeen and other university presidents in Illinois sent a letter last week to federal legislators seeking more aid as a new COVID-19 relief package is being debated...

In the first relief bill passed in March, the UI got about $66 million, about half of which went to emergency financial aid for students.

In the second bill passed in December, the UI got about $95 million, with a third of that going to emergency financial aid, Killeen said.

Full article at the News-Gazette here. Presidents of other universities have also joined in calls asking for debt relief.

There were a couple updates on renewable energy on campus. The new solar farm on campus is up and running. From the News-Gazette last week:

The new 20,000-megawatt-hour solar farm at the northwest corner of First Street and Curtis Road went online last week...

In addition to the 7,000 megawatt hours generated by the first solar farm on Windsor Road, the new one will help the UI meet the 25,000-megawatt-hour goal set in its Climate Action Plan.

Solar Farm 2.0 features “bifacial” panels, which take in energy from both sides and rotate with the sun to maximize output.

Full article here. Tom's Mailbag also had some additional information on the embedded solar panels on the new Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building on campus and answered other questions on the University's various renewable energy projects here.

There were some updates on future education opportunities to prisoners. From WCIA:

Federal financial aid to prisoners has been restored. The U.S. Department of Education now has until 2023 to reinstate Pell Grant access to people who are incarcerated.

The grants were previously banned in 1994. Pell grants are typically awarded to low-income undergraduate students.

“We would like to see a lot more universities and colleges across the state, both public and private involved in providing higher education in prison, and Pell Grants can make that much more feasible for those institutions,” UIUC Criminal Justice Rebecca Ginsburg said.

Full blurb here. Illinois Newsroom had more coverage on the issue nationwide here. The pandemic is still limiting UIUC's education outreach to incarcerated individuals. From the Education Justice Project main page: 

We have suspended programming at Danville Correctional Center, and all events and activities on campus and in the community. The suspensions are indefinite, but will almost certainly be in place throughout 2020. Please stay posted.

EJP students completed the Spring 2020 semester via correspondence. They received grades, course credit, and “good time” credit as normal. We plan to offer correspondence courses again in Spring 2021.

In a recent Cheat Sheet update on local libraries, we highlighted a couple events with UC Books to Prisoners as well.

WAND had coverage of a recent winter firefighting training event at the University's Illinois Fire Service Institute:

The 26th Annual Winter Fire Training Event brought in first responders from around the Midwest to better their skills. Most of the participants are Volunteer Firefighters from smaller counties...

First responders take in classroom courses throughout the event and then apply that knowledge into their hands-on training. Classes such as saving a family from a burning home or forcing their way inside a locked door. "They can utilize their skills and hone their skills in that environment the same environment that they'll respond to, in their community,” [Director, Tom Shubert] says...

Each year, IFSI trains over 60 thousand first responders. In 2020, the number dropped to 52 thousand because of COVID-19. But IFSI is hoping the numbers increase in 2021. 

Full article here.

There was also some new doppler weather equipment for . From WCIA:

Some students at the U of I will now have the opportunity for hands-on field training. The Department of Atmospheric Sciences is getting a multi-million dollar mobile radar.

The Doppler on Wheels will allow students to collect data on rain and wind systems. The doppler is basically a radar on a truck. This then allows students to research tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter weather.

The contract also comes with three other vehicles, which includes three weather balloon launch systems and several other features.

Full article from WCIA here. Additional coverage from the News-Gazette yesterday here.

The University's plan to handle Native American imagery released last December was discussed in the local Smile Politely editorial section:

Nevertheless, it’s important that the U of I has a blueprint, even a flawed one, to move toward that more inclusive future. Though some of the components of this report genuinely induce eye-rolls, there are plenty of promising proposed changes. You can find a link to the entire report here. There are many points of discussion in the document, but we’ve narrowed down three main ideas worth highlighting below.

More at the editorial here. Full University Native American imagery implementation plan here.

UIUC Public Safety and UIPD Updates

[UPDATE: An additional news item from today honoring a former officer with the CSSO and UIPD  via WAND:

University of Illinois police honored an officer's memory Friday after his death. 

Officer Anthony Carpenter, 59, served with the Champaign County Sheriff's Office and U of I police for 26 years in total, according to an obituary posted in The News-Gazette. He passed away suddenly on Feb. 7 at his home. 

Full article here. 

There have been numerous public safety related news items and updates for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the last few weeks. This post covers updates on the University police department, university police reform demands (locally and nationally), some various legal issues and efforts to combat cyberstalking and pandemic party violations. 

The University of Illinois Police Department received one of the top accreditations for a police department. From WCIA:

The accreditation means that the department has reached top industry standards. The Tier Two accreditation comes from the Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program.

A committee reviews 180 pieces of criteria. This includes four areas: administration, training, operations, and personnel. Professional assessors are brought in to monitor them. U of I police chief Alice Cary says the process takes months...

The department was awarded a plaque for their accomplishment. This is their third time receiving this since 2012. They were actually the first university police department in the state to do so.

Full blurb and video segment here. WAND had additional coverage and information here. The UIPD was also in the news over staffing changes and an Illinois Newsroom series on university police departments and the current push for police reforms. 

• Part 1: A Debate Over Defunding The Campus Police Takes Root At The University Of Illinois
• Part 2: Finding Common Ground Between Abolitionists And U Of I Campus Police
• Panel Discussion: Campus Safety and the Role of the Police at the University of Illinois

There is a lot of additional information, audio segments, and data available at both links. WICS had coverage on the UIPD's new crisis outreach coordinator and related programs:

During her time at the U of I, [University of Illinois Police Chief Alice Cary] has introduced several different services under C.O.A.S.T., including a Behavioral Health Unit called R.E.A.C.H., which stands for Response, Evaluation, And Crisis Help.

They've hired a mental health specialist to team up with officers to assist with mental health calls.

"The officers go and defuse the situation with the social worker to assess the situation for that individual and be the conduit so to speak to get the individual the right care," Cary said.

Megan Cambron is the new crisis outreach coordinator going to those calls, and Tuesday was her first day in the office.

Full article here. More on C.O.A.S.T. and R.E.A.C.H. at the UIPD website here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage on the program and on therapy dogs working for the department and how they can assist in mental health crisis situations here.

There was also some local news coverage on UIUC's "party patrols" to help limit pandemic guidance violations as students returned to campus. From WCIA:

The University of Illinois is re-instating their Party Patrol for the spring semester. Student officers and campus police will focus on shutting down parties overstepping Covid-19 guidelines.

The Party Patrol waits for a noise complaint or party tip. Then student patrol officers are sent as the first warning.

Patrick Wade with the university says usually that’s enough, but in some cases, if the party host doesn’t shut down the party, then the police will come to break it up. The party thrower can then get three different tickets.

Full article here. With the pandemic and the overall dwindling of the Unofficial St. Patrick's Day celebration in previous years, officials are currently not expecting much activity relative to previous years. The News-Gazette had coverage and the reasons for those predictions here.

The ongoing cases related to accusations against a former University Professor Joseph Petry have had updates. The University failed to stop Petry's lawsuit against them:

Petry filed a lawsuit in June in the Illinois Court of Claims accusing the UI of violating his resignation agreement, in which he agreed to step down and the UI agreed to stop investigating him.

But after he resigned, the UI hired a lawyer to complete a confidential investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Petry.

That full article here. There was also more strange developments relating to the accuser that has been enveloped in her own legal issues and drama:

A former University of Illinois student at the heart of a dismissed sexual-harassment complaint against a former professor has been criminally charged with filing false police reports related to separate incidents involving a former boyfriend.

The charges against Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, 23, of Skokie were filed in mid-December, just a couple of weeks after Judge Roger Webber acquitted her of intimidation and aggravated unlawful restraint involving the same former boyfriend, who had been investigated by police based on her accusations...

“I would say it’s very, very clear there’s a lot of lying, criminality, obfuscation and digging deeper and deeper into a hole,” Champaign Detective David Monahan said at Farrell’s sentencing hearing in December...

Farrell was sentenced in two different cases to three months in jail and 30 months of probation for intimidation and criminal damage to property, which he admitted committing against two of Naqvi’s ex-boyfriends.

That full article here. It's difficult to excerpt and capture how fully bizarre the situation is.

The University also received a grant for responding to sexual misconduct issues. From The Daily Illini:

A grant awarded to the University’s Women’s Resources Center will be used to create a campus response team for sexual misconduct and to focus on cyberstalking, a growing concern of the COVID-19 pandemic...

The funding will be used to support the center in hiring a leader for this project for the next three years. The person hired will establish the University’s first Community Coordinated Response Team against sexual misconduct, composed of a number of strategic partners both on and off campus, Colomé said. 

Some of these services and respondents include the Women’s Resources Center, Carle Foundation Hospital, Title IX coordinators, and law enforcement, if the victim chooses to involve them. Colomé said this will allow respondents to have an increased knowledge as to which services are available to survivors. 

Full article here.

Library Updates

 

This post has updates on the Urbana Free Library, the Champaign Public Library, and other area library news updates.

The Urbana Free Library's adaptation and services during the pandemic were highlighted in Smile Politely a couple weeks ago. Excerpt:

Staff first utilized existing assets to adjust to the new, remote operations and reach into the community as needed. The library’s 3-D printer and a sewing machine were lent out to help produce personal protective equipment for local healthcare workers. Drawing on a rapidly assembled system, the library began offering curbside pickup shortly after the building closed. Patrons could call staff members working from home to get reference help over the phone, and staff continued to provide email reference services. To accommodate increased pressures on patrons, it was decided that all fines and fees would be waived, patrons’ cards would no longer expire, and the number of digital items allowed to be checked out at one time was increased...

New initiatives emerged quickly. An eCard system was established. Software was purchased for the curbside pickup service to make that process more streamlined for patrons and staff. Eager to continue to offering programs, library staff prioritized learning how best to use platforms such as Facebook live and Zoom to begin offering online story times as soon as possible... 

The Books & More! Bundles Service also provides community members of all ages with a wide variety of librarian-curated resources upon request, with items available at Curbside Pickup. The library has also responded to the need of Urbana residents to have access to WiFi by making an increased number of mobile hotspots available for check-out. Purchased by the Urbana Free Library Foundation and a UC2B grant, these hotspots are an invaluable resource to community members.

Full article here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage on changes as both the Urbana and Champaign public libraries are opening up to a limited degree under loosening pandemic restrictions.

The Daily Illini had an overview of the Champaign Public Library's limited opening last week as well:

The Champaign Public Library has been offering curbside pickup of library materials, electronic resources and online webinars since it closed last March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with the decrease in the region’s COVID-19 positivity rate, the library opened for grab-and-go service on Feb. 1 and will continue to offer virtual educational programming.

Patrons can now browse and check out books at the library and use computers for an hour per day. People can still make use of the curbside pickup option or request a book bundle for children and teens, where librarians gather a personalized set of books for pickup...

Patrons can access ebooks, movies, music and other e-resources through the library’s website using apps such as Libby and Kanopy. The library also offers virtual programming nearly every day of the week for children, teens and adults.

Full article here.

Other Local Library News:

Smile Politely highlighted two upcoming public webinar events at the University's Grainger Engineering library on AI and quantum computing:

The research enterprise of The Grainger College of Engineering, driven by our faculty, staff, and students, has transformed the world. Join Dean Rashid Bashir and our expert faculty to learn how our AI and quantum research is being practically applied in our ever-changing world. These webinars will include faculty presentations and a live Q & A.

Full article here. More information on the events at the Grainger facebook event page here.

WICS noted that the Urbana Free Library was one of many libraries across the state to receive a bit of additional funding for COVID related expenses.

Libraries could apply for up to $500 each to address the proper handling of library materials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This money can also be used to purchase cleaning supplies and PPE, such as masks and acrylic barriers.

Full article here.

CU Books To Prisoners still has a couple days left of its current book drive. The Graduate Employees' Organization was in the news for teaming up with organization for that book drive. From the Daily Illini:

The Graduate Employee Organization’s mutual aid society is holding a book drive from Jan. 24 until Feb. 14 to support Urbana-Champaign Books 2 Prisoners, an organization dedicated to providing books to incarcerated individuals in Illinois.

Books 2 Prisoners is an Illinois based project which provides books to incarcerated individuals for free via mail and county jail libraries...

Drop off locations include the Orchard Downs main office, GEO Office, School of Information Sciences at Illinois, IMC and Common Ground Food Coop.

Full article here. Smile Politely had a list of other locations here as well. More information at the CU Books to Prisoners website, including an upcoming Virtual Auction and Raffle.

City of Urbana Updates

This post follows up on last week's Cheat Sheet post on the Urbana City Council introducing a resolution committing the City to ending structural racism and achieving equity, an overview of the City meetings, and some other Urbana news updates. At this week's regular City Council meeting (agenda, video) they approved that resolution with some minor changes. The From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

The four-page resolution calls out the city for a history of Jim Crow laws, White supremacy, segregation and racial oppression...

Hursey, whose father, Paul Hursey Sr., became the first Black elected official in Urbana in 1964, said she worked with city staff to craft the resolution and research the history.

“The City hereby rejects the institutionalized legacy of racism and white supremacy that is our history and afflicts our community today,” the resolution states.

Full article here. A draft version of the resolution is available here prior to some of the edits made in the amended version as passed. The edits were generally clarifying of the language as opposed to any significant change in the meaning of the resolution itself. The changes were discussed and approved towards the end of the City Council meeting. Alderman Bill Brown read the amended changes for the public record prior to the Council vote (video of that reading here).

Prior to the regular City Council meeting there was a Cunningham Township meeting (agenda, video) Public comments mirrored those in the later Council meeting in demanding more support for action towards ending structural racism and other goals of the resolution. Local candidates in municipal races raised some concerns with current Township office holders in public comments as well. The Supervisor and Assessor gave updates and defended their work. The Township Board also approved a couple resolutions, including one dealing with the Township's collaboration with the Urbana School District for providing emergency housing services.

Beyond the resolution on structural racism there were a few appointments approved as well as a presentation on the Comprehensive Plan and a website for public outreach and input via the Imagine Urbana project (jump to video). Illinois Newsroom had additional coverage of the Imagine Urbana project here.

There was also a short presentation on the same at the Champaign County Community Coalition this month (available at the 1:13 h:m mark of the video here). The only appointment that appeared to have any contention was the FOIA officer, Ross McNeil. Some activists in the public have had concerns and complaints about the City's FOIA process and have demanded more transparency. There was a description of the FOIA process for the city. Alderman Miller was the only no vote on the appointment, which was approved.

Public comments again got a bit heated as recriminations appeared to be coming from online messages and comments from local activists and candidates and City officials on a listserve and other online activities or collaboration. A representative from the Edgar County Watchdogs criticized depictions of them in that correspondence while local activists appeared to distance themselves from accusations of collaboration with that group.

Other Urbana Updates:

Raised in the City Council meeting, although without wanting to call it an "outbreak" per se, it was noted that Public Works was experiencing delays due to positive tests and quarantined staff. From WCIA earlier this week:

You may need to give yourself some extra time while driving this week. Public works departments are working to clean up snow on the roads, but one city is facing some challenges.

The Urbana Public Works Department had to send about half their staff home because of a Covid-19 outbreak.

“We can continue to get the work done, just not quite as fast as we typically could,” Urbana Public Works Department’s Vince Gustafson said.

Full article here.

FirstFollowers Reentry program will be going to the Urbana City Council next week looking for additional support similar to their collaboration with the City of Champaign. From WCIA:

FirstFollowers’ re-entry program helps formerly incarcerated people smoothly transition back into their communities...

Right now, there is only funding for the program in Champaign. Next week, the group will ask Urbana City Council for the same support, so they can help individuals in both areas.

Full blurb and video segment here. More at the FirstFollowers website here.

The Urbana Farm to School project was also in the news. From WICS:

There's a new Farm to School project in the Urbana School District and officials want the community to weigh in.

The project aims to bring agriculture education opportunities and fresh, locally grown foods to Urbana schools.

Those coordinating the project want to help tailor it to the needs of students and staff in the district.

More information at the full article here. Smile Politely also had some additional links and coverage in a blurb here, including highlighting opportunities for public input:

Those wishing to provide input can do so via survey, or by emailing cufarmtoschool@gmail.com. Parents and students who would like to be a part of the steering committee can reach out via email as well. 

For bird watchers and budding scientists, the Urbana Park District is hoping some Urbana residents will help them in their bird counting this weekend. From Smile Politely:

February 12-15 is the national Great Backyard Bird Count, and Urbana Park District is encouraging you to check out the birds right outside your window, and add your observations to the conversations. From the website: "Simply watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 12-15, 2021, and tell us what you see!"

Full blurb here. More from the Great Backyard Bird Count website here. Urbana Park District's information page here. Excerpt:

You can be a citizen scientist from the comfort of your own home! By counting birds you see from your windows or in your yard, you will help scientists collect important real-time information... 

Share photos of your sightings with the Anita Purves Nature Center and Urbana Park District on social media!

City of Champaign and Police Reform

[UPDATE 2/12 @5:02pm: next Tuesday's February 16th Study Session report is now available on the rise in gun violence with local data and community programs and efforts to address the problem. Agenda is available here. The Study Session report is available here.]

Following up on last week's Cheat Sheet post on the Champaign City Council that also previewed this week's police reform study session (report, video, and topic-specific public comments link). This post has news and additional coverage from that study session as well as some related news. From WICS coverage:

The department has spent much of the last year communicating with the public through discussions and listening sessions about how the roles of police departments should change in the future.

During the listening sessions, Champaign Police said they heard a lot about the role that law enforcement should play, as well as the trust and training involved when it comes to becoming a police officer.

Community members also pushed for better education of officers and transparency from the department.

That full article here. The Study Session report includes a lot of additional information about the local historical context and documentation from the public input events. Last week's Cheat Sheet post had highlights with page numbers. Members of the public and the Council often referred to Dr. Travis L. Dixon's participation and final report (on page 21, Attachment A) during Study Session meeting itself. Dr. Dixon summarized some common concerns and discussions. As an example:

Several community members used common slogans such as “defund the police.” Once we drilled down on exactly what this meant, several community members advocated for police NOT being the first responders for a number of calls. These calls include issues dealing with mental illness, domestic violence, and homelessness. Instead, community members called for the allocation of funds to social workers or other specialists who are trained to intervene in such issues. In terms of the specific reform suggested, police would be present only as a back-up in case the call became violent or dangerous.

He went on to note pilot programs locally and elsewhere in the United States towards those concerns:

Both the city of Urbana and the U. of Illinois police department are developing pilot programs which attempt to institute similar approaches to these calls. In addition, a number of programs have been instituted in other municipalities that might serve as a model for this. These include: Cahoots in Eugene, Oregon (https://whitebirdclinic.org/what-is-cahoots/) and PERT in San Diego, CA (http://www.comresearch.org/pert.php). I would strongly encourage city leadership consider implementing something along these lines in the City of Champaign.

More in the full report here, with Dr. Dixon's report beginning on page 21. The News-Gazette had more coverage here. Excerpt:

After holding listening sessions and study circles last year on policing, Champaign police Chief Anthony Cobb laid out a plan Monday for the city council that would see the addition of community-service officers and a collaboration with Urbana police on its One Door pilot program for emergency mental-crisis calls...

And Cobb said the community-service officers would be civilian employees who coordinate with patrol officers to respond to “non-criminal, nonviolent maintenance and quality-of-life calls.”

Several council members said they liked the One Door program and the idea of community-service officers but suggested avoiding “officer” in the title and wanted more clarification on how they would operate.

Full article available here. Public comments and Council comments also went further to suggest there be more options looked into for social workers and access to services before law enforcement contact in situations where their role may not be ideal. There were discussions about how the response system, including METCAD, might be adapted to dispatch the appropriate services matched to the situation (e.g. a social worker as opposed to a squad car for certain wellness checks).

There were also concerns raised about waiting on other programs, such as the City of Urbana One Door pilot program as opposed to being proactive in Champaign towards reforms. Discussions got into the weeds on current training and the limits of training (timing and results), metrics to measure success, and various escalation scenarios.

There were two public comments sections, one that was topic-specific of the Study Session here, and one that was open to general comments here. In the first section there were several local activists as well as the Chair's of the City's Human Relations Committee and the new Chair of that body's Citizen Review Subcommittee for police complaints (latest updates on their meetings on the Cheat Sheet here). President of the local NAACP branch, Minnie Pearson also spoke positively of the "work in progress" towards police reform locally while reiterating some serious concerns, such as protection of children in custody after a disturbing incident in national news.

The meeting stayed overwhelmingly civil in spite of some serious and passionate disagreements on the subject. There was a moment where the meeting went a bit off the rails (jump to video) as Deputy Mayor Tom Bruno explained the complications in a way that even he described as disparate. The examples ranged from communist East Germany, a pretextual stop of a prostitute on a bicycle without a bell, to the effectiveness of the extremely controversial "stop and frisk" program.

Reactions ranged from bewildered and laughing members on the Zoom camera to a pointed criticism by council member Fourman. She noted that the data for the "stop and frisk" program revealed that it wasn't effective for addressing crime or criminal behavior, but extremely effective in pitting police against vulnerable communities.

Related News:

In yesterday's Champaign County Community Coalition meeting (agendas, video), CPD Chief Cobb noted that there has been a bit of a reshuffling of the leadership staff in the wake of 's retirement (WCIA coverage on that here). The CPD's organizational chart is available here (from the police divisions page) and staff page here (with some updates still pending).

The Community Coalition facilitator, Tracy Parsons, also noted that next week the City of Champaign would be getting updates on various programs and initiatives addressing local violence. He invited community members to attend. He said it would be dealing with community violence, C-U Trauma and Resilience Initiative, Community Violence Response Task Force, and reentry programs.

[UPDATE: next Tuesday's February 16th Study Session report is now available on the rise in gun violence with local data and community programs and efforts to address the problem. Agenda is available here. The Study Session report is available here.]

MTD Updates

There have been some updates on the local mass transit service in the C-U metropolitan area, the MTD, in the news in the past few weeks. These include reduced service on campus, safety measures for kids getting to school, and  "Learn to Ride" resources for younger riders.

The Daily Illini highlighted the reduced service for the spring semester:

The service and frequency of MTD rides will mimic the model that was in place over winter break, with some changes...

According to Snyder, these service reductions came after the University contacted MTD regarding “compromised revenue streams.”

“The University needed MTD to pull back the service because they could not pay for the normal full UI service that we normally provide,” Snyder said.

Full article here. More details available at the MTD press release and website here. The Daily Illini had additional coverage on reduced fees as well last week:

Lowa Mwilambwe, associate vice chancellor for Auxiliary, Health and Wellbeing, said that these reductions were made in response to lower bus ridership and less students on campus.

“We looked at the big picture, the ridership at every level,” Mwilambwe said. “And those decisions were made based on what is best for the University.”

Mwilambwe notes that students have asked the University for a reduction in fees, which the University accommodated. 

That full article here.

WCIA highlighted the CU Safe Routes to School program:

“The program is designed to help encourage and support students being able to walk and bike to school,” said CU Safe Routes to School Co-Chair Cynthia Hoyle...

Volunteers brave the cold to ensure clean sidewalks. They are asked to clear a designated route within 48 hours of snowfall...

The program is supported by C-U school districts and CUMTD. They were recently awarded a grant by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Full article with video segment here. More information available at the program's facebook page here.

The MTD website also has a press release with information and links for younger riders and "Learn to Ride" resources. From that press release.

We hope the tools and School Trip information we’ve been able to provide virtually will be helpful to families and students preparing for the resumption of in-person learning, families who may be new to our community, or those families who just need a refresher.

Urbana School District 116 in-person learning for Middle and High School students will occur on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, in both the morning and afternoon. Champaign Unit 4 in-person learning for Middle and High School students will occur Tuesdays through Fridays, only in the afternoon.

Families can use our Schools page to find updated School Trip information by clicking on a school, and clicking View Route Info for your neighborhood. A detailed route map with School Trip start times and bus stop information will display for trips to school and home from school. Click Download Map to save a copy of the route information for your student’s trips.

Families can also click on a school and enter a starting or home address in the white Address box on the school’s landing page. MTD's School Trip Planner will provide updated routing information for trips to school and home from school.

Full press release here. 

Urbana Updates: City Council and News

This post includes a preview of upcoming Urbana government meetings, a vote on a resolution committing the City of Urbana to end structural racism, an overview of the last City Council Committee of the Whole meeting, and some other Urbana related news.

Tomorrow's February 8th Urbana City Council meeting (agenda) will likely be voting to approve the Alderwoman Shirese Hursey's resolution to commit the City to end structural racism and achieve racial equity. There are also a few appointments on the agenda, including an interim public works director and a FOIA officer. 

Prior to the City Council meeting there will be the monthly Cunningham Township meeting (agenda here). An intergovernmental agreement with the school district will be voted on to fill the gap in emergency shelter for student families experiencing homelessness (text of resolution).

Other Urbana News:

• The local NAACP branch and ACLU chapter are working on language for a new Use of Force policy for the Urbana Police Department.
• Urbana is looking for applications and nominations for the next Poet Laureate: Smile Politely had an interview with the current Poet Laureate Ashanti Files. Calls for nominations are in these Smile Politely links to the notice and update. The City's Poet Laureate page is available here and the nomination / application form is available here.
• The Urbana Free Library's efforts to serve the community during the pandemic were highlighted in Smile Politely. 
• WCIA had coverage of the proposed resolution on structural racism that also highlighted an initiative by the Champaign County Historical Archives for "chronicling racial and social justice movements in Champaign County."
• The lottery for the municipal ballot order was held in Urbana this week.
• The News-Gazette had an update on Urbana's Enterprise Zone which tallied new project cost heights and expects a busy 2021.

City Council Committee of the Whole Meeting 2/1:

Most of the public comments at the COW meeting (agenda, video) revolved around support of the proposed resolution committing to end structural racism, but also to demand substantive action towards that goal. Speakers included local ACLU chapter president Carol Leff and Cunningham Township Supervisor Danielle Cynoweth as well as several City Council/Township Board election challengers. 

Mayor Marlin read a proclamation for Black History Month and gave updates on the area COVID situation. Updates included the news that cases of one of the more contagious variants have been detected locally and updates on the health district's vaccination efforts.

It was pointed out that C-UPHD is still the best contact for questions and information on vaccinations. Alderman Brown noted the continued importance of social distancing and masks as there are still many vulnerable people waiting to be vaccinated in the months ahead.

The presentation and discussion of the resolution on structural racism began around the 1:24 mark in the video (jump to link). There appeared to be broad support for the resolution. The resolution passed with only some grammatical edits suggested for the final resolution to be voted on at the next City Council meeting. The News-Gazette had coverage of the meeting and the discussion:

The four-page resolution calls out the city for a history of Jim Crow laws, White supremacy, segregation and racial oppression.

“It’s an important first step,” said Ward 3 Alderwoman Shirese Hursey, who co-sponsored the resolution.

Full article available here. 

Council communication at the end of the meeting included some concerns and questions about leniency for ticketing vehicles while the pandemic continues and continuing utility shut offs mentioned in public comments. City Administrator Carol Mitten said she would look into and follow up on the concern. 

City of Champaign Updates: Police Reform and 2/2 Meetings

This post has an overview of last week's City government meetings as well as preview of this week's critical Champaign City Council Study Session on Tuesday, February 9th (agenda, staff report) on police reform in the City of Champaign. It is the culmination of over a decade of efforts by activists, community members, public officials, city and police staff towards building trust and implementing reforms.

Next week's Study Session report has an overview of the historical context, community responses, and recent outreach soliciting public input for police reforms and policy. It notes the hundreds of work-hours by City and CPD staff for the work that went into the listening sessions, other work and the reports themselves. There is also an extremely detailed set of attachments that document those efforts:

• Attachment A: Dr. Travis Dixon’s final report on the City of Champaign’s Listening Sessions (page 21 of the PDF file)
• Attachment B: Roster of study circle participants and community facilitators (page 25 of the PDF file)
• Attachment C: Study circle notes (page 28 of the PDF file)
• Attachment D: Responses to the online questionnaire (page 68 of the PDF file)
• Attachment E: Citizen Review Subcommittee’s 2020 Annual Recommendations (page 78 of the PDF file)

The full Study Session report is available here. The first page has links to over a decade of Study Session reports on police issues and reforms discussed by the City Council and then begins a summary of all the information provided in the report. An extensive background report starts at page 3 of the PDF file with historical context and on to the efforts to solicit public input. It asks the Council for direction on how to proceed: either more research into possible solutions, or focusing on certain reforms or policies to implement.

There was a portion relevant to a recent reform bill passed by the Illinois State General Assembly and likely to be signed by the Governor into law soon. The omnibus bill covered various criminal justice, police, and bail reforms. From the Study Session report on page 4: 

Among other things, [Bill HB 3653] would eliminate cash bail for non-violent offenders, requires all police officers to wear body cameras, expands use of force guidelines and training requirements for police, expands prohibits on chokeholds, requires permanent maintenance of police misconduct records, creates a uniform system of police certification and de-certification, and authorizes the Attorney General’s Office to investigate and prosecute patterns and practices of unconstitutional policing. 

Many of the bill’s amendments have already been implemented by the City of Champaign Police Department, for example the use of body worn cameras. The Police Department and City Legal are working together to fully understand what is required to implement the provisions of the new legislation. Specifically, staff is working to identify existing City policies or practices that will need to be amended to comply with the changes in the law. Most of the impact to local police departments apply to police conduct, training requirements and new processes to be established by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board related to certification and labor relations.

There are a couple recent Cheat Sheet posts on the local reaction to this bill, from the County Sheriff to organizations who supported bail reform locally like the Champaign County Bailout Coalition. The report also highlighted and overviewed the "One-Door" pilot program in Urbana as a possible source of future information and possible policy options on page 13.

February 2nd Meetings Overview:

The February 2nd meeting included a City of Champaign Township meeting (agenda, video), a regular City Council meeting (agenda, video), and a post-meeting Study Session meeting (staff report, video). 

The Township meeting was fairly brief. There was some further public input concerning the use of funds for a mailer that highlighted Township services, but also highlighted the incumbent Township Supervisor candidate so close to a contested election. There was a vote approving a budget amendment that related to the Township's collaboration with the health district and related grant funding.

The regular City Council meeting renewed, with minor amendment, the ongoing Emergency Orders related to the pandemic, approved funding for additional METCAD staffing, and approving the use of ballot drop-boxes in future elections.

Public input ranged from concerns about the City addressing police reforms (which the Mayor noted would be the topic of next week's Study Session) to the promotion of a municipal candidate's forum and a write-in bid for City Council. Local activist Allan Max Axelrod hinted at unscrupulous efforts by local power brokers attempting to pre-empt reform messages and undermine independent media. Regular public speaker, Brian Dunn encouraged the city to embrace stakeholders and impacted community members as leaders for police reform efforts.

The post-meeting Study Session was primarily a presentation on the Champaign Center Partnership's budget and work plan by the Executive Director Xander Hazel. There was a slide show presentation in the meeting video to go along with the Study Session report. The report had a succinct description of what the CCP is and does:

The Champaign Center Partnership is a 501(c)(6) organization formed in 2010 through the Champaign Downtown Association and the Campustown Business Group merger. The merger was to avoid duplication in services, create new efficiencies, and improve communication between center city businesses. Additionally, the group attempted to solidify Downtown, Midtown, and Campustown's marketing and work closely with the City to achieve adopted City goals for the areas.

The report has an overview of the work plan and budget proposed going forward. The presentation gets into some more of the details of coping with the pandemic over the past year. Council questions and council comments began after the presentation at roughly the 52 minute mark here. Mostly the council offered its willingness to help businesses re-open while thanking and praising CCP and especially Hazel for his work with the City over the years.

Local Homelessness and Cold Weather

With some extremely cold winter coming in the days ahead, we'll be highlighting some local information on warming centers and recent news on housing and homelessness today. WAND had area information on warming centers:

The Phoenix Daytime Drop-In Center

Location: 70 E. Washington St., Champaign (the former TIMES Center)

Contact: 217-819-4569

Website: cuathome.us

Tuesday-Friday Noon- 5 p.m. (Additional hours added when daytime "feels like" temperature falls below 10 degress)

Salvation Army Stepping Stone Program and Daytime Warming Center

Location: 2212 N. Market St., Champaign

Weekdays 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Other Champaign-Urbana options 

The Phoenix, public buildings such as libraries, municipal (city, state and federal) buildings are available during normal business hours 

More details on other area counties at the full article. WICS also had additional information on the C-U at Home warming center:

C-U at Home is preparing to open up both overnight emergency hours and daytime emergency warming hours this upcoming weekend as cold weather is expected to come through the area.

The shelter is putting extra staff to work this weekend to make sure that the homeless and those in need have a place to rest overnight and stay warm away from harsh conditions on the way...

The shelter is also working to make sure they have a place that is ready for a larger capacity, and a place to rest that is safe from COVID-19, as well.

That full article here. More information on C-U at Home and the Phoenix Center Drop-In Center at their website here. 

C-U at Home has also been in the news recently for it's One Winter Night event as well as providing an alternative to contacting police for some issues. From WCIA yesterday:

They choose that date every year because it’s typically one of the coldest nights. That’s exactly what homeless people have to deal with night after night. That’s why people need to support C-U at Home. They work with people in these exact situations to help connect them to resources, including a warm place to stay.

One way they do that is through a 24-hour hotline. Anyone can call it if they are having trouble with someone who may be homeless, but they don’t want to go as far as calling police...

That hotline also helps alleviate the burden on the police department. As we know, officers are busy. They don’t always have time to help homeless people with everything they need. C-U at Home employees also help de-escalate situations. They say sometimes people just need someone to talk to.

That full article available here. More on the One Winter Night Event at its webpage here. C-U at Home lists additional local resources and contact information on their website here for anyone needing additional services or going through a difficult time.

Other recent housing news:

City of Champaign using vacant lots and working with local organizations to provide "Mini Homes" for people who need shelter options. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

“We’ve been working with a local ministry, Restoration Urban Ministries, for the last several years, and in 2014, the Rev. (Ervin T.) Williams came to us with the idea about doing mini homes in order to meet some of the permanent housing needs of our friends without addresses,” [John Ruffin, City of Champaign Neighborhood Coordinator] said.

The mini homes fit well on some of the smaller or oddly shaped vacant lots, Ruffin said, and two lots were donated to Restoration Urban Ministries.

“They were able to complete a mini home on one of the lots,” Ruffin said, and the other one was donated to First Mennonite Church in partnership with CU at Home.

Full News-Gazette article here. Additional coverage from WICS with a short video segment here.

Homeless families attending area schools came up in the Unit 4 Board of Education meeting last month. It was noted that there are at least 129 homeless families attending just Unit 4 schools. The District is struggling to ensure they have access to education when so much is done via remote learning during the pandemic. That full overview of Unit 4 meetings in January here. WCIA noted that meal programs are still continuing for families struggling with meal options during the pandemic:

“We have a lot of unanswered questions with the pandemic right now, but the one thing we know for sure is kids are still gonna need access to those nutritious meals,” said Tim Murphy, ISBE Nutrition Department principal consultant. The responsibility of serving them falls on the shoulders of people working in school districts...

Despite those challenges, many like Food Services Coordinator Linda Jones are rising to the occasion.

“We’re basically taking what we typically do in a 5-day school week, we’re doing it in one day.”

Food Service Director Laura Dees said the Champaign School District is operating through its summer meals program. It was extended because of COVID-19.

That full WCIA article and video segment here. Smile Politely also highlighted a recent announcement that some of those meal boxes will feature food from local Black-owned businesses during Black History Month.

There was also coverage of a local meal program in today's News-Gazette available at their eEdition here (subscription).

Men, women and families in the C-U at Home transitional program are receiving hot meals from Champaign’s Human Kinetics employees as a way to give back to the community.

Human Kinetics CEO Skip Maier said the idea for the HK Café in the Community program came about last spring, after many employees “were bothered and disturbed by the events after the killing of George Floyd (in Minneapolis) and the civil unrest that followed.”

Full article available here.

A recent candidate event also focused on the topic of eradicating homelessness. More information on that in a previous Cheat Sheet post here.

And finally, it has come up in various Q&A events and presentations with the C-UPHD director Julie Pryde that vaccination outreach to the homeless through various shelters, service providers, and trusted community members is part of their operations to ensure that homeless and other vulnerable populations are able to be vaccinated.

More White Supremacist Propaganda

Local white supremacists targeted Champaign and Urbana again with propaganda drops around the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday. Flyers in baggies weighted with rocks were distributed targeting at least a couple neighborhoods, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr subdivision. The incidents were raised in public comments at both Champaign and Urbana City Council meetings recently. From WCIA's coverage last month:

Authorities in Champaign and Urbana are investigating after people woke up this weekend to flyers saying “No White Guilt.”

This isn’t the first time these flyers have shown up in Central Illinois.

People in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. subdivision in Champaign and Ellis Drive in Urbana woke up Friday morning to a flyer saying “no white guilt.”

...

Urbana Police are currently investigating, but have no leads at the time. With no suspects or anyone in custody, people are living in fear.

Full WCIA article available here. WCIA also had coverage of previous incidents in Champaign County with nearly identical flyers promoting the same white supremacist links and organizations in a 2019 article and video segment. Images and descriptions of the most recent flyers have been shared on social media locally (e.g. here and here).

Illinois Newsroom had additional coverage of the most recent incidents a couple weeks ago:

[Melanie Keil], who is white and married to a Black man, believes her mostly-Black Champaign neighborhood was targeted.

“I do think this was a coordinated effort that it was meant to be a statement in advance of Martin Luther King Day in the Martin Luther King Jr subdivision,” says Keil.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the movements of hate organizations, wrote in an article that there’s a white nationalist podcaster and vlogger known by the phrase. Last week, there were reports of the flyers appearing at homes in Whitestown, Indiana and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

That full article including a Champaign Police response here. For more details of the local extremists blamed for these incidents, Chicago Antifascist Action has catalogued the activities, on-line admissions, police records and other information about two extremists in the area likely responsible here and the other here [Warning: these links include overt white supremacist propaganda and imagery]. We caution readers that internet sleuthing sites can be unreliable and law enforcement has not confirmed or alleged that these incidents were committed by these same actors.

These white supremacist propaganda drops are just the most recent among white nationalist activity in the area in recent years. For example:

• A local clinic was targeted by a white nationalist group that had already firebombed a mosque.
• A white nationalist group has regularly papered campus and downtown Champaign with propaganda promoting their "western chauvinism" re-branding of white nationalist ideology. The Daily Illini had more here.

There have been other recent incidents of propaganda drops locally and East Central Illinois that also promote the New Jersey hate group in these flyers. The Anti-Defamation League has an overview of that particular hate group on their website here. The independent newspaper The Public i had coverage of previous drops last year here.

City of Urbana Updates: Council, Human Relations and Police Review

This post is a follow up on a previous overview of City Council meetings in January available on the Cheat Sheet here. In addition to one final regular meeting of the City Council there were meetings by Urbana's Human Relations Commission and Civilian Police Review Board. This included a listening session by the CPRB for public input.

This week there were headlines for the upcoming City Council meeting on February 1st and a proposal that's been in the works for a long time to address structural racism in Urbana. From WCIA:

It focuses on ending structural racism. Councilmember Sherise Hursey introduced it. She thought of it over the summer and realized it was time the City was focused more on equality and equity.

Mayor Diane Marlin said this is long overdue. “This resolution again is the first step, which is saying, ‘Okay, it exists. It has existed. It has just negatively impacted people’s lives for hundreds of years, and it needs to end.'”

This resolution, it does not have any specific policies in it. It is more of a framework for City leaders to base their decisions.

That WCIA blurb is available here. More from the News-Gazette coverage:

The four-page resolution calls out the city for a history of Jim Crow laws, White supremacy, segregation and racial oppression...

According to the resolution, the Ku Klux Klan operated out of the Illinois Theater in Urbana and held “events with upwards of 3,000 members at a time when the County’s population was less than 60,000.”

As more Black residents moved to Champaign-Urbana after World War II, the resolution states, “Black citizens were systematically and illegally excluded from White neighborhoods through subdivision covenants, developer, Realtor, landlord, seller, and lending practices and were de facto confined to the ‘north end.’”

That full article here. Full text of the resolution is available from the City's website here.

Below is coverage of other meetings by the City Council, the Human Relations Commission, and the Civilian Police Review Board in January:

Human Relations Commission 1/13:

The HRC meeting (agenda, video) began with a conversation with Daniel Wilson, Project Manager and equal employment opportunity (EEO) officer at Duce Construction. It was listed as a "presentation" on the agenda and moved up to just after public comments. The discussion focused on workforce statistics and Duce Construction, a contractor with the City of Urbana and clarifying what the HRC's expectations and process were for ensuring diversity with contractors.

Commissioner Resnick explained the process and how they compare workforce statistics to local demographics to work with employers on areas where diversity could be improved. For example, a contractor with no significant diversity issues might get a full 2 year approval from the commission that the city would take into consideration. If there were problematic signs, they might approve for a 1 year or 6 months with a request for more data, information or follow up on diversity plans. Later in the meeting when explaining the process to new members Resnick noted that the Commission has never voted against approval altogether yet due to willingness of contractors and employers to work with them on any perceived issues. He also noted that smaller companies with 15 employees or less are generally too small for much scrutiny unless they are severely lacking somehow.

Wilson appreciated the clarifications and highlighted the pool of unions he works with for labor on projects and their own efforts on diversity. He pointed to a local Buildings and Trade Council working with the University of Illinois on similar goals. The HRC noted interest in reaching out for more information and collaboration.

Most of the meeting involved the nuance of recommendations on whether or not the City of Urbana should be subject to the Human Rights Ordinance and the process for reporting complaints through the HRC. The decision is ultimately up to the City Council and the commissioners passed a resolution asking the Council to clarify its wishes. They recommended two options to consider, covering how complaints or reports of discrimination under the HRO might be dealt with whether the City clarified one way or the other. This became the subject of contention in the following City Council Committee of the Whole meeting on 1/19 after City Staff forwarded only one option for the Council's consideration, believing the other wasn't feasible.

Other business was conducted without controversy, including agreeing to the meeting calendar and letting new members introduce themselves at the next meeting when more commissioners who haven't already met them might be in attendance.

Civilian Police Review Board 1/15 and 1/27 meetings:

The January 15th Review Board meeting (agenda, video) started out by highlighting a listening session planned at a meeting later this month (covered below) and public comments with a concern about board members possibly being threatened or intimidated into silence. Local police reform activist, Christopher Hansen, noted concerns on a variety of issues including delays on starting meetings on time, a new appointment's reasons for joining the board, a previous speaker presenting propaganda, and the closed process for hearing complaints. The concern about threats or intimidation got a response from the entire board, none reporting any threats or intimidation. Chair Ricardo Diaz explained the serious and personal nature of the work they do in close session deliberations and the necessity for discretion. He defended the rules for closed session deliberations.

Member Dossett explained the appointment process ultimately ends with the Mayor's appointment decision, but noted that the last few appointments included board participation in the selection process. He argued they weren't looking for people with a bias one way or another on policy issues so much as upstanding community members with problem solving skills and a sense of fairness.

After closed session there was a bit of a discussion on procedure that involved a parliamentarian being brought in to vote on the deliberations in the open meeting. The voting was mixed, but all had a majority sustaining the Chief's findings in each of the three appeals considered by the Board.

The January 27th meeting (agenda, video) was mostly a listening session that allowed more public input. The format allowed the public to respond to board comments and follow up on previous remarks. Comments included and referenced those in a list of recommendations posted on the City's website here (categorized by changes with or without requiring an ordinance change and changes to the oversight model). There was some regular public participation early on that focused on issues with outreach and notification of the listening session and concerns about the format and who might have control of muting participants.

The listening session itself began around the 35 minute mark of the video with board comments and responses interspersed between groups of speakers. A lot of the discussion focused on the 45 day limit for submitting a complaint, exceptions, possible exceptions, and concerns about trauma and retaliation.

There were also issues raised on representation on the board, concerns about the appointment process and how applicants might be screened by the Mayor. There's currently a vacancy on the board and already some applicants, but they encouraged more people to apply.

Urbana City Council Meeting 1/25:

There was a lot of public participation at the beginning of the meeting, including several potential City Council candidates weighing in on police reform, applying the Human Rights Ordinance to the City, complaints about city staff, housing affordability, and the need for an ethical city attorney replacement. The Mayor responded to a couple of the comments, noting her work with the ACLU and NAACP on the Use of Force policy changes and working with Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen on rapid testing through the University of Illinois as soon as that becomes available. She also promised a follow up with someone having difficulties with a housing program application.

Someone also noted their concerns about a local hate group spreading white nationalist messages in the area again and wanting to know the City's communication policy after such incidents. He noted that community members have been left in the dark with spotty and delayed news coverage and many not hearing any updates from the City.

Other City business passed without controversy except a couple resolutions for a project at 602 South Lincoln that needed more time and was sent back to the Committee of the Whole. Council member Wu encouraged people curious about this CCH Development project to check out the last couple hours of the Design Review Board meeting (agenda, video) for more details about it.

Mayor Marlin gave updates on COVID vaccinations and the continued need to take precautions like wearing a mask, social distancing, and hand washing. She pointed out that vaccinations are free and anyone charging is likely engaging in fraud. Council member Hursey pointed out that vaccinations may also be available from your doctor in some cases and to be on the look out for any outreach from them.