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This week on CU-CitizenAccess.org, a website and social network devoted to coverage and discussion of social and economic issues within Central Illinois:

Health officials temporarily 2 restaurants, fail 7 others during February inspection

By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess.org/Inspectors temporarily shut down Chinese restaurant Cravings in February after the Campustown establishment failed its fourth straight public health inspection.

Cravings, 603 S. Wright St., Champaign, was one of nine eateries to fail a February inspection by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. Restaurants fail when they score 35 or lower on the district’s 100-point scale. The inspections are conducted on a routine basis because poor sanitary conditions can lead to food-borne illnesses.

See also our restaurant inspection map for updated failed restaurant inspection reports

Bridging the religious divide

The idea that religious and political change can be facilitated through collaboration and discussion in informal settings, outside formal houses of worship or religious centers, is slowly gaining momentum. Rather than focusing on theological differences, people of faith are finding ways to solve problems of mutual concern, including environmental, political, economic and social issues.

Former University of Illinois journalism graduate student Rachel Buller explores these issues in her three-part series, Bridging the relgious divide:

Different faiths set difference aside, work together

One group bridging the religious divide is Faith in Place. The organization uses sustainable farming methods as a tool to help religious people become good stewards of the earth. It also uses the environment as a point of commonality among its members.

“There’s a lot in our faith that tells us directly about taking care of the earth and the environment,” Fatemah Hermes said.

Ministering to the poor at home and abroad

In recent years, local religious groups have been contending with rising poverty. In 2010, about 20 percent of Champaign County residents – one in five individuals – lived below the poverty line, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. That was up from 16 percent in 10 years earlier.

The Rev. Tom Royer, former pastor at St. Mary Catholic Church in Champaign, is one of several local religious leaders who have worked to combat that trend.

“I see the church as a big tent,” Royer said. “A tent doesn’t have doors that close or lock. People look for a spiritual home. They should look around the big tent to find that community that seems to meet their needs. That’s my sense about the church.”

Teaching across the faiths

 Interfaith initiatives come at a crucial point in history. In recent decades, religion has assumed a prominent role in global affairs.

“People today are enormously illiterate in religion, even if they profess,” said Kenneth Howell, a former associate professor of religion at the University of Illinois. “Religion is like culture – you have to understand it from the outside, and you have to understand it from the inside.

From our friends at eBlack-CU: Learning to care for your family's collections

Your personal collections and family heirlooms are important parts of your life and community. Preserving these collections doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated.

This workshop will go over the basics of collections storage, and what do to if your family heirlooms are affected by a water emergency. Also includes a discussion of how scanning family documents can help the originals survive longer, while allowing you to share your memories with family, friends and the community.

When: Wednesday, April 11, 6:00pm-8:00pm

Where: Champaign Public Library, Robeson Pavilion Room A & B

Who: FREE and open to all!

Sponsored by the Preservation Working Group and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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