Bed Check: Safety violations cloud Central Illinois nursing homes

By Dan Petrella and Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess

An elderly man with Alzheimer's disease leaves a local nursing home without staff noticing and is found wandering into traffic on Mattis Avenue in Champaign.


A patient in an Urbana nursing home is left unattended on a bed pan for hours until the bed pan created a deep pressure sore in its shape.


In another home, a...

Health district won’t meet January goal for posting restaurant inspections online

By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- Despite promises over the past four years to post restaurant inspection reports online, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District will miss another self-imposed deadline to do so.

Because of ongoing “computer glitches,” district officials said they would fail to post the restaurant inspection reports online in January. They set that goal earlier this year in an interview with CU...

Homeless man finds permanent shelter

By Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess -- A faith-based group in Champaign that’s trying to find housing for the area’s most vulnerable homeless residents has completed its first successful match.

C-U At Home connected Vernon Chounard to a two-bedroom rental home - his first home since 2000.

The group will pay for utilities while the property owners – Deana and Luke Hammock -...

Campus lacks resources to meet demand for mental health services, safety initiatives

For the past five months, journalism students and faculty have examined the state of mental health treatment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.

Their work was part of an examination of mental health programs conducted by the Investigative Journalism Education Consortium, a network of journalism faculty and students at Midwest universities and colleges that is funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation based in Chicago. (See full package...
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Bed Check: The condition of East Central Illinois nursing homes

See the condition of nursing homes in your neighborhood with our interactive map and reports

CU-CitizenAccess.org is taking a close look at 93 nursing homes in East Central Illinois in the wake of state efforts to reform nursing home oversight.

The results are startling.

Many nursing homes have repeated safety violations spanning the past five years, placing residents at risk for untreated pressure sores, bladder infections, serious medication errors and broken bones.

Public Funds

Rural transit ridership surges
By Dave Hinton/Rantoul Press -- When CRIS Rural Mass Transit District began serving residents of northern Champaign County, officials figured it would take two years to reach the ridership levels of...
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Immigration

No easy access to food stamps for migrant workers
By Sean Powers/Illinois Public Media -- Every year, thousands of migrant workers come to Illinois to detassel corn and harvest crops. Often times they do not make enough money to feed themselves...
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Housing

Uncertain TIMES: State cuts jeopardize program for homeless men
By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- On an average night last year, nearly 60 homeless men didn't have to sleep on the streets of Champaign-Urbana thanks to the TIMES Center. But like so many other...
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Justice

Champaign man refutes police account of son’s alleged beating
By Sean Powers/Illinois Public Media -- Critics of the Champaign Police Department are expressing outrage, and a differing account of the arrest of an African-American teen last weekend, that they...
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Neighborhoods

Champaign council leaves groundwater ordinance alone
By Patrick Wade/The News-Gazette -- To the dismay of a health care advocacy group, the city will keep its 4-year-old "groundwater restriction ordinance" after a council vote on Tuesday...
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Technology

Congressional hearing highlights challenges accessing broadband service
By Jim Meadows/Illinois Public Media -- People who live in a city may take broadband Internet service for granted. But in many rural areas, broadband service is hard or even impossible to obtain....
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Education

Four years later, state-funded campus security grant waiting for disbursement
By Mary Beth Versaci/For CU-CitizenAccess.org/Nearly four years after a report on Illinois campus security recommended that $25 million be appropriated for the improvement of campus security across...
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Food

Health district won’t meet January goal for posting restaurant inspections online
By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- Despite promises over the past four years to post restaurant inspection reports online, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District will miss another self-imposed...
more

Latest postings from around the community

Events for week of Jan. 9 by Carletta Donaldson
Out and About
Events this week from Carletta J. Donaldson. Contact her at carlettadonaldson0713@gmail.com Monday UC2B Neighborhoods meeting Read more...
November/December events by Carletta
Out and About
Below is a list of upcoming community events and important dates for November, December and January.  Submit your event to Carletta Donaldson at cjdonald713@yahoo.com Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Community Celebration Choir Rehearsals at Salem Baptist Church (500 E. Park St.,... Read more...
October Events by Carletta
Out and About
Champaign-Urbana Area Events/Meetings *= Flyer/Information Available Upon Request (cjdonald713@yahoo.com) Read more...
eBlack C-U Community Technology News: Oct. 4
Out and About
This e-mail contains some news and updates on community technology in Champaign-Urbana. Please send news items to nlenstr2@illinois.edu for distribution. 1. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Epsilon Epsilon Omega Chapter Present Workshop on Microsoft Office Basics at Champaign Public Library -... Read more...
eBlack C-U Community Technology News: Sept. 26
Out and About
This e-mail contains some news and updates on public computing in Champaign-Urbana. Please send news items to nlenstr2@illinois.edu for distribution. 1. UC2B Employment Opportunities and Assistance Filling out Applications - Monday, September 26 and Tuesday, September 27 2. 4th Annual Digital... Read more...
Champaign to host dedication ceremony for its Neighborhood Stabilization Program
In my neighborhood ...
Take a tour of two Champaign homes and meet with first-time home-buyers as part of the city's Neighborhood Stabilization Program. On Friday, July 15, 2011, the City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Department, Habitat for Humanity, and Center for Women in Transition will host a Dedication... Read more...
Free summer food
Hunger in the Heartland
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and the Illinois State Board of Education is now offering free food for those between 1 year old to 18 years old. The food program is open to everyone and offers breakfast, snacks and lunch.  Visit C-U Public Health District at 201 W. Kenyon, Monday... Read more...
Nidia Duenas
A Day In My Life ...
Nidia Duenas, 17, is from Chicago, Ill. After high school, she plans to study nursing and specialize in pediatric nursing. “I want people to know where I came from, which is from a loving and caring home,” she said. “I was raised from two loving parents and I have the best sister... Read more...
Danyale Burks
A Day In My Life ...
Danyale Burks, 18, is from Chicago and Champaign. After high school, she plans to attend college. Her video is to show people “how to spend time with your family,” she said.   Read more...
Johnnie Campbell
A Day In My Life ...
Johnnie Campbell, 19, is from Chicago, Ill. After high school, he plans to attend college for a degree to “make my family proud of me.” His video is to show “how much I love my family and how much they love me back,” he said.   Read more...