food

8 restaurants fail October health inspections

Submitted by Dan Petrella on Tue, 2011-11-08 14:13

By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- Eight restaurants in Champaign County failed public health inspections in October, according to new records obtained by CU-CitizenAccess.

Among the failures was Geovanti's Bar & Grill, 401 E. Green St., Champaign. The Campustown restaurant scored 31 out of 100 on its Oct. 20 inspection by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.

The failed inspection was Geovanti's sixth since September 2008, the most of any eatery in the county.

Landon Cassman/CU-CitizenAccess -- Geovanti's Bar & Grill failed a public health inspection in October, its sixth failure in about three years.

New records show more restaurant inspection failures

Submitted by Dan Petrella on Wed, 2011-10-26 17:03

By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- When public health officials conducted a routine inspection of Quiznos in Urbana last month, they discovered 12 critical health-code violations.

They included a “bag of brown lettuce found soaking in liquid in [the] walk-in cooler;” vegetables, cheese and salad dressings stored at improper temperatures; and employees cleaning cutting boards and knives without a proper sanitizer. When inspection was finished Quiznos had scored a negative 22 on the district’s 100-point grading scale.

As a result, inspectors from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District suspended Quiznos health permit on Sept. 26 and temporarily closed the restaurant at 114 N. Vine St.

Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- Quiznos in Urbana was one of 27 restaurants that failed health inspections during the past six months. The sandwich shop was closed temporarily after scoring negative 22 on a 100-point scale during a September inspection.

Rural poverty presents unique challenges

Submitted by Dan Petrella on Thu, 2011-06-30 12:55

By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess – Brenda MacPeek’s husband used to earn decent money as a long-haul truck driver, making runs all the way out to Colorado.

But last September, the couple lost their home in Aroma Park, near Kankakee, because they were both out of work. They relocated to a doublewide mobile home in Ludlow, a town of 371 in northeastern Champaign County.

Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess - Rhonda Moore, a Ludlow school board member, helped start a food pantry in the rural Champaign County town. Held the fourth Saturday of each month, the pantry has seen demand increase steadily since opening three years ago.

Free or reduced lunch aid soars in public schools

Submitted by ssmithson on Mon, 2009-12-07 18:21

RANTOUL-- At Broadmeadow Intermediate Grade Level Center in Rantoul, third graders quietly file through the cafeteria line and pick up a hot lunch of turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and fruited gelatin. Eight out of every 10 children waiting in the lunchroom line this year are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Shelley Smithson/ Mo Knell serves hot lunches to students at Broadmeadow school in Rantoul.

Urbana Rotary Club pledges money to help feed school children

Submitted by The News-Gazette on Thu, 2009-10-01 11:40

A program that sends backpacks full of food home with needy schoolchildren every weekend will expand to a fifth Champaign County site this fall.

The Urbana Rotary Club has pledged $22,500 over the next three years to support the Eastern Illinois Foodbank´s BackPack Program at Prairie Elementary School in Urbana.

The program combats hunger by providing weekend groceries for children, distributed in backpacks on Friday afternoons to ensure students return to school on Mondays fed and ready to learn.