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CU-CitizenAccess is an online newsroom devoted to community and watchdog reporting by journalism students at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
The newsroom focuses mostly on Champaign County and central Illinois, but produces occasional regional, national and international stories.
NEW TOOL: Click here to search Champaign County property by owner name — a feature removed by county officials
In January, a resident staying at a nursing home in Urbana fell from her recliner while reaching for her glasses. Several days later, she was left temporarily unattended near the bathroom while...
In 2023, 13 property owners in Champaign County owned over 100 properties each. The largest property owner, by far, is the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, with at least 400 properties...
A cigarette butt flicked out of an open window. A late-night pizza sitting in the oven for too long. A hair curler left on during a night out. These scenarios are...
In the first two months of this year, there were around 10 calls per day to emergency services regarding domestic violence and disputes in Champaign County. It is the leading statistic for...
In 2023, 13 property owners in Champaign County owned over 100 properties each. The largest property owner, by far, is the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, with at least 400 properties...
A cigarette butt flicked out of an open window. A late-night pizza sitting in the oven for too long. A hair curler left on during a night out. These scenarios are...
In the first two months of this year, there were around 10 calls per day to emergency services regarding domestic violence and disputes in Champaign County. It is the leading statistic for...
In 2023, 13 property owners in Champaign County owned over 100 properties each. The largest property owner, by far, is the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, with...
Deaths from opioid overdoses in Illinois are on the decline in 2024, showing a reversal after the record-high numbers seen in 2022. Drug prevention experts point to the...
A multiple-alarm fire — a fire severe enough to necessitate additional resources — is rare for the Champaign Fire Department to encounter. But last spring, the department responded...
One year after the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act, state data shows the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Champaign, recorded one of the highest numbers of...
Last academic year, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign saw nearly 1,200 cases of academic integrity violations, a 19.4% increase from the previous school year’s 1,000 cases. Of...
Kitchens at the assisted living facility Bickford of Champaign have reopened about seven weeks after receiving a red placard and failing its health inspection on Sept. 5. Last...
Six of nine central Illinois county jails fail to meet state standards for a respiratory illness isolation cell, state records show. A review of 2023 inspection reports for Illinois county...
From 2012 to 2023, for every 10 white people booked at the Champaign County jail, 17 nonwhite people were booked. CU-CitizenAccess.org obtained years of jail booking data from the Champaign...
One year after the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act, state data shows the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Champaign, recorded one of the highest numbers of pretrial investigations...
This article was originally published by IPM Newsroom on July 24, 2024. This article was updated with additional reporting about Grayson’s claims to have been discharged honorably and the circumstances...