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Problems with leaking underground storage tanks persist in Illinois
Lawson Sizemore / For CU-CitizenAccess
/ April 15, 2025
Arcola roofing, construction contractor fined over $1.8 million for exposing workers to unsafe working conditions in past decade
Piotr Fedczuk / For CU-CitizenAccess
/ April 14, 2025
Several diseases on the rise in Champaign County as federal changes threaten prevention-based programs
Molly Hughes / For CU-CitizenAccess and Nazala Salauddin / For CU-CitizenAccess
/ April 14, 2025
About Us
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
Latest News
On Feb. 20, an anonymous student at the University of Illinois arrived at Carle Hospital at 1 a.m. and requested a sexual assault kit. In a mass email, the incident was reported...
Neighborhoods
On Feb. 20, an anonymous student at the University of Illinois arrived at Carle Hospital at 1 a.m. and requested a sexual assault kit. In a mass email, the incident was reported...
March 4, 2025
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ByMolly Hughes / For CU-CitizenAccess, Stephanie Orellana / For CU-CitizenAccess and Nazala Salauddin / For CU-CitizenAccess
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Lessie Ann Patterson lived in Monticello, Illinois, for 25 years before dying in 2015 from glioblastoma, a rapidly advancing brain cancer with an average survival time of 12 to 18 months. Belinda...
In 2023, the University of Illinois Police Department conducted 2,526 traffic stops — 19% lower than traffic stops made five years ago and nearly half of the 4,701 traffic stops recorded a...
Neighborhoods
On Feb. 20, an anonymous student at the University of Illinois arrived at Carle Hospital at 1 a.m. and requested a sexual assault kit. In a mass email, the incident was reported...
March 4, 2025
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Molly Hughes / For CU-CitizenAccess, Stephanie Orellana / For CU-CitizenAccess and Nazala Salauddin / For CU-CitizenAccess
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Lessie Ann Patterson lived in Monticello, Illinois, for 25 years before dying in 2015 from glioblastoma, a rapidly advancing brain cancer with an average survival time of 12 to 18 months. Belinda...
In 2023, the University of Illinois Police Department conducted 2,526 traffic stops — 19% lower than traffic stops made five years ago and nearly half of the 4,701 traffic stops recorded a...
Recent News
March 27, 2025
Courtney Dillon / For CU-CitizenAccess, Molly Hughes / For CU-CitizenAccess and Dylan Tiger
Driving while on the phone. Being pulled over without lights or sirens. Getting searched for incorrectly turning down a one-way. These are just some of the situations drivers...
March 19, 2025
Molly Hughes / For CU-CitizenAccess, Stephanie Orellana / For CU-CitizenAccess and Nazala Salauddin / For CU-CitizenAccess
The Illinois Department of Public Health has reasserted Piatt County has been added to the list of sites that its cancer registry examines each year after concerns about...
Wendy Dorman is the recipient of a NASA early career researcher grant to create a detailed grasslands map in Illinois to improve wildlife, agricultural and environmental understanding. Despite...
Head Start, an early childhood education program, hosts about 500 students a year with a budget of at least $9.1 million in federal funding in Champaign County. The...
March 4, 2025
Molly Hughes / For CU-CitizenAccess, Stephanie Orellana / For CU-CitizenAccess and Nazala Salauddin / For CU-CitizenAccess
Lessie Ann Patterson lived in Monticello, Illinois, for 25 years before dying in 2015 from glioblastoma, a rapidly advancing brain cancer with an average survival time of 12...
Numerous abandoned buildings still sit on the 2,125 acres of the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. Some are boarded up — others have broken doors...
Justice
In 2023, the University of Illinois Police Department conducted 2,526 traffic stops — 19% lower than traffic stops made five years ago and nearly half of the 4,701 traffic stops...
In the last 11 years, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has racked up at least $51.9 million in fines for 90 federal- and state-level offenses and violations in the United States. ...
In the ongoing legal battle between the City of Champaign and the troubled Champaign Park Apartments, the court recently ordered inspection of heating systems and that the owners pay utility...
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...