Some unlikely advocates have emerged in the fight to lift a 1997 ban on rent control in Illinois – manufactured home owners who are upset with the increasing cost of their lot rents.
Due to a tight budget, Champaign County Veterans Assistance Commission has had to turn away 138 veterans so far this year requesting financial help. Last year they turned away 151 veterans. The organization receives funding from Champaign County. They provide temporary financial assistance to veterans, including helping with mortgage or rent payments, utility payments, and food and family essentials. As of this fall, they’ve spent about $69,750 of the budget, Superintendent Brad Gould said. There are over 9,000 veterans in Champaign County , according to the latest figure from U.S. Census Bureau. The low budget has been a problem for several years. In 2014, the commission had to turn away 177 veterans. According to the commission annual report, 52 percent of the budget goes towards helping veterans with their rent, 6 percent towards helping with mortgage and 42 percent goes towards helping with utilities.
Amid allegations of sexual misconduct on campus, The Daily Illini has filed six requests for documents relating to sexual misconduct claims. All six requests have been denied, even when they were only for an aggregate number of complaints.
From May 1 to Oct. 31, 2018 public health officials temporarily closed or failed 16 restaurants, eateries and cafes, according to a review of inspection records from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. Inspectors failed eight restaurants between Jan. 1, 2018 and April 30, 2018.
Jack Brighton/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
A new report published by several state environmental groups shows severe pollution of groundwater at nearly every known coal ash storage site in Illinois.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking comment on a proposal by Dynegy Midwest, LLC to install a rock wall to prevent millions of gallons of coal ash from polluting the Middle Fork River in Vermilion County.
U.S. Congressman Danny Davis, Democrat, of District 7 has occupied his seat in the House of Representatives for over 20 years. Davis was re-elected to his seat on earlier this month – defeating his opponent Republican Craig Cameron by more than 80 percent of the votes. And each year, Davis has one of the lowest campaign spending and contribution amounts of the Illinois representatives, spending anywhere from $300,000 to $600,000 and raising as little as $200,000 and as much as $600,000.
Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL 10th District) was one of the top campaign spenders among Illinois candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016. For the competitive race in District 10, he reported expenditures of about $5.6 million in the 2015-2016 election cycle. But for this year’s race, he only spent $1.5 million so far, according to federal election records.
Rush.house.gov
A 2018 report from the House Committee on Ethics shows Democratic Representative Bobby Rush is still utilizing the federal campaign finance system to benefit his family despite following a 2016 questioning by the Federal Election Committee. In 2016, the Federal Election Commission inquired into Rush’s campaign finance report due to vague categories of expenditures. Additionally, watchdog groups have questioned the large amounts of campaign money going to Rush’s family members.
Eugene White
New York City’s 1969 Stonewall Riots were arguably the catalyst for the modern Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning (LGBTQ) rights movement, with drag…