2021 – Page 7 – CU-CitizenAccess.org

Farm acreage at the 1831 2500N, Thomasboro, IL belonging to Baloo Enterprises LLC on Saturday, March 13, 2021. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access

Illinois billionaire Shahid Khan investing in thousands of acres of the state’s farmland

Post author:Marissa Plescia / Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and Dylan Tiger
Post published:April 1, 2021
Post category:Agriculture

In recent years, Urbana billionaire Shahid Khan has added to investments by quietly purchasing farmland through a company he owns called Baloo Enterprises LLC. A spokesperson for Khan confirmed earlier this month that Khan has purchased roughly 24,000 acres of farmland in central Illinois.

Read more about the article Campus counseling center vows to meet student needs after social media criticism

r/UIUC

The logo for r/UIUC on Reddit.com. From the community wiki page.

Campus counseling center vows to meet student needs after social media criticism

Post author:Daria Makhneva / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:March 12, 2021
Post category:Blog Education Health Care

A university student criticized the University of Illinois Counseling Center in a Reddit thread, describing being turned away in tears during a “serious mental health crisis”, but were turned away because they “already had an appointment six months ago.” The counseling center responds with a commitment to student needs.

Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity on the University of Illinois campus has been placed on conduct probation until Nov. 16, 2021 after violating mask protocol and city emergency orders.

Additional campus COVID complaints show more unsafe, unhealthy and outlandish behavior

Post author:Dylan Tiger
Post published:March 10, 2021
Post category:CU-Covid19 Education

Students selling negative saliva test samples on Snapchat. Fraternity members threatening students for taking pictures of long bar lines. People leaving quarantine and isolation dorms to pick up Doordash food orders and then socialize. These were the events among the 200 complaints sent to university officials in the latter part of the fall semester in 2020 at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Yidong "Ivor" Chen. Source: Change.org

University student readmitted after public outcry against “unfair” COVID disciplinary policy

Post author:Daria Makhneva / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:February 24, 2021
Post category:CU-Covid19 Education

A fourth-year international Ph.D. student who was dismissed from the University of Illinois for COVID non-compliance in the fall 2020 semester has been readmitted after public outcry. Now, he has proposed solutions to create a more “transparent and humane” policy.

Limited grants open for small businesses, local agency encourages applications

Post author:Claire O'Brien / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:February 8, 2021
Post category:Business CU-Covid19

The Local Initiative Supports Corporation partnered with Verizon to open a grant program for small businesses.

Source: U.S. Farm Credit Administration

Restaurants, religious organizations among top local industries that received PPP loans

Post author:Claire O'Brien / For CU-CitizenAccess and Dylan Tiger
Post published:February 8, 2021
Post category:Business CU-Covid19 Public Funds

The Small Business Administration released more data about businesses who received Paycheck Protection Program loans under $150,000. Previously, the SBA did not release business names for businesses that received loans under $150,000.

Champaign-Urbana Public Health District

Vaccination eligibility expands, new COVID strain found in county as campus cases show signs of increase

Post author:Claire O'Brien / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:February 3, 2021
Post category:CU-Covid19

After an opening week of classes where cases on campus ranged from 8 to 20 or so, the university reported 66 cases on Monday. On Feb. 2, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District reported the first cases of the U.K. strain of COVID-19 in Champaign County.

Champaign-Urbana social-media community exploded in hundreds of comments under the Facebook and Reddit posts discussing a long line of people waiting at the entrance of one of the campus bars – Red Lion, on January 23, 2021.

First Weekend Back: Social media targets bars, student crowds

Post author:Daria Makhneva / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:February 1, 2021
Post category:Blog CU-Covid19

On January 18, Tier 1 mitigation requirements were announced for all regions with a test positivity rate of 8% or higher for three days or more. Champaign County, however, is in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois reopening plan, which allows indoor dining at bars and restaurants. So, most of the campus bars opened their doors during the weekend of January 23. That afternoon, two social media users shared on Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook almost the same picture of a crowd of students in the line at the Red Lion bar.

The empty lobby entrance of the Extended Stay America in Columbia, MO, on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.

COVID on Campus: Tracking and isolating students was hit-and-miss

Post author:Hali Tauxe, Danielle Duclos, Chris Martucci, Gavin Good and Julia Morrison, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Post published:January 28, 2021
Post category:CU-Covid19 Education Public Health

This story was originally published on www.investigatemidwest.org: COVID on Campus was reported during the fall semester by student journalists examining the impact of the…