Darrell Hoemann/CU-CitizenAccess.org
CU-CitizenAccess.org contributor and University of Illinois alumnus Robert Holly recently won a creative writing award for his in-depth coverage of a congregation in Bristol…
Each summer, hundreds of seasonal workers leave their homes in Texas and Mexico and travel more than 1,000 miles north to work in the corn fields of central Illinois. Many of those hundreds make their way to Rantoul, a village of about 13,000 people in Champaign County and the summer home of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign football team's training sessions. As the sessions get underway in mid-August, the hundreds of migrant workers wrap up the first wave of agriculture work in nearby corn fields.
Darrell Hoemann/CU-CitizenAccess.org
Sari Lesk/For CU-CitizenAccess.org -- After about twice the average snowfall hit Central Illinois this winter, local government bodies are increasing their budgets to address needs…
Darrell Hoemann/CU-CitizenAccess.org
By Klaudia Dukala/For CU-CitizenAccess.org -- When consultant Alan Kalmanoff was conducting his assessment on the Champaign County jails, he noticed inmates with mental health problems…
Darrell Hoemann/The News-Gazette
After more than 10 years of debate and studies of the defects of the downtown Champaign County jail, county officials still have no clear plan to replace it.
Darrell Hoemann/CU-CitizenAccess.org
By Erik Prado/ For CU-CitizenAccess.org -- The Urbana Park District offers a wide range of services including 19 community parks and facilities such as swimming pools and gymnasiums. But the district is now concerned about the impact of the loss of tax revenue from the Carle Foundation.
By Claire Benjamin -- I'm a farmer's daughter, but I can't navigate the grain elevator, grease the combine or repair fence lines. I have never…
By Sari Lesk/For CU-CitizenAccess.org -- Voters in Champaign County are about to decide who should hold power over their tax dollars. They will have their…
Darrell Hoemann
Robert “Chip” Petrea was trying to feed damp yellow hay into a red baler on a wet Sunday afternoon in 1978, but the machine refused to pick it up. Petrea was working in a low-lying field that frequently flooded. A storm was headed toward the 89-acre dairy farm located just outside Iuka in south-central Illinois, and he knew that the already soggy hay would be ruined by the coming rain if he could not find a way to get it to bale.
File photo
By Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess.org -- Urbana city inspectors, under an agreement with Champaign County, may be visiting the Cherry Orchard property soon to inspect…
