Read more about the article Over 100 restaurants failed inspections in Champaign County in the past two years, but failures hard to find in online database
Ambar India on Wright Street in Urbana received a red placard in January 2021. Screenshot from Google Street View.

Over 100 restaurants failed inspections in Champaign County in the past two years, but failures hard to find in online database

After a routine inspection, only 10 restaurants were closed due to non-compliance with safety regulations and 116 restaurants received food safety alerts for less…

Continue ReadingOver 100 restaurants failed inspections in Champaign County in the past two years, but failures hard to find in online database
Read more about the article Contaminated drinking water from Peoples Gas leak persists, funds to fix frozen as lawsuit continues
Ignited, contaminated water from the Spiro's Law website. "In some places, the amount of concentrated gas is enough to set the water coming out of a kitchen sink on fire," the website about the lawsuit said.

Contaminated drinking water from Peoples Gas leak persists, funds to fix frozen as lawsuit continues

A 2016 gas leak into the drinking water supply north of Mahomet continues to be a hot topic even five years later as 2021 nears its end. The first official report of a methane leak from the underground holding wells of Peoples Gas was reported on December 20, 2016. The problem location was County Rd 350 E. in the township of Newcomb, just north of Mahomet and near Fisher, IL. Peoples Gas claims to have capped off the well which was leaking and terminated its use. However, homes in the vicinity were still affected by the leak. 

Continue ReadingContaminated drinking water from Peoples Gas leak persists, funds to fix frozen as lawsuit continues
Read more about the article Majority of Champaign and Urbana police live elsewhere; Effect of non-residency on community policing debated nationallyDarrell Hoemann
The window for the Urbana Police Department office inside the Urbana City Hall on Thursday, September 4, 2014. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access

Majority of Champaign and Urbana police live elsewhere; Effect of non-residency on community policing debated nationally

The vast majority of police staff members in Champaign-Urbana don't live in the cities they serve. Local and national experts attempting to unravel community policing solutions see residency as one more piece of the puzzle, but other factors may turn out to be more important for the community's residents.

Continue ReadingMajority of Champaign and Urbana police live elsewhere; Effect of non-residency on community policing debated nationally
Read more about the article State database reveals details of Covid-19 outbreaks in Champaign County
Rantoul Foods in Rantoul, IL on Sunday, May 17, 2020. photo by Darrell Hoemann/The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

State database reveals details of Covid-19 outbreaks in Champaign County

Previously confidential statewide data tracking coronavirus cases across Illinois shows that there have been at least 50 different outbreaks in Champaign County traced to restaurants, stores, churches, nursing homes, hospitals and in a county office. The internal database kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health has tracked case counts for nearly 2,600 separate outbreaks across Illinois. In Champaign County, the number of cases in individual outbreaks ranges from two at the Carle Clinic in Mahomet to 97 at Rantoul Foods in Rantoul, which CU-CitizenAccess has previously reported. The database also listed cases at Cunningham Children’s Home (8) , Plastipak (14) and the Champaign County Jail in Urbana (4). The data also includes the ‘unofficial prom party’ in Champaign County where there were 17 confirmed Covid-19 cases. That prom party has been reported as being in Mahomet.

Continue ReadingState database reveals details of Covid-19 outbreaks in Champaign County