Champaign County | featured news

This week's Mailbag features questions about the Kickapoo Rail Trail, Cowboy Monkey, brick streets, flower beds, a loud Nelly concert last weekend, a "ghost sign" on an old Champaign building, missing trees along Mattis, Champaign's police review committee and who-ya-gonna-call about property maintenance questions.

Friday night's Nelly concert was over the top on the sound level. I live four miles away as the crow flies and felt like I was on the dance floor.

Submit questions for Tom's Mailbag by clicking here. A sample of what's to come at 2 p.m. today::

East Central Illinois is under a tornado watch until 6 p.m. Counties include Champaign, Vermilion, Piatt, DeWitt, Ford, Iroquois and Macon.You should monitor the conditions and be prepared to take shelter.

'We want a system that is less focused on legal compliance and more focused on prohibiting sexual harassment in any form,' said law Professor Rob Kar, who leads the 12-member committee.

With preliminary races set for midday today and finals on Saturday, many area high school athletes have a tough decision to make.

When he saw the date and time for Mahomet-Seymour's graduation this year, senior Mathias Powell had to break the news to his parents that he wouldn't be going.

The 13-6 rejection vote included 12 Democrats who seemed to be reacting to the decision of County Executive Darlene Kloeppel, a fellow Democrat, to deny a request by appointments committee Chairman Charles Young to sit in with her on interviews.

URBANA — The approval of appointees to various boards is usually a routine matter for the Champaign County Board.
Not so this month.

How did local hospitals do in this spring's Leapfrog Hospital Safety grades?

Q: How did local hospitals do in this spring's Leapfrog Hospital Safety grades?
A: They all got high marks. Carle Foundation Hospital and OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center got the top "A" grade and OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center got a "B" grade.

In this week's edition of our feature spotlighting area religious leaders, staff writer Tim Mitchell talks with the Rev. Dave Garver, pastor at Muncie First Baptist Church in western Vermilion County.

It's among Vermilion County's most beloved holiday traditions — the live Nativity at Muncie First Baptist Church, complete with camels, donkeys and lambs.

The $3 million project planned as part of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building that opened in 2014 was completed this spring, pushing it closer to its ultimate goal of 'net-zero' energy use.

URBANA — In April, sunshine began powering about 25 percent of the labs, offices and classrooms in one of the newest high-tech buildings at the University of Illinois.

For as long as News-Gazette Media radio operations Manager JIM LEWIS can remember, WDWS has been the local radio home for the Indianapolis 500. The tradition continues at 10 a.m. Sunday.

For as long as News-Gazette Media radio operations Manager JIM LEWIS can remember, WDWS has been the local radio home for the Indianapolis 500.