Champaign County | featured news

Justin Thompson, 32, pleaded guilty Friday before Judge Tom Difanis to attempted criminal sexual assault in connection with an Aug. 31 attack on a woman he had just met that day.

URBANA — A man who admitted he tried to have sex with a woman against her will has been sentenced to three years of probation and six months in the county jail.

Part of a group of women responsible for stealing several thousand dollars worth of gift cards and merchandise from Target, 2102 N. Prospect Ave., C, between Dec. 13 and Jan. 3.

URBANA — Another woman who admitted her role in a gift card theft scheme from a local box store has been sentenced to probation.

The Mailbag is stuffed like a robin after a summer thunderstorm. Infrastructure questions about a lawsuit over the Windsor Road rebuild in Urbana, the front stairs to Foellinger Auditorium, a leaky roof at a mausoleum in Champaign, a soon-to-be-demolished house in central Champaign, the old Taffie's restaurant at Country Fair and a debris-clogged bike lane. Also, pulled pork sandwiches, the plastic bag tax and (again) offensive license plates.

Illinois State University student Roxana 'Roxy' Brown is now about 90 percent recovered from injuries she sustained in the May 5 rollover on the highway just south of Monticello Road.

CHAMPAIGN — For Rob Brown, the events that all lined up to help save the life of his 20-year-old daughter were nothing short of a miracle.

Outspoken instructor John Bambenek called on officials Thursday to be more transparent about employee sexual harassment and other misconduct and allow outside police agencies to investigate those cases.

Ruby Hunt, who fought for the busing of students in the 1970s, is one of five local women who will be honored Saturday by the Champaign County Section of the National Council of Negro Women.

CHAMPAIGN — In the 1970s, there was no doubt in Ruby Hunt's mind that busing was the next step toward erasing the world she grew up in.

Which eye vitamin or vitamin supplement is best to slow the progression of macular degeneration? Would that choice need to be updated with aging and the state of the progression?

Q: Which eye vitamin or vitamin supplement is best to slow the progression of macular degeneration? Would that choice need to be updated with aging and the state of the progression?

Unlike the other four Taco Bells in C-U, this one won't have a drive-thru.

Submit your question for Tom's Mailbag by clicking here. His answers arrive at 2 p.m. Fridays
Another Taco Bell is coming to Champaign-Urbana, this one near campus.

Today is Friday, May 17, 2019. Here are local news reports from 100, 50 and 15 years ago:
In 1919, the Rev. Alfred Wicks of the Sidney Methodist Church alleged that favoritism was used to determine which Sidney village streets would be oiled.
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Today is Friday, May 17, the 137th day of 2019. There are 228 days left in the year.
Today's highlight
On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages.
On this date
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