Smile Politely. Speak Directly. A Champaign-Urbana Culture Blog

You may be surprised to hear this, but it is now impossible for you to go to jail for small possessions of marijuana — in Urbana. This past Monday the Urbana City Council passed an ordinance requiring that all small possessions be handled as city ordinance tickets punishable by a fine only. This means no jail time and no state charge. There has been little to no media coverage of the drafting of this ordinance and very little public discussion. The only online reference to this ordinance is a brief mention in the September 15th City Council Agenda, as the 14th item. No minutes or any other information is provided on the website.

While decriminalization of marijuana has not been shown to lead to an increase in marijuana consumption, this ordinance does reflect a tolerance of marijuana use. Does this ordinance pave the way for wider acceptance of cannabis in the area, or is this just another case of "those crazy Urbana liberals" getting their way? And why hasn't anyone reported this ordinance in any of the local papers? I for one would like to see a healthy public discussion of this issue — not more reasons to ignore it.

Last night at the Cunningham Town Board meeting, proponents of instant runoff voting, a controversial method of election where voters are able to rank their preference of candidates on the ballot, scored a small victory when the board deferred a move that could have quashed their efforts to have an advisory referendum placed on the November ballot.

During the last few years activists have used the Cunningham Town meeting, where citizens are able to place to place advisory referendum on the November ballot largely free of elected officials, to push issues ranging from the withdrawal of troops from Iraq to the impeachment of President Bush.

Urbana City Council voted down an ordinance Monday night to make Urbana's Lincoln Hotel a historic landmark, a measure that would have secured the original 1923 structure built by local architect Joseph W. Royer.

Built in the Tudor-style, the downtown Urbana hotel has seen considerable ups and downs in its 85-year history along with a major addition constructed in a Bavarian-style aesthetic in the early 1980s by the Jumer's hotel brand.

Local and organic food has made a surge in the last few years with a growing number of American families putting local and organic grub on the dinner table. Tonight, the Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force is coming for you. Not to hand out slaps on the wrist for your food infractions, but rather to get some feedback on how the public views Illinois’ food systems.

After many separate discussions about enacting a ban on using cell phones while driving, the council has decided on an ordinance, but surprisingly, the new draft doesn't include talking on hand-held cell phones and hands-free units.

The ordinance put forth includes an amendment to prohibit sending text messages while driving a vehicle and an addition for bicyclists on the roadway to be susceptible to the same fines. Other elements of the ban include a hefty fine — maximum of $750 — if caught talking or texting on a cell phone while involved in an accident, and an educational program to teach the public about the new ordinance.

Late last year, the increasing prices of food and fuel were putting pressure on the Eastern Illinois Foodbank's ability to meet the needs of hungry people through its food pantries in the 14 counties surrounding Champaign County.

Since then, the price of oil hit a record high and the costs of basics such as rice have been soaring higher, too. With the U.S. economy having taken a turn for the worse, the lines at food banks have gotten longer.

Not surprisingly, things haven't gotten any easier for the food banks, either.

"The pressure has gotten much greater,"says Jim Hires, Executive Director at the Eastern Illinois Foodbank. "As lines at pantries have grown, we have not been able to increase our ability to acquire food."

Urbana City Council did not provide many answers concerning the proposed cell phone ban scheduled for a vote on Monday. Plenty of questions, however, were put forward. Should cyclists be prohibited from riding and talking? How will a cell phone ban affect our twin cities? And the fundamental question, should the ordinance be for hand-held cell phones only or should it include hands-free units?

City Attorney Ronald O'Neal asked for more time to draft the ordinance.

Last night — to an overflowing council chamber — Urbana City Council held a discussion to hear the opinions of the public concerning Urbana Public Television’s airing of an anti-Semitic show that many residents at the meeting deemed hate speech towards the Jewish community.

The extreme program spews hateful propaganda about the Jewish community and was provided to a local resident by an out-of-town source.

One resident called the situation “heartbreaking." A second dubbed the proposed revisions to UPTV’s manual concerning airing public-access programs “an empty disclaimer.”

UPTV revised some of their policies and procedures including a disclaimer at the beginning and end of all public access programming that states, “the City of Urbana does not condone or endorse speech that promotes fear, hatred, prejudice or discrimination toward any group based on religion, ethnicity, race, gender or sexual orientation, Kate Gorman, Station Manager of UPTV says.

The City of Urbana will be introducing a new type of sign to the landscape of the ever-growing Philo and Windsor developments: an electronic message board with business advertisements changing every 10 seconds.

The sign, soon to post in front of the Pines at Stonecreek Commons shopping center, veers away from the current ordinance which allows electronic messages to adjust once every three minutes.

Urbana Alderman Charlie Smyth introduced an ordinance last night — to a packed council chamber — that would ban cell phone usage while driving in Urbana.

After much discussion and public input, the council opted to further the conversation and allow City Attorney Ronald O’Neal to draft a new ordinance reflecting questions raised at last night’s meeting.

Smyth’s proposal included most mobile electronic devices, including hands-free sets such as Bluetooth devices. Council members voiced concerns over banning two-way cell phone devices for businesses such as towing services: how the ordinance would be enforced and how to educate the public about the ban.

Over the past eight months, Urbana's Public Arts Task Force (encompassing seventeen local working artists), with the support of Urbana's Art Coordinator, Anna Hochhalter, have developed a Public Arts Program for Urbana. In order to directly support the arts in our community, the new program calls for the creation of a permanent Public Arts Commission and Public Arts Trust Fund, with an allocation of $4 per capita going into the fund to support an Arts Director and Annual Grants. One percent of any city building construction or renovation project over a half a million dollars will be put aside for project costs for the arts as well. Their mission statement is as follows: "The Urbana Public Arts Commission is established to recognize the arts as essential to the vitality of our city. The commission fosters a dynamic, innovative Urbana, where all residents — emerging artists, established artists, and 'non-artists' alike — may engage with the arts in its many forms and where artists thrive and are valued."

Attention all Insight customers in Champaign County: you can say goodbye to your Insight prices. Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, bought out the other half of their partnership with Insight Communications and has fully moved into town. With over 24 million cable customers, Comcast now serves Champaign-Urbana, Peoria, Quincy-Macomb, Rockford-Dixon, and Springfield cable television systems in Illinois.

Urbana City Council passed a resolution last night to join an intergovernmental agreement to fight against AmerenIP’s rate hike. The council voted to revise the budget to include funds to protest in front of the Illinois Commerce Commission alongside other downstate Illinois cities.

According to Mayor Laurel Prussing, who laid out the issue last week in her “Mayor’s Report,” the electricity hike could cost the city more than $100,000 in street lighting alone. AmerenIP is currently proposing a 14 percent increase in rates over a two-year period along with an 11 percent increase in natural gas rates.

Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing delivered a report at last night’s Urbana City Council meeting, outlining a potential future increase in utility rates for Champaign County residents unless efforts from area cities to fight the rate hikes from Illinois American Water and AmerenIP are successful.

According to Prussing, the water company said the 60 percent increase does not include the total cost of the new water facility on West Bradley Avenue in Champaign and that the company may want to increase rates in the future.

Currently, the cities of Urbana and Champaign along with Savoy, Philo, Sydney and St. Joseph are spending $65,000 collectively to go up in front of the Illinois Commerce Commission to try and save $8 million for Champaign County customers.

Coffee drinkers: Perk up your ears.

Beloved Urbana coffeehouse and hipster study spot, Caffe Paradiso, changed ownership over the weekend. Café co-founder and owner Melissa Fanella had been looking to sell the business for the past year.

The café first opened in 1998 with partner Geoff Merritt of Parasol Records and That's Rentertainment. The café soon housed an extension of the John St. movie rental store, first in the seating area and then in the rental space adjacent to the cafe. After it ceased operations, Fanella continued to run the café with the help of the employees that had been on staff since its opening.

After weeks of keeping their new location under wraps, today Common Ground Food Co-op officially announces the site of their expanded store: Lincoln Square Village.

The co-op didn’t initially look at the former site of Lincoln Square Mall in downtown Urbana, but after discussing the 2200-foot space with city employees and managers at the Village, Common Ground Food Co-op was sold.

“We were actually blown away at how positive the conversation was, how excited they were about us and how excited we were about them,” Jacqueline Hannah, general manager of the co-op says.

Since opening its doors in 1958, local retailer Art Mart has been an integral and important part of the economic and cultural fabric in downtown Urbana. The store, which is located in Lincoln Square Village, sells a wide variety of unique home goods, toys and food.

Linda Ballard and Carol Ann Hurt, who are sisters, have owned Art Mart for the past 45 years. Beginning in February, Linda's daughter, Courtney Ballard McKay, and her husband, Brian McKay, will take over operations and ownership. The elder Ballards and the Hurts will continue as consultants as the business grows.