Last week many of us were glued to our weather apps, trying to calculate the odds of being blown away in severe thunderstorms. Thankfully the worst of it missed Champaign-Urbana, although there were 11 confirmed …
Posts by Editorial Board:
Please vote next week
This Editorial Board has written about the importance of local elections many, many times, offering our takes on local politics each election cycle for several years. Our motivation in doing this is to inform you, …
The City of Urbana needs you
The Youth Services Grant Program in Urbana is back this year and is ready for your participation. If there were a path for you to foster impact in Urbana the way you would like to, …
What’s going on in the Urbana School District?
From contract negotiations to football fields to school assignments, Champaign Unit 4 has had some drama. But they are not the only area school district with public controversies: Urbana has had its fair share of …
Supporting student safety and well-being is a shared enterprise
Alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, a second crisis has been impacting Champaign-Urbana over the last several years. Gun violence. 2021 was especially bad. The number of confirmed reports of shots fired more than doubled from the …
C-U’s labor shortage: Child care, businesses and transportation
There is a labor shortage in Champaign-Urbana, and Champaign County has been affected in three main areas: child care, businesses, and transportation.
What happens when extra SNAP benefits run out?
Since April 2020, families eligible for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have been receiving an extra $95 each month as part of COVID emergency allotments. This extra assistance expires February 28th, which means …
Unit 4 created change, not chaos
Change, not Chaos. Over the past several months, we’ve seen these gold and black signs scattered across front lawns in Champaign. They came from a group of parents formed in response to recent proposed changes …
Negligent landlords and renters’ rights in C-U
For low- and moderate-income residents in Champaign-Urbana, affordable, safe, and comfortable housing is hard to come by. Like many social issues, this issue has only been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. The League of Women …
A look at 2023 Illinois politics
Happy New Year, readers, and welcome to the newest version of Smile Politely. Our website isn’t the only thing that’s new — there’s a new General Assembly and legislative session. To kick off 2023, we’ve …