Opinion

With the passing of Urbana's Bill Walton, Chris shares his thoughts.

CNN Investigative Reporter Sara Ganim is now covering the Illini Athletic Department scandals. That's usually a bad sign for the programs she reports on, but great for finding out what's really happening.

In light of the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage equality, Matt takes a look at how central Illinois politicians have been ahead of the curve for quite some time.

Tyler takes a look at Urbana's new Traffic Stop Data Task Force, and what that means for the shocking racial disparity in arrests in C-U.

Chris shares his perspective on this past weekend's Independence Day events.

SP cartoonist Edwin Cho takes a look at the irony of the Confederate flag being flown in Central Illinois, amongst other things.

In the wake of the Charleston massacre, Brian takes a look at the Confederate flag in Champaign County.

Tom takes a look at Illinois tourism and how budget cuts might affect an easy way that the state generates income.

Yesterday, Lincoln's Challenge Academy in Rantoul was forced to close its doors because of a stalemate induced by Governor Bruce Rauner's ridiculous new budget plan, and that's probably the most heinous thing a politican could ever do.

Governor Rauner continues to promise budget cuts at the expense of some of the most under-represented groups in both C-U and the entire state. His bull-headedness could lead to a state government shutdown this week, leaving many state workers without pay and many dependant citizens without vital services.

Officer Jerad Gale was commended by the CPD for his actions as an officer while simultaneously being investigated for criminal sexual assault. He was eventually charged in two counties. Why wasn't he suspended during the investigation?

Right now, many academics have lost faith in the U of I, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The current administration can right the ship — they just have to demonstrate commitment to academic freedom, first, which seems to be much easier said than done.

The News-Gazette wrote some garbage about same-sex marriage. Tom takes out the trash.

This week, The Freecycle Network™ is asking you for money, despite the irony of its name.

Judge Richard Klaus was fired by the 6th Circuit. Tom explores why his peers lost faith in his abilities.

We're sorry, but not really sorry. After highlighting what makes this community one of the BEST — here are some of the WORST parts about it.

Ondine Gross and Stacey Gross helped to create the Gay-Straight Alliance at Centennial High School 10 years ago. Tom reflects on the importance of the GSA and wishes his school had done more when he was younger to advocate and educate.

Local police said they were breaking up a gunfight. Eyewitness testimony differs. The authorities have been silent about the case. What actually happened in Savoy when two young black men were struck by bullets?

Tom analyzes Downtown Champaign and suggests taking a cue from Iowa City by turning a portion of the area into a pedestrain mall.

Tom breaks down Mike Thomas's missteps and says it's time to say goodbye to an AD who harbors losers.

Three former Illini women's basketball players have alleged wrongdoing against Matt Bollant and his staff, adding to the University's troubles. Should this surprise anyone, though?

Brian weighs in on SWAT teams in C-U, and the necessity of an MRAP as a solution to several issues.

This week's Pauly Report tackles the extremely passive coverage from local sports media regarding the Simon Cvijanovic allegations against the University of Illinois football program.

When your government insists on injuring you, you know you've got some bad laws on the books.

You tried to give away your old microwave. Some hobo came along and clipped off its electrical cord. You're screwed.

Tom eats some crow and explores the historic run that the Illini Baseball team is on.

While there are plenty of reasons to admire some of the writing our local daily puts out, an ugly trend keeps rearing its ugly head. What they published Friday about the toxicology report regarding Cristian Zamora was absolutely disgraceful.

Tom was pretty floored by the plan to upgrade Willard Airport. If all goes according to plan, C-U could be in for major travel changes — in a good way.

Everybody hates this law.  Probably because of how much it sucks.

The “It's On Us” campaign is not especially controversial. But it is meaningful, especially for survivors.

The IHSA chose Peoria over Champaign to host the state basketball tournament for the next five years. But why?

Seriously, who cares?

Tom commends Carle, Champaign County, and the Prairie Center for creating a program that will help heroin addicts receive proper treatment

In which a supposedly progressive, sustainable city insists that you feed the landfill.

Eric has five takeaways and an honorable mention as he discusses the election madness of the past week.

Legalization of marijuana is inevitable. Urbana is going to have two medical dispensaries. Champaign is lagging behind. Will Deb Feinen think about preparing to make Champaign some money off the drug? Or is it not family friendly enough?

There's a couple of simple reasons why Seth decided to vote for Don on Tuesday. They are indicative of the small cities in which we all reside.  

You live in a pro-life theocracy. Did you know that?

No, she shouldn't resign from the school board — that's too much. Just the presidency. 

The local authorities and media stereotyped the crowd and the incident that occurred Wednesday night at Canopy Club. That's counterintuitive to making this an inclusive place.

Eric provides his thoughts on the local election cycle and gives five reasons to pay attention.

In the final installment of our look how the judicial system affects lower-income citizens, the subject goes from taking an unfair deal to what happens after release from incarceration.

Part 2 takes a further trip down the rabbit-hole of incarceration before a guilty verdict is even rendered.

Tom takes State Senator Bill Brady to task for his idea to privatize state universities by using math that he learned about at a state university.

In the first part of a three part series, Christopher details what it would be like to be arrested as a lower-income citizen and the challenges faced when dealing with the law.

Tom was in Austin, TX for the “You're Welcome” party that was organized by Champaign locals. The Pauly Report clears the air on what exactly went down at Licha's Cantina.

This week, C.G. Estabrook challenges political science and opinions from U of I professor Ed Kolodziej regarding the US relationship with Iran.

Now that the Champaign Park Board has shot down Unit 4's request for Dodds Park a second time, who are the real winners? Ultimately, who loses?