Smile Politely

SPlog

A fall parenting hack for you

It’s October! Time for your social media feeds to be filled with gourd coffees, impossible decorating inspiration, and cute families in cozy sweaters going apple picking. And as much as I love cider doughnuts, I …

Happy Pride Fest!

We are in the midst of Pride Fest week in Champaign-Urbana, and that culminates in a whole bunch of events this week from Queer Homecoming to the Pride Fest Fair and Parade, to a Drag Show. To see …

Coming soon: Stango Bites food truck

Get excited because beignets are coming to the streets of Champaign-Urbana with the launch of Stango Bites, a new C-U food truck by Stango Cuisine. The food truck will have a curated menu of popular …

The spotted lanternfly has made its way to Illinois

Experts with the Illinois Department of Agriculture have identified the spotted lanternfly in Illinois, in Cook County, which means you might eventually find them down this way. Like terrible ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, and former roommates, the …

Donate blood please, Champaign-Urbana

Current blood supply is critically low. If you are a human with blood and meet the donor requirements (which were updated this year to be more inclusive), please donate blood. The Urbana blood donation center …

It’s a great time to be in C-U

Friends, we are in peak cultural season in Champaign-Urbana, and I am very excited to be here.  After a fantastic ELLNORA weekend, we are now in the thick of PYGMALION. If you missed last night’s festivities, DO NOT FEAR! …

Here’s a fun way to see what librarians do all day

The Preservation and Conservation Library introduced their new, unofficial non-binary mascot. Meet Ash (they/them), Ash is an illustrated character by @danikey_art. they were created to reflect the library’s diverse workforce and illustrate what the librarians …

Find Bird bikes in Champaign

The micro-mobility transportation company Bird’s e-bikes are now available in Champaign.  Shoutout to Champaign Showers, who found these rentable Bird bikes in Downtown Champaign: BIRD. (also new bikes just dropped. competition for veo?!?) https://t.co/S35KDF5zye — …

Check out this community event with Renaldo Hudson

Illinois Humanities is partnering with community organization First Followers and Renaldo Hudson as part of an Envisioning Justice Activation event. This event plans to “highlight the importance of including perspectives from individuals serving long-term sentences …

FOX pulled a pretty shady move on Champaign

The FOX Big Noon Kickoff show was supposed to be broadcasting from Champaign for the Illinois-Penn State football game. At the last minute, they reversed course and are sticking with Colorado, where they were last …

LIHEAP energy assistance applications open in October

The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission has funds available for income-eligible households to receive help paying their energy bills. The Low-Income Household Energy Assistance Program is for households at or below 200 percent of the federal …