Looking for a small yet impactful action to help others this week? Here are two from our local townships. City of Champaign Township is looking for “free and clear” laundry detergent pods to stock in …
You could also just go alone, but if you go with a friend or partner, you can order some things to share, like the yummy crepes or a croughnuts, which is what I did this …
Illinois Athletics and Busey Bank are partnering again to bring a free movie to the field at Memorial Stadium on August 12th. Last year it was a whole event, with inflatables, games, and autographs from …
July 16th is National Ice Cream Day, and I want a sundae this Sunday in honor of the holiday. It’s no coincidence that National Ice Cream Day lands on a Sunday — that was very …
Actually, the website refers to it as a “playshop” rather than a workshop. Instructor Mary Wolters, who also offers garden yoga a couple of times a week, will be teaching a full sequence of Thai …
Krannert Art Museum has just announced they are the recipients of a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The grant program awarded more than $4 million to 49 arts organizations and …
Greener Goods Shop + Refillery is having a community game swap on Saturday July 15th, kicking off at 11:30 a.m. If you missed it, Greener Goods is a new addition to Downtown Champaign that focuses on selling sustainable and low-waste/no-waste …
Former English and Creative Writing major at U of I Justine Chan will be at The Literary Friday, July 14th for an event promoting her new book, Should You Lose All Reason(s), a collection of …
The Inman has a fancy new sign, just installed at the corner of Walnut and University in Downtown Champaign. Royse + Brinkmeyer bought the building last year, and opened it to renters of all ages. …
Today the City of Champaign shared the above photo of Centennial Park in 1961, two years after its opening in 1959. It’s an interesting exercise to stare at it and try to mentally add the …
Yes, Spurlock Museum has some amazing exhibits that you can stop in and visit, but they also have a roboust amount of event programming throughout the academic year that is available to everyone in the …
Blake Wolters graduated from Mahomet-Seymour High School just a few months ago, and this week he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Wolters is the …
Originally celebrated every July 13th, National French Fry Day is now celebrated on the second Friday of July after people pleaded for Fry Day to always be a Friday. We can get free fries from …
The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine will host its annual open house on Sunday, October 1st. This year’s theme is “not all heroes wear capes, some are veterinarians.” Not to be too much …
On Thursday evening, the Rose Bowl Tavern will host an intimate evening of music with singer/songwriter/guitarist Kelsey Waldon as she celebrates the release of her highly anticipated new album, No Regular Dog. Known for her …
Anticipated for mid-September, Afghan Cuisine restaurant will open in Champaign at 723 S Neil Street, where El Toro used be. Afghan Cuisine first opened this March as a counter service restaurant inside Strawberry Fields and …
It’s time for the next Hamilton Walker’s dinner. This time, they are bringing Caymus Vineyard to the restaurant, and will be pairing their wines with five different courses prepared by Chef Zach. You have two …
For the second year, Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and Champaign Health Partnership, alongside Unit 4 School District and the Wayne McClain Pipeline Foster Grandparent Foundation and a host of community partners, will be hosting a …
Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Monticello is currently seeking outdoor light sculptures for their Holiday GLOW program. This upcoming season will mark the seventh year for the exhibit. Holiday GLOW is an approximately one …
Inside of Cracked: The Egg Came First, the current owners are trying something new: a recurring pop-up restaurant for dinner. The pop-up is called Dee-Dee’s Beef, and I went to last week’s pop-up and tried …
Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County is planning for 2024-2025 builds. If home buying is out of reach for you, and you’re interested in being considered, you can apply to be a part of their …
I have a couple of nostaligic memories of Franklin Park in Bloomington (I grew up in Normal). When I was in high school, my mom, a nurse, worked at a doctor’s office nearby. In the …
Last year, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) powered up their new Delta computing system. At the time, Co-Principal Investigator and Deputy Project Director Tim Boerner told us that “Delta will be used by …
Look, no one needs to twist my arm to get food from the wide variety of delicious restaurants that serve some form of Asian cuisine in this town, but I am here for this challenge …
Girls Rock C-U is a very cool summer camp for femme-identifying young people to learn how to be in a band. They are grouped together, learn instruments, write and record a song, and play a …
Busey University Avenue location in Downtown Champaign now has a display of art works from kids at Cunningham Children’s Home and Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club, in the East Lobby. If you can’t make …
In the spring, Allerton Park and Retreat Center announced their plans to launch the first folk school in Illinois, a program which is “adult-centered and includes an informal style of learning that sees community members …
In the past week alone we’ve had the second worst air quality in the world, followed by a dangerous storm that swept through the area with 80 mph winds. Trees are down all over the …
We love a food truck in Champaign-Urbana. Of course, we have taco trucks, but our bellies have been blessed with food trucks that sling doughnuts, Chicago eats, empanadas, from-scratch pizza, wings stuffed with macaroni, and …
This week has been wild, huh? Apocalyptic, even. Seems like a good time for us to take a bit of a break. Next week, Smile Politely will be taking a publishing break. And no, it’s not actually …
The cities of Urbana and Champaign will collect tree limb and brush debris. Urbana will collect on July 5th. You can only put out tree debris — no construction materials — and they must be …
During his Year of the Park series, Seth discussed the swimming hole and giant slide that was once a part of Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve District. This week Champaign County Forest Preserve District …
Last month, the Carl R. Woese Institute of Genomic Biology hosted their annual Pollen Power summer camp, which began in 2013. The aim of the camp is “exposing middle schoolers to topics in plant biology …
The 10th annual C-U Oktoberfest will take place in Downtown Champaign on Saturday, September 30th. All proceeds benefit Developmental Services Center; this fundraiser is always a good time with tasty German-style food and lively music. …
Champaign County Health Care Consumers, Carle Health, and the University of Illinois are partnering to create Hope Village, a nonprofit organization that will house at risk community members, and provide case management as well. From …
This week the Champaign County History Museum posed a trivia question, shown below: Sorry for the partial spoiler in the title, but they’ve already shared the answer. The archway gives it away, right? But, I …
If you’ve been to Old Time Meat & Deli on Neil Street, you’ve seen these humongous twice-baked potatoes in the middle of the meat store. They are some good looking spuds. Each twice-baked potato ($4.29) …
Last month, MTD retired the last four diesel buses in their fleet. This month, eight more hybrid buses have joined the fleet, four 40 foot and four 60 foot. That brings the bus total to …
Following a few announcements so far, the latest addition to PYGMALION is Sen Morimoto, the acclaimed Japanese American singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, on Saturday, September 23rd, in the yet-to-open Gallery Art Bar. This Chicago-based virtuoso, …
This makes sense of course, since there will be completely different services in that building, once it has been renovated. It’s the end of an era, for sure. Last month the U of I Board …
Namken Nutrition opened a second location of their Decatur meal-prep business at The Pines yesterday. The new Urbana business sells prepped re-heatable meals and housemade protein bars in addition to made-to-order smoothies on their everyday …
Martin D. Burke, professor at Carle Illinois College of Medicine, is leading a research team, along with a team from University of Iowa, to develop an inhaled drug that would deliver “a molecular prosthetic that …
The Champaign Urbana Public Health District building has a new mural by Jose Vazquez. It’s colorful and well painted — it looks awesome. I’m particularly impressed by the use of color to build shading and …
In the fall of 2020, with your help, we mapped Champaign-Urbana’s little libraries. It’s been a couple of years, and things have changed. Email us the locations (and photos, if you have them) of your …
If you’ve driven by the County Market on Duncan lately, you may have seen a row of bright white Tesla charging stations. I’ve seen a fair number of Teslas in Champaign County but to me …
Run to Remember, an event hosted by Christie Clinic Illinois Race Weekend to “honor the memories of those we miss, cherish those within our midst, and work together for a peaceful tomorrow,” is happening September …
Tuesday, June 27th is National HIV Testing Day, and C-U Public Health District is partnering with the Greater Community AIDS Project to set up two mobile clinics for free testing. You can find them at …
Xiao Su, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and researcher at Beckman Institute is working with team members Nayeong Kim, Johannes Elbert, and Choonsoo Kim to develop a water purfication system that “uses …
Released in 2008, Gazelle’s Sunblown will soon be issued on vinyl via Castle Danger Records. The project of Adam Fein (Absinthe Blind) and Jeff Dimpsey (HUM) was one of the best albums, according to our …
