Opinion

Three years ago, we published an article lamenting how three years after the 2017 closure of the iconic Chester Street Bar (C Street), Champaign-Urbana still lacks a dedicated queer performance space. So now six years …

Smile Politely is committed to providing passionate, trustworthy, and informed points of view on a variety of topics that are important to our community. We rely on contributions from community members to write about how …

Emus are majestically awkward, land-bound birds native to Australia. So, pardoning my French, what the fuck is an emu doing wandering around Champaign-Urbana? Apart from delighting locals, course. First spotted in Urbana on May 9, …

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. In Champaign-Urbana, we have many ways to celebrate and honor Asian and AAPI communities. Asian Americans make up about 6% of the state’s population, and …

Last week, the City of Urbana announced the next phase in the process of developing a new comprehensive plan. The last comprehensive plan was put out in 2005, so an update is due. Examine Urbana …

Surprising to no one, or at least not to these Smile Politely editors, Meadowbrook has defeated Hessel as your favorite park in Champaign-Urbana.  Both Meadowbrook and Hessel had decisive marches to the championship, which is …

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 …

Thank you to all who voted in the first, second, third, and fourth rounds of our Parks Tournament, where we are asking you, dear readers, to determine which Champaign or Urbana park will reign supreme. We’ve compiled the results from …

Thank you to all who voted in the first, second, and third rounds of our Parks Tournament, where we are asking you, dear readers, to determine which Champaign-Urbana park will reign supreme. We’ve compiled the results from our …