Author: Joe Mason

A woman who was hit in a DUI crash is still in critical condition and fighting for her life. Monica McCoy was hit while walking two weeks ago in Champaign. It happened on Springfield Avenue near Mattis. A woman is facing aggravated DUI charges in that crash. Now, McCoy’s family is using her story to share a message against drunk driving. The Champaign County State’s Attorney said McCoy was walking with a friend when she was hit. Witnesses told police they saw a woman’s car “flying” in their direction. McCoy is still in the hospital, but her family wants her…

Fire departments in central Illinois have created contingency plans in case firefighters are infected with coronavirus. This week twelve Springfield firefighters contracted COVID-19, including Chief Allen Reyne. The outbreak within the department caused a total of 37 firefighters to isolate or quarantine. The outbreak was traced back to a house party. Reyne said, “Once you get two or three positives, now you have to look back through contact tracing, who worked with who, what calls they ran together. We’ve done that over the last few days. At one point, we were at 48. Pretty quickly, we got that number down…

A Champaign man was sentenced to a year of probation with orders not to have any animal possession after city officials found dozens of dogs living in unhealthy conditions in his home. Mark Richards, 61, of the 1300 block of West Springfield Avenue, was sentenced Wednesday on the same charges his wife, 55-year-old Wendy Richards, had been charged with. She received the same sentence earlier, on Aug. 24.  Both pleaded guilty to a Class B misdemeanor charge of failure to provide humane care and treatment of animals. Authorities found more than 80 dogs in their home last October. Complaints about…

On the day that the U.S. officially departed from the Paris Climate Agreement, the University of Illinois released a lengthy study about the impact of climate on crops. Globally renowned U. of I. Crop Scientist Stephen Long says a changing climate has both positive and negative impacts on important crop. “On this site, we have the longest-running experiments in the world and the largest experiments in the world looking at the impact of global change on our major food crops,” says Long. “We have been studying soybean on this site now for almost 20 years looking at how rising carbon…

Researchers are one step closer to coming up with a COVID-19 vaccine. One of them being tested right now looks like it is 90 percent effective. Experts at the University of Illinois said it could still be a while before everyone has access to the vaccine. There are a few different vaccines being tested right now. The 90-percent-effective one was developed by Pfizer. It is actually administered in two doses. You would get one shot and then come back later for another one. There are others in trial right now that will not be like that. There is no word…

A: Market Place Mall in Champaign will open at 7 a.m., and large retailers such as best buy Walmart and Kohl’s all plan to open at 5 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving. But the big-box stores are also promoting sales throughout the month in an effort to avoid the large crowds typically associated with Black Friday and to boost sales when customers are expected to spend less this holiday seasons. Kohl’s is advertising “too great to wait” Black Friday deals that began Friday, Walmart has “Black Friday Deals for Days” that began this week, and best buy’s Black Friday ad was released…

We’re getting closer to a possible COVID-19 vaccine. A few of them are being tested right now, but one is looking very promising. It was developed by Pfizer Experts there say it looks about 90% effective. It requires two doses. So you’d get one shot and then wait a bit before the second. That second one is considered a “Booster,” but while this progress is good, experts say we’re still months away from everyone getting access. “We’ve never done anything like this with this speed and this scale,” says U of I’s Biochemistry Professor Christopher Brooke. “Many of these candidates, including…

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, health departments are tracking down more people who could have been exposed to the virus. That means they need contact tracers. A handful of health departments across the area are hiring for the position, and in some departments, other jobs related to contact tracing. If you are interested, click on one of the counties.

COVID-19 is surging across Illinois, and Champaign County is no exception.  On Saturday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported another 12,428 cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day total on record. Illinois broke its record of single-day cases three days in a row. The previous day, the U.S. set its own single-day record with 132,797 cases of COVID-19 found in a single day. Saturday was a close second, with 126,156 new cases of COVID-19. Every single region in Illinois has moved back to Phase 3 of the reopening plan, with indoor dining banned and gatherings further restricted.  On campus, virus…

A Georgia man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for defrauding the University of Illinois. In a news release, officials said U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce sentenced 35-year-old Eric Marcel Mboule for his role in the scheme. He and other people had defrauded the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign out of more than $265,000, officials said. “In 2016, Mboule along with Patrick Guentangue and others executed a fraudulent scheme to deceive University of Illinois officials into believing that a building contractor working at the U of I had changed banking information in advance of the contractor receiving the…

An Illinois teaching assistant was sentenced to four years probation last week for sexually abusing a teenage student of hers, according to reports. Allysa Gustafson pleaded guilty in September to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after admitting that she engaged in a sex act with a 14-year-old boy who was her student at Circle Academy in Urbana, according to News Gazette. In exchange for her plea, Assistant District Attorney Kristin Alferink dismissed a more serious count of criminal sexual assault. Gustafson and the teen had allegedly had several sexual encounters between May and August 2019, the outlet reported. Gustafson…

For the fourth time this week, Illinois set a single-day record for most new COVID-19 cases — 12,438. Saturday’s total broke the previous pandemic high — set 24 hours earlier — by 2,062 cases. A look at the week’s totals, with new records marked with asterisks: Saturday: 98,418 tests, 12,428 cases* Friday: 98,401 tests, 10,376 cases* Thursday: 86,015 tests, 9,935 cases* Wednesday: 71,857 tests, 7,538  cases Tuesday: 82,435 tests, 6,516 cases Monday: 68,118 tests,  9,810 cases* Sunday: 78,458 tests, 6,980 cases The statewide seven-day positivity rate, which stood at 7.5 percent at this time last week, is now 10.3 percent. REGION 6: Seven-day rate holds at 10.2 percent Six days after additional…

If you’re experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and want to know in a big hurry if you’re infected, there’s a new option available for rapid testing in Champaign and Vermilion counties. OSF HealthCare launched rapid testing at four of its Urgo urgent-care centers in Champaign-Urbana and Danville about two weeks ago, according to Molly Barnes, director of operations for the Urgo centers. While OSF hasn’t promoted that it’s making rapid testing available, there has been an upswing in patients coming in and asking for it, Barnes said. “I think it’s more word of mouth,” she said. The form of rapid testing…

A local community organization announced they have made a new free food pantry available. The group HitnHomeboy collaborated with Bethel AME Church to place a small cabinet filled with food in the church’s back lot, located at 401 E. Park St. in Champaign. The food pantry is available to anyone in need. This is the now the second food pantry this group has placed around the city. The first pantry is located at the Champaign city building and was in the news back in October when it was vandalized.

As COVID-19 cases in the area have continued to surge, the wait time for results from tests performed at the state-sponsored drive-thru site at Market Place Mall has doubled. Earlier in the fall, the average wait time to get results from tests done at the mall site was about two days. Now it’s about four, according to Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde. The reason for the longer wait is increasing cases — and it’s “too long,” she said. The longer the wait for test results, the longer potentially infected people could still be out in public spreading the…

Police said a U of I student had gifts taken from her mail at a university residence hall. UIPD officers stated cash and a gift card were taken. The student told police her family mailed her the gifts, but when she went to check her mail at Wassaja Hall, the envelopes appeared to have already been opened. The gifts were in a secure mailbox in the lobby of the resident hall.

The Illinois Fighting Illini were walloped 41-14 by Minnesota on Saturday in Champaign. And there was one drive that really, really summarized things for the Illinois offense. Trailing 28-7 in the third quarter, Lovie Smith’s squad had 1st-and-goal at the Minnesota 10-yard line. Fighting Illini quarterback Cordan Taylor ran for no gain. On 2nd-and-goal, Illinois was called for tripping, which is a 15-yard personal foul. That moved the ball back to the 25-yard line. So it was still 2nd-and-goal, and then Taylor fumbled the ball all the way back to the 48-yard line for a loss for 23 yards. On…

If you’re experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and want to know in a big hurry if you’re infected, there’s a new option available for rapid testing in Champaign and Vermilion counties. OSF HealthCare launched rapid testing at four of its Urgo urgent-care centers in Champaign-Urbana and Danville about two weeks ago, according to Molly Barnes, director of operations for the Urgo centers. While OSF hasn’t promoted that it’s making rapid testing available, there has been an upswing in patients coming in and asking for it, Barnes said. “I think it’s more word of mouth,” she said. The form of rapid testing…

The deputy director of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) said the recent positive cases in schools throughout Champaign County were expected. “In situations when there are others around them, there is always a possibility of a case here and there,” Awais Vaid said. Five students and three staff members in the Unit 4 School District tested positive over the course of its first week back to in-person learning. Two schools in the Rantoul City School District have turned to remote learning after COVID-19 issues. Six teachers tested positive at the Rantoul Township High School, which led to even more…

A shooting at an Urbana Circle K left one person wounded. Police said they responded Friday night to the Circle K and Bradley Avenue and Lincoln Avenue for a report of shots fired. The found a man wounded at the store. He went to a hospital and is expected to be OK. His wound is not life-threatening. A K-9 unit responded to the scene. Police are continuing to investigate late Friday.