Author: Joe Mason

It won’t be long before kids will be telling Santa Claus what they want for Christmas. Some malls will be taking reservations for you to meet St. Nick. Starting November 27, Santa will be at both the White Oaks Mall in Springfield and the Market Place Mall in Champaign. Paid reservations will be required. Those reservations include photo packages. Walkups may be possible throughout the day, but priority will be given to those who registered. Market Place will also be offering virtual visits with Santa through JingleRing. You will also need a paid reservation for that. In Forsyth, there are no reservations required to…

The coronavirus pandemic has forced so many students and parents to work from home. That has created a real problem for people who don’t have access to the Internet. Pastor Willie Comer is offering some help. For the past three weeks, the pastor and members of Berean Covenant Church have been taking a bus into neighborhoods in Champaign and Urbana to help students access Wi-Fi. The bus is parked in a neighborhood. Then students are able to access the Internet from their front porches or even inside their homes for free. So far, they have taken it to places such…

The use of contact tracers by public-health agencies to help control the spread of infectious diseases isn’t new. But COVID-19 has created an urgent need for many more people to do the job. As of late July, the American Medical Association called for at least 100,000 additional contact tracers in the U.S. as states continued to lift restrictions intended to control the spread of coronavirus. Part of the job of contact tracing is to interview by phone people who have tested positive for COVID-19, then call the people with whom they’ve been in close contact and deliver the news nobody…

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.

wo staff members at the Eastern Illinois Foodbank have tested positive for COVID-19. President and CEO at Eastern Illinois Foodbank Jim Hires says they learned of the results on Wednesday. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is currently conducting contact tracing.

On the same day that new COVID-19 positive cases hit 9,935 within 24 hours and the death toll passed 10,030 Illinois residents, Gov. JB Pritzker said that IDPH was looking at placing new mitigations throughout the state to curb the spread of the virus. “Each day we are losing more and more of our neighbors to this virus,” Pritzker said. “That’s not a trend that’s going to turn around on its own. It’s up to us, all of us to do something to save the next family from tragedy because unfortunately it could easily be yours. “To all those who…

Community organizations around central Illinois are offering Thanksgiving meals this month — in an effort to make sure no one goes hungry during the holiday season. Champaign Unit 4 School District is providing ‘Thanksgiving To-Go’ boxes. It’s offering both home delivery and pick-up at several drive-through sites. Orders are due by Nov. 10. Call 217-351-3852 to place one. CU-at-Home says they will offer a Thanksgiving meal at their shelter from noon to 2 p.m. on Nov. 10. Attendees will be asked to use provided hand sanitizer at the door, and will need to wear face masks when not eating. In…

Urbana voters have passed the Anti-Poverty Referendum, which will increase the tax levy for Cunningham Township.

Like the millions of students that have made their voices heard this election I cast  my vote early. As a token I received an “I Voted” sticker for utilizing my civic right to vote — a right which continues to be suppressed across the country. On my drive back home, I began to think of the meaning of this sticker. The symbols “Yo Voté” and the US flag placed next to one another raise questions as to how well the nation has upheld the values which it claims. Latinx and other minority communities that make up a large share of…

Police responded to a shots fired incident at the University of Illinois campus overnight and are urging students to take precautions At 12:08 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the area of Second and Green streets for reports of shots fired. Police said they got the scene under control within four minutes and arrested two people. Police said no one was injured and nobody involved was affiliated with the university. Police said students did not receive an Illini-Alert about this incident because it was resolved so quickly. Police said they use Illini-Alert emergency notifications only for incidents which present an immediate…

Election Tuesday came and went without the blue tidal wave that some pollsters predicted, the mile-long lines that voters were braced for or the looting and civil unrest that law-enforcement officials feared. It also ended without a victory, or concession, speech from President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden or many of the local and state candidates who were part of an election that broke one turnout record after another, with more to come. What we know as Election Day transitions into Election Week: Illinois went for Biden — a call national media outlets made within seconds of the…

The Republican incumbent in a congressional rematch said Tuesday he’s fighting for the next generation. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, was again challenged by Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. Davis beat Londrigan in 2018 by a few percentage points. Davis declared victory late Tuesday after several media outlets declared him the winner. “The media outlets believe this lead is insurmountable and I’m very frustrated by the fact that we have one county clerk who has yet to report still a good number of votes that have been cast,” Davis said late Tuesday. “That’s frustrating but it’s not a surprise because…

Restaurants and bars in Champaign County that continue to serve customers indoors in defiance of a state order face swift enforcement action, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. At least two restaurant and bar owners in Champaign County planned to open in defiance of the order, one of several temporary restrictions that took effect in East Central Illinois Monday morning to try and turn back the growing swell of COVID-19 cases. Restaurants and bars can still serve outdoors and continue selling for carryout and delivery only, until the order is lifted. Jeff Buckler, owner of Buford’s in Sadorus, said…

The chief of Police for Champaign has been chosen to be a part of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. Police officials said Chief Anthony Cobb was appointed to the board by Governor JB Pritzker. The department stated, “As a board member, Chief Cobb will play a crucial role in the professionalization of policing in Illinois.” Some of their duties include developing/providing training and education, setting standards and helping establish adequate training facilities. Chief Cobb said he was honored to join the board. “It’s important for law enforcement to be able to readily and quickly adapt to our rapidly…

A kidnapping victim rescued in central Illinois was taken from his family 14 years ago, police said Monday. A man was arrested Friday night after police were alerted to a kidnapping scheme involving at least one adult victim, according to the University of Illinois Police Department. Police said 27-year old Felipe De Jesus Guevara Sanchez, of New York, was arrested for aggravated kidnapping and forcible detention. Guevara Sanchez is alleged to have demanded that parents of the victim, who live in Chicago, pay a ransom for his release after he was brought back into the U.S. from Mexico. They continued…

I’m currently a sophomore at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, living on campus. Initially, I was nervous to live in a dorm amidst a pandemic. The shared bathrooms, tight hallways, and buffet-style dining hall were all concerns of mine coming back to campus. Now that a semester has almost concluded, I can say I made the right choice to return. While our bathrooms are still shared, they are cleaned more frequently. Masks are required everywhere in the building (outside of your own room). Guests from other residence halls are not permitted inside the buildings, nor is more than once…

One of the unfortunate aspects of all Big Ten games this year and going forward is that I am running out of breweries to feature in some of the cities our opponents call home. Champaign is usually one of my favorite road trips because it is a very easy trip over on I-74, tickets are usually plentiful, and they have a Jinny’s Beverage depot. Binny’s has one of the best selections I have seen in a chain liquor store, but there are still a few breweries we have not featured in Chambana: 25 O’Clock Brewing 208 W. Griggs Street Urbana,…

Trick-or-treating ended up being very different this year. Illini Radio Group hosted drive-thru trick-or-treating at the Champaign County Fairgrounds for Halloween. Kids were greeted by 35 different vendors that passed candy out as they drove by. Illini Radio Group said they couldn’t have asked for a better turnout. “Right now it’s a big event, and its really cool to see all the smiling faces, kids laughing and enjoying it, stormtroopers and Darth Vader, and costumes. All kinds of stuff.” General Manager Brian Green said. “We’re here to support our local community.” One vendor added. “With what’s been going on with…

As more people place to-go food orders during the pandemic, there has been an increase in delivery drivers’ cars being stolen because of one common mistake. Authorities say it’s because people are leaving their cars on and the key in the ignition while they run into restaurants to get the food orders. In one case last week, a delivery driver went to pick up food on Green Street and left the car running to go inside to get the order. Two 14-year-olds were arrested and in court after stealing that car, leading police on a high speed chase, and crashing…

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) is tracking 6,588 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Data published online by CUPHD says 6,022 of those cases have recovered — leaving 538 cases as active. Seven people from Champaign County are hospitalized with the virus, and 28 have died. As of Saturday, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has conducted a total of 693,380 saliva tests for COVID-19. For the week of Oct. 25 – Oct. 31, the U. of I. had a 0.41% case positivity rate. In that same week, a total of 242 positive unique cases were recorded by the school.