Gun Bounty Program Renewal and Distracted Driving

Previous post on the Champaign County Crime Stoppers' Gun Bounty program here. WCIA had a news segment on the program's achievements after a 3 month trial run and the need for public funding to continue the program here. That link also had a video from Crime Stoppers with an overview of the program and how it works.

WAND had a brief video segment and quick rundown of the program's accomplishments in an article here:

Law enforcement in Champaign County has arrested people believed to be connected to gun crimes with help from a reward program.

In the gun bounty reward program, anonymous Crime Stoppers tips that lead to the arrest of someone who used a gun in a felony crime will mean the maximum $1,000 reward. With the help of three tips, authorities arrested four people during the program’s three-month pilot period. Crime Stoppers paid each tipster and spent a total of $3,000 on rewards.

Law enforcement recovered more than 4.4 pounds of cannabis, over $2,000 in cash, a shotgun, seven handguns and two rifles with the help of the anonymous tips. One handgun and one rifle were previously reported stolen, according to a Crime Stoppers press release.

More information at the full article here and a link to where donations can be made to help support Crime Stoppers here. The News-Gazette also had a blurb in today's paper (available in their eEdition here) where local police vouched for the program's effectiveness:

Said [Champaign police Sgt. Geoff Coon]: “I talked to Champaign County Street Crimes Task Force supervisor Dave Griffet, who’s very proactive and has his ear to the streets. The feedback he’s getting is people are aware of it in the community. In his opinion, it is driving up our tips and some of the information we’re receiving.” Crime Stoppers board President John Hecker also believes the program is worth continuing. But more big rewards mean the group will need to double down on fundraising. “We’re going to need to make a major appeal to the community as a whole and also some of the larger corporate constituents of Champaign County, because these gun-related crimes definitely affect those locations,” Hecker said. “Basically, bring forth the importance of this and the success we’ve had with the hopes they would step forward to assist in the funding.”

The Crime Stoppers board meets on April 25 and could decide next steps then.

In other County law enforcement news, the new County Sheriff would prefer voluntary compliance of drivers to avoid distracted driving, but given the recent law enforcement deaths on the road, he won't be dissuading deputies from issuing tickets. From the same eEdition link in today's paper:

Deputies in Champaign and Douglas counties will join in a statewide effort this month to focus on drivers who are not focusing on their own driving.

In the wake of four law enforcement officer deaths and a dozen other officers injured in Illinois this year, police all over the state are working to increase awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.

Drive safe, for all our sakes!

Champaign County Reentry Council 4/3

The April meeting of the Champaign County Reentry Council had a presentation on Narcan by the C-U Public Health Department's PROMPT (Partnership to Reduce Opiate Mortality & Promote Training) coalition. Here's the Illinois Department of Human Services description from an older summary of similar programs:

Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) provides services in Champaign, Vermilion, Ford, Dewitt, Piatt, Douglas, Edgar, Coles, Clark and Cumberland counties. During 2015, both Champaign and Vermilion Counties had population rates of opiate overdose deaths in excess of 11 per 100,000, which was higher than the Illinois statewide rate.

CUPHD formed a coalition, “Partnership to Reduce Opiate Mortality and Promote Training (PROMPT)”, to direct the expansion of the overdose prevention efforts into the East Central Illinois region. Coalition members include: county health department officials, city police, county sheriff’s officers, emergency departments, drug treatment providers, opiate replacement program providers, mental health providers and pharmacy staff. Bystanders, family and friends of persons who use opiates are prioritized through this project. 

In short, the program helps the community prevent overdose deaths. Their focus is in stopping the epidemic of overdose related deaths as opposed to treatment and continuing care is (a separate critically important matter).

The presentation explained how opiates work and affect the body and how overdoses occur. It provided information on how Narcan interrupts an overdose event and what happens after it is administered. The training they offer includes rescue breathing, as an overdose suppresses normal breathing in the victim. He also explained that it isn't a "Pulp Fiction" shot to the heart, but a normal injection into muscle. There's a nasal spray that's a bit more effective, but unfortunately more expensive. For anyone interested in the program they can contact the C-UPHD here or via the presenter's e-mail: Joe Trotter.


In other business:

The Champaign County Board renewed funding for the Reentry Council at the last County Board meeting and a presentation of the mid-annual report was given at their Committee of the Whole prior.

The most recent data for March was presented. Next month the jail data will likely be ready with a focus on reentry data only. This could help highlight and address a County Board question on the recidivism impact of the program during the Q & A part of the Committee of the Whole presentation.

Rosecrance and CU Fresh Start are partnering to address the overlap of their programs, e.g. a CU Fresh Start participant who recidivates may fall into services provided by Rosecrance.

An idea for a future presentation from those who work regularly at the jail linking people to services was approved and some housekeeping on the bylaws on keeping the council's membership organized and designating the voting representatives of each was approved.


Program update highlights:

First Followers had an update on their GoMAD (Make A Difference) program in its 11th week (of 19) and their drop-ins picking up with the warmer weather. More on the GoMAD program here.

I mentioned the upcoming City of Champaign's City Council study session on the reentry housing issue (date TBD) and the Sheriff's outreach on Courthouse lockers.

Champaign County Health Care Consumers highlighted problems due to a dispute between the Federal government and some sort of over-payment to the State of Illinois causing problems for local organizations that help people on SNAP benefits (food assistance). The Shriver Center of Poverty Law is apparently trying to fight for those affected. I don't know if this related to ongoing attempts to change SNAP benefit rules or in addition to it. More on Illinois ongoing battles with the federal government at the Chicago Tribune here.

Champaign County Adopted Legislator now Majority Leader

Last week the News-Gazette highlighted a story about the Illinois Farm Bureau's Adopt-A-Legislator program that pairs urban legislators in the State with the agricultural interests of downstate Illinois. From last Tuesday:

Champaign County farmers' adopted legislator now the Illinois House Majority Leader
Champaign County farmers now have the ear of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s right-hand man, Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago.

Named the majority leader this year, Harris has been the Champaign County Farm Bureau’s adopted legislator since he first joined the Illinois House in 2007...

These connections have helped lead to three Friend of Agriculture awards for Harris from the Illinois Farm Bureau, which gives those out based on legislators’ voting records, and local farmers who’ve met Harris said the program has given them a voice in a district where there’s no farm fields...

Area farmers said their visits to Chicago have helped them understand where Harris is coming from.

“We realize that he can’t represent us on everything, when there’s a difference between how something impacts his particular area on the north side of Chicago versus ours or the rest of the state,” Warfel said. “His area doesn’t know anything about livestock besides eating a hamburger.”

But Warfel said their visits with him have helped Harris understand where they’re coming from on regulations about pollution the livestock industry faces.

Full article with more information here. The Illinois Farm Bureau has more information on the Adopt-A-Legislator program here, and a blog of stories and connections here. You can find a lot of division between urban liberals and rural conservatives in politics, but our fates and fortunes tend to be more intertwined than a lot of us appreciate. Creative solutions to bridge the gap can help not just your own interests, but everyone's. Something to keep in mind when you run into folks who want to write off one or the other.

County Courthouse Lockers and Retirement

Two Courthouse news items could have an impact on those relying on Court services in Champaign County and already political issues. One involves access to public lockers for those using the Courthouse who don't have a car or other way to keep banned items they're traveling with. The other is a retirement, in part to help ensure further Republican control of the Sixth Circuit Court.

The News-Gazette and WCCU had coverage of the public locker issue last week. One major concern is that a lot of transportation is arranged through phone apps and communication for those who don't have access to a car. I've noticed a bit of a generational split on unsympathetic folks who grew up without relying on cell phones versus younger folks and advocates for the poor who point out that it's part of basic access to services now. The media coverage mainly focused on the nuts and bolts:

Doors to close on lobby lockers at sheriff's office
Concerns about the safety of the building have prompted the Champaign County sheriff to discontinue a storage-locker service in the lobby of his office at 204 E. Main St., U.

Sheriff Dustin Heuerman announced Friday that as of May 1, the 30 lockers will be removed.

"It's safety concerns," Chief Deputy Shannon Barrett said of the reason for discontinuing the public service. "They are not monitored. We don't know what's going into those lockers."
...
Barrett said Heuerman has looked into other options but hasn't found anything suitable.
"We have been trying to figure out what we can do different. It still comes down to the safety issue. No matter how small (a locker) is, a bomb could be put in there," she said. "He has done everything he can. It comes down to the safety of this building, especially having the jail below us."

Full article available here. In a short segment on WCCU, it was added, "They also said they are reaching out to community leaders and groups to find a solution."

The News-Gazette also had coverage of Judge Difanis' retirement and motivations:

His retirement, just one month prior to the end of his current term, is timed so that his seat can be filled by election instead of appointment, and so he can maximize his retirement benefits.

Judge Jason Bohm, 42, has said he plans to run for Difanis' open seat.

Difanis admits that he timed his announcement in part to help Bohm secure a Republican judgeship...

When Bohm was appointed, he said he would run for the resident judgeship in 2020 as a Republican, a seeming shoo-in in the normally Republican stronghold of Champaign County.

But anti-Donald Trump sentiment in the 2018 midterm elections that put Democrats in five countywide offices, four of which had long been held by Republicans, signaled to Bohm he'll have an uphill climb if he wants to run as a Republican in just Champaign County in 2020.

That full article here. Democrats would probably argue that it is an over-simplification to pin the lopsided results in Champaign County on just anti-Trump sentiment, but it's hard to deny the lopsidedness comparing Champaign votes only (top) to the votes of the full Sixth district (bottom) in the 2018 races:

The News-Gazette also pointed out a couple local Democrats are already looking to seize on that trend:

Jason Bohm, appointed as a circuit judge last year, has already said he plans to run in the March 2020 Republican primary for Difanis' seat.

As a result, two other lawyers have said they plan to run in the Democratic primary for Bohm's seat, a resident judgeship, which means they have to run in only Champaign County.

Assistant Public Defender Ramona Sullivan is one of them; Urbana attorney Ruth Wyman is the other...

Wyman, an attorney for almost 15 years, has a general practice of law and formerly served on the Urbana City Council for eight years.

As with many other political matters, you're bound to hear politicians assure us that their opponents are trying to bring politics into things that should be apolitical. I leave it to the reader to decide whether to chalk that up to one of the most overtly political things a politician can say.

More information on Sixth Circuit judicial candidates and races at ballotpedia here and the Sixth Circuit website here. General information and links on the Courts page (with some 2018 election information still on it).

Nursing Home Sale Finalized

The Nursing Home has finally changed hands. There may have been disagreement on whether to sell the home or not, but neither side of that debate appeared to want to see the budgetary limbo continue during these delays. From the News-Gazette's eEdition this morning:

Nursing home sale finalized, at long last
After months of delays and financial bailouts, the former Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana has officially changed hands.

County officials finalized the sale to the new owner Monday, according to County Executive Darlene Kloeppel...

The new name of the nursing home at 500 Art Bartell Road is University Rehabilitation Center of C-U, and the legal entity operating the home is University Rehabilitation Center of C-U LLC.

While the final sales price remained the originally-agreed-to $11 million, there were $1,340,000 in credits made to the buyer that were negotiated as adjustments against the final sales price, Kloeppel said.

The credits resulted mostly from issues identified by the buyer based on the condition of the building, Kloeppel said. Plus, she said, the county didn’t meet certain closing conditions on time, so the buyer waived certain legal rights in exchange for financial considerations.

Full article now available on their website here and also their eEdition with more details about the sale terms and the delay chronology. It will likely be on their main website later this morning. For the last Cheat Sheet post detailing the delays: Nursing Home Sale Delay Update. The previous recent posts with the "Nursing Home" label talked about the latest County Board actions on funding during the delay here.


[UPDATE 4/5/2019: WILL had additional coverage here that got into more details.]

Measles Outbreak Update

[UPDATE 4/1/2019: The last update on the measles outbreak we had was good news about no new infections, people being able to leave quarantine, and waiting to make sure no new symptomatic people/cases popped up. That deadline has passed and the outbreak is officially over. The News-Gazette had a short article here. Relevant excerpt:

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District waited out two full 21-day incubation periods since the onset of the last measles case before closing the book on an outbreak that included more than two dozen people being quarantined and more than 1,000 people being interviewed after being potentially exposed to the disease.

With no new cases in 42 days, district communicable disease investigator Rachella Thompson-Brown said the Champaign County outbreak can be considered over as of this past Monday.

In all, the measles outbreak that began in the county in January included four confirmed cases. Others quarantined had been exposed to measles and couldn't verify their immunity.

More at that article here. Today the News-Gazette had additional information about there already being more U.S. measles cases in the beginning of 2019 than all of last year. More on that here.]

The local measles outbreak appears to be mostly over as the last quarantined cases of exposed people failed to develop symptoms. The official end of the outbreak is defined a bit further into the future if there aren't any new cases. From the News-Gazette today:

Measles, cabin fever both stayed away during Mahomet woman's quarantine
...
Susi was one of 26 people quarantined during the Champaign County measles outbreak that began Jan. 19. She and others who were the last people remaining in quarantine were free to leave their homes as of today after going 21 full days without developing measles.

The health district won't officially declare the measles outbreak over until later this month, after two full 21-day cycles have passed following the last known exposure date, Feb. 11. That's provided that no new cases develop in the upcoming weeks.

Containing the measles outbreak to four cases has been a labor-intensive effort for health officials, local medical providers and others, according to Julie Pryde, the public health district's administrator.

It included identifying and making public all the public places the four measles patients had been during the eight days they were considered to be infectious — four days before a rash appeared and four days after — and interviewing more than 1,000 people who had been exposed.

Full article here. It gets into more details about the expenses that went into the process and future estimates of how much the outbreak cost taxpayers. It explains the difference in terminology between "isolation," or isolating people who are sick with an infectious disease and the more rare quarantines. Quarantines separate people who may have been exposed to an infectious disease to wait to see if they become ill. There's also additional facts and myths about vaccines, what constitutes an outbreak, and how measles spreads and its dangers.

The above is the most current update, though there were a couple updates in the past month when this website wasn't updated. For people interested in the chronology of the outbreak and public information on cases, testing, and statuses here are the dates and links:

• News-Gazette 1/24/2019 (web), 1/25/2019 (print version): Case of measles reported in C-U with several possible exposure sites
• News-Gazette 1/29/2019: 3-4 more being tested for measles after last week's confirmed case
• News-Gazette 1/30/2019 (web), 1/31/2019 (print version): Tests find six suspected cases aren't measles; no others pending
• News-Gazette 2/3/2019 Second case of measles confirmed in Champaign-Urbana
• News-Gazette 2/5/2019 Flu season is intensifying throughout the area (includes measles update)
• News-Gazette 2/17/2019 (web), 2/18/2019 (print version): Two more measles cases confirmed in Champaign County
• News-Gazette 2/21/2019: Lab results still out in four more suspected measles cases in C-U 
• News-Gazette 3/8/2019 (article referenced at the top of this post): Measles, cabin fever both stayed away during Mahomet woman's quarantine  

There were a couple other related news items on vaccines and infectious diseases unrelated to the measles as well:

• A national shortage of the vaccine for shingles is having an effect on local supplies. There are shortages causing intermittent interruptions in availability at locations in town: The Health Reporter Is In, Feb. 14, 2019
• In a previous post there was also some concern in the Champaign County Jail after a sick inmate was reported to have been coughing up blood and tested positive for tuberculosis. More at that post: County Jail Updates.  

All apologies to germaphobes.


[Updated post. Originally posted 3/8/2019 at 9:35pm.]

VOTE April 2nd!

There are a lot of local elections occurring in Illinois tomorrow, Tuesday April 2nd, 2019, including many municipal and other local elections within Champaign County. To see your ballot and find your polling places, see the Champaign County Clerk website here. The Champaign County Voters Alliance has a candidate guide here. The C-U Local Cheat Sheet has candidate information for local races in Champaign and Urbana here.

MTD in the Champaign-Urbana area will be offering free rides on voting day tomorrow! More on that from WAND here.

Middle Fork and County Video Updates

First off, if you've been waiting for new County government videos, there's a new batch on the County Clerk's YouTube channel here. They include the 2/26 County Board Strategic Planning Study Session, the 3/5 Facilities Committee meeting, the 3/7 Environment and Land Use Committee, and the last County Board Committee of the Whole on 3/12.

There have a been a few news items related to the Middle Fork River in the past couple weeks. First there are some upcoming Dark Sky events, including some at our recently certified Dark Sky park for astronomical viewing. From the News-Gazette last week:

International Dark Sky Week is April 1-7, and Middle Fork River Forest Preserve, which is now an official Dark Sky Park, is hosting a special event the week after on April 13 called Discover the Night Sky at the Activity Center in the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve. From 7:30 to 10 that night, you can celebrate the dark sky at one of the darkest spots in Champaign County and learn about the night sky and light pollution, participate in hands-on activities, create and take home special crafts, speak with astronomy experts and look through telescopes. The event is free and open to all ages. No registration is required. For more information, call 217586-2612.

Blurb available at the News-Gazette eEdition here. There were also some public input given at the recent Illinois Environmental Protection Hearing on the Dynergy toxic coal ash issue (more posts on the bank armoring issue here and the toxic ash issue here). From the News-Gazette this week:

Crowd at IEPA hearing pushes for removal of coal ash near Middle ForkDespite warnings against making comments regarding coal-ash removal at Tuesday's public hearing held by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, most of the people who spoke ignored that directive.

And if there were any doubt where the more than 250 people in the audience stood on the issue, all doubt was gone after one public commenter, Cindy Shepherd with Faith In Place, asked for a show of hands: Who wants the coal ash to be moved away from the Middle Fork River?

An overwhelming majority quickly put their hands in the air...

The riverbank, which has significantly eroded, is the only thing between the river and two coal-ash impoundments on the site of the former Vermilion Power Station, which Dynegy closed in 2011.

The ash contains contaminants that can harm the environment, and Dynegy wants to stabilize the bank to avoid a collapse that could release those contaminants into the river.

But, for years, local environmental organizations have urged Dynegy, the IEPA and other government officials that the energy company should move the coal ash away from the floodplain of the river. Removal will ensure there will never be a spill and eliminate the need for future streambank stabilization projects, they argue.

More at the full article here. There was a lot of additional information on the background in an article previewing the tensions prior to this meeting as well. It has general information about the issues, but also explains the frustrations of those who have been trying to be heard about removing the toxic ash itself instead of what they consider temporary solutions:

At 6 p.m. Tuesday at Danville Area Community College's Mary Miller Gymnasium, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is granting the public its first official — and maybe only — opportunity to comment on the record about Dynegy's plan to reinforce about 1,950 feet of bank separating the Middle Fork River from more than 3 million yards of coal ash.

River regulars have been pushing for more than four years for a public hearing on the Dynegy coal-ash impoundments. And although this hearing is narrowly focused on the stream bank project, Light and the Richarts said it's impossible to separate the two...
Coal-ash spills elsewhere — including one near Kingston, Tenn., and another in Eden, N.C. — caused "widespread environmental and economic damage to nearby waterways and properties," according to the U.S. EPA...

Rather than the proposed monthslong stream bank stabilization, Eco-Justice, the Prairie Rivers Network and other environmental groups would prefer to see quicker, smaller-scale emergency work done to the bank now, followed by long-term efforts to move the ash.

That full article here.

Reentry Presentations

Two area reentry collaborations made presentations to the Champaign County Board this month. Below is video and other material from those presentations and some additional information about both from an earlier Reentry Council post.

First, the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission's new Young Adult Reentry Program's full video presentation to the board is available here. The slides are available on the County website here. One slide highlighted the collaborative nature of such programs with public and private entities:

The Champaign County Reentry Council also had a presentation (video link here and text of that report is on the County website here (page of 7 of the packet and page 10 of the PDF file). The Reentry Council is also a collaborative group of government, public and private organizations. Here's a list of their members:

The constituencies with voting representation on the Council are the Champaign County Board, the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, the Champaign County Mental Health Board, the State's Attorney's Office, the Judiciary, the County Jail, Champaign County Health Care Consumers, Champaign County Probation, U.S. Probation, Rosecrance Central Illinois, the Champaign County Continuum of Care, Champaign County Housing Authority, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, FirstFollowers, Ann's House, GROW, State of Illinois Department of Corrections Parole, TASC, a law enforcement representative, a liaison from the Crisis Intervention Team Steering Committee, and a designated Citizen Representative.

The YARP representatives also talked with the Reentry Council recently, so there is some related information about both and their presentations in my last post on the Reentry Council. Here are the relevant excerpts:

First off, there were some helpful informational guides and flyer about local reentry resources. The first is for people interested in more information about participating in the new Young Adult Reentry Program getting started by the Regional Planning Commission: YARP Participant Handbook. The second is a local resource flyer for people needing services upon reentry to the community from the criminal justice system. The third is a Reentry and Resource Guide and Workbook from Rosecrance for people reentering. It provides step by step information for some critical starting issues, such as obtaining a valid ID (no easy task when the prison issue ID isn't accepted):

  

There will also be a presentation of the Reentry Council's mid-annual report to the Champaign County Board this Tuesday at 6:30pm at their Committee of the Whole meeting. The text of that report is on the County website here (page of 7 of the packet and page 10 of the PDF file). I'll post a link of the video presentation when it's available. These presentations, like this one last year, help explain the data and charts involved in reentry collaboration, which can be heavy on jargon and abbreviations, even to those on the council. For the reader's sake, I'm highlighting probably the key bit from the conclusion:

It remains the view of the Reentry Council that more resources are needed in Champaign County to better support the successful transition of citizens returning here from incarceration. With recent leadership changes at the Champaign County Housing Authority, it appears that housing options, perhaps the most critical need faced, for the reentry population, will be increased.

As reentry case management is a vital component of success for all persons returning from incarceration, willing to engage in supportive services - particularly those with behavioral health needs, it is the hope of the Council that all supportive resources will become sustainable. On-going, reliable support for releasing individuals will offer the best opportunity to formerly-incarcerated people to establish productive lives that will serve the betterment of themselves, their families, and the Champaign County community

Although the data is more recent, this language is the same as the council report last summer and remains true (That July 2018 report is available here on page 14 of the agenda packet PDF (page 9 on the printed version). The difficulties and hurdles for people reentering are multi-layered and intertwined. It's complicated for those trying to help people navigate the system to meet their basic needs, let alone the people going through it themselves.

The recent updates on the Reentry Council are available in this last post here. More updates soon as the Reentry Council meets at the beginning of April.

County Updates and Brief Board Meeting

The March County Board hearing was only 20 minutes, with most of the business unanimously passed in the consent agenda approved in the Committee of the Whole last week. The News-Gazette had an overview in a blurb in today's paper:

Board commits to rebuild Ludlow-Gifford route
The Champaign County Board committed Thursday night to spending more than $3 million to rebuild a highway in the northern part of the county.

In a 20-0 vote, the board awarded the contract on the project to Cross Construction, which made a $3.18 million bid.

The project calls for reconstructing 5.22 miles of the east-west County Road 9, running from Ludlow to north of Gifford. The road is frequently used for farm traffic and to transport market products...

In other business: — The board voted 20 to 0 to increase public defender salaries to be equitable with salaries for attorneys in the state’s attorney’s office, based on comparable workloads, time admitted to the bar and time in service.

— The board voted 20 to 0 to spend $287,052 to pay nursing home employee benefit time and nursing home management retention bonuses. This money will be included on the last paycheck from the county following the sale of the home, if and when that takes place.

Full blurb available here in the eEdition for digital subscribers. I'm still waiting for the video to be uploaded of the last Committee of the Whole meeting (updated with link) and information from the reentry presentations. In other County government news we had scammers cause the remote bail option to be shutdown for jail and the Forest Preserve doing some controlled burns. WAND had a video a short blurb and a video segment on the remote bail payments here. The News-Gazette had more in yesterday's paper:

Credit card fraud shuts down bail option in Champaign County
About 10 people have been released from the Champaign County Jail since the first of the year after having posted bail using stolen credit card information.

The discovery of the fraud prompted Sheriff Dustin Heuerman on Wednesday to suspend indefinitely the online payment method GovPay.com, which was intended to increase convenience for someone posting bail for an arrestee...

"Since the beginning of 2019, there has been more than $25,000 in bail paid with the remote option from suspected stolen credit card information. We have seen an increase in fraudulent activity as of late and fear that as word of this spreads, more fraud will take place. There are a variety of inmates who have been released as a result of this fraudulent activity and bail amounts have also varied," the sheriff said...

Heuerman said his investigators are looking into the fraud.

Meanwhile, those wanting to post bond for an inmate can still do so by appearing at the jail with cash or an actual credit card, as opposed to just a credit card number. The bond poster must present valid identification and if paying in cash, have the exact amount.

Full article here. And from Monday's News-Gazette, the Forest Preserve's efforts to get native plants to grow involves controlled burns. Video segment and a short blurb available from WCIA here. Excerpt:

Prescribed burning started today at the Champaign County Forest Preserve near Homer Lake.

It is an effort to get native plants to grow.

The area they were in today they attempt to do burns every other year.

More here. More specifically on why controlled burns help in a prairie ecosystem in a later article here.

Identifying and Addressing Disparities

The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission released some new data on internet access in the county broken down by race and income here. There are some excerpts from their overview below. There have also been a series of Cheat Sheet posts on local racial disparity data in the County and especially the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area. Here are some quick links:

• School discipline: Education Racial Disparity Data
• "Pushout" of minority students in local schools
• Housing segregation: C-U Segregation
• Mass incarceration: as a feedback loop
• Pedestrian and Traffic Stop Data
• More County data from the Regional Planning Commission here

And an excerpt from the RPC internet access data page:

Breaking this data down into greater detail shows that computer and internet subscription disparities do exist by race, ethnicity, labor force status, and educational attainment in Champaign County. But before we get to what we can take from this, there are a few assumptions we can’t make based on this data.

As we noted above, this data doesn’t cover smartphones as a primary means of internet access, so it’s important to keep in mind that what may be different among the analyzed populations is not whether they can access the internet, but how. Also, as we’ve noted a lot, correlation isn’t causation. We can see that individuals who are unemployed are more likely to also have limited access to computers and internet subscriptions, and it’s obvious that the internet is an excellent job-hunting resource, but this analysis of this data cannot support a conclusion that limited internet access causes unemployment, or vice versa.

That aside, there are significant lessons to be learned here. One is the importance of ensuring that online resources offer user experiences of the same quality regardless of device: users on computers, smartphones, and tablets should all be able to have an easy, intuitive, and visually engaging experience. Another is that programs to improve internet access can and should be tailored based on a community’s needs and circumstances. This data also reinforces the importance of facilities like public libraries, which provide access to computers and the internet and can be critical community resources for those who do not have other access options.

Full overview and data available here.

In an example of an attempt to address disparities, the Housing Authority of Champaign County is claiming some preliminary success in attracting diversity in contracts. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

Housing authority: Growth in bids from diverse subcontractors 'impressive'...
The Housing Authority of Champaign County announced recently that a plan to increase opportunities for female-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses "has produced impressive early numbers" in bids for two affordable-housing developments in the city.

It has been one of housing authority Director David Northern's main goals since he started last year, after he received calls from many minority- and female-owned businesses concerned about disadvantages in contracting...

The focus right now is on bringing more disadvantaged businesses to work on the housing authority's two biggest projects, Bristol Place Residences and the Haven at Market Place, which will have a combined 212 units of affordable housing and cost over $48 million.

Already, 34.05 percent of contracts awarded for the Haven at Market Place have gone to disadvantaged businesses. And at Bristol Place, the picture is slightly better, with disadvantaged businesses representing 35.79 percent of all contracts awarded and executed so far. That includes 10 local businesses and seven from outside the area.

Those numbers surpass the goals Champaign Neighborhood Services Director Kerri Wiman said the city, the housing authority and the developer set for Bristol Place, in addition to a goal that, once complete, the complex hire at least 10 locals, with preference given to people who may have been displaced from the area.

More at the full article here.

County Health News Roundup

Carle opened a new "Convenient Care Plus" clinic at their hospital location this month. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

It will be open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, including holidays.

This new center will give patients coming to the emergency room for non-emergency care another option — and a less expensive one — at the hospital, according to Carle...

Patients can access the Convenient Care Plus center at the hospital through patient registration in the lobby off Orchard Street.

The center will treat the typical kinds of conditions convenient-care centers serve, such as fevers, urinary tract infections and sprained ankles, but it will also have some advanced services available, according to Carle. It will be staffed with full-time physicians and advanced practice providers and provide CT scans, X-rays and advanced lab testing.

Article available here. More information about Carle Convenient Care locations at their website here.

There's a women's health expo with information on pregnancy and postpartum health needs coming up. WCIA has a short blurb on that here. Here's an informational flyer from the CUPHD facebook page (click to enlarge):

And the News-Gazette had county health rankings in today's paper:

Research released Tuesday that ranks U.S. counties from most to least healthy placed Champaign County in roughly the top third in Illinois — making it one of the state's healthier places to live — while Vermilion County was ranked dead last in the state...

Emphasized in the 2019 survey was a link between high housing costs and health. Researchers found 11 percent of households in the U.S. spend more than half their income on housing.

In Champaign County, 20 percent of households were considered to have severe housing problems — meaning they're dealing with at least one of these factors: high housing costs, overcrowding, lack of kitchen facilities or lack of plumbing facilities — compared to 12 percent in Vermilion County.

Overcrowding in housing can encourage more disease spread, according to Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde. And when people have to spend an unhealthy amount of their income on housing, she said, that can impact both physical and mental health.

More information and data at the full article here. Even more data and information at the website for the annual survey here.

Champaign County Party History

Tom Kacich of the News-Gazette had brief history of political party control in Champaign County last month in an article that also included an interview with the president of the local Republican Party, Mark Ballard.

Tom Kacich | Only recently did GOP lose its hold on Champaign County
For most of its history, Champaign County was as reliably Republican as the state of New Hampshire or the western suburbs of Chicago. Republican presidential candidates won the county in all but one election between 1940 and 1988, and, until last December, the GOP usually held all but one or two countywide offices...

The GOP's hold on the county began to break in the 1990s and has accelerated this decade to the point where Democrats hold six of the nine countywide offices and 13 of 22 county board seats, and their presidential candidate has won seven consecutive elections between 1992 to 2016...

There have been 46 presidential elections in Champaign County's 186-year history and Republicans won 30, Democrats 12 and Whigs three (1840, 1848 and 1852). In 1912, Progressive Party nominee (and former Republican President) Theodore Roosevelt narrowly won Champaign County with 35.6 percent of the vote, versus 35.4 percent for Woodrow Wilson and 25.6 percent for Republican William Howard Taft.

That one-quarter of the vote for the Republican nominee (misleading as it was since Roosevelt had been a Republican) was the worst showing ever for a Republican presidential candidate in Champaign County. Second worst was George H.W. Bush's 35.6 percent in 1992 in a three-way race where independent Ross Perot took 18 percent of the vote in the county.

More information, including more recent trends and Ballard's take here. It paints a bit of a dire picture for 2020, but anyone who has followed the ebbs and flows of political party fortunes knows, no gains last forever. Predictions in these uncharted waters may be more complicated than quantum physics.