COVID Updates

There's always news and information about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic coming out every day. It has been a challenge both to keep up with it all and picking a time to highlight that information here. This post provides a recent news roundup and informational links.

As school sports programs are ramping up, there's an increased need to look out for the long term effects and damage COVID may have caused to those children who have had it, even if asymptomatic. From the News-Gazette today:

As school sports have been ramping back up, a local doctor is advising kids who have had COVID-19 recently to get a medical checkup before they return to play.

And by recently, that means having COVID-19 within six weeks of any planned return to sports, according to Dr. Jerrad Zimmerman, a sports-medicine doctor at Carle.

Some kids who had COVID-19 less recently — even many months ago — may also need to be checked out before a return to sports if they have some lingering symptoms, among them fatigue or breathing issues, that may signal a heart risk, he said.

Full article here.

The Daily Illini had an overview of the precautions suggested for the variants now circulating in Illinois and locally contrasted with current local policy:

Many researchers have suggested to double mask and avoid in-person eating, while the county has opened up in-person dining, including limited space at dining halls. The B117 variant, the variant that resulted in the UK’s third lockdown, stands as a threat to the safety of students. 

“There is definitely a disconnect between researchers’ concerns about more infectious variants and public policy, not just in the county but in the nation as a whole,” said Nigel Goldenfeld, professor in Grainger. “The criteria for relaxing tiered mitigation levels are heavily based on hospital occupancy and downward case trends and were developed at a time when there was no awareness of rapidly emerging more transmissible and deadly variants such as B117.”

That full article here.

There are some volunteer opportunities that have been in the news related to the pandemic:

• The CRIS Healthy-Aging Center is looking for volunteers to help with vaccine outreach. Details from WICS here. 
• The Hope Center offers groceries to those in need (more information from WCIA here). To get involved with the Silver Hearts they have volunteer information here. The University has information on its Food Assistance and Well-Being program here.
• Carle Friends program to help people in isolation stay socially connected. Details and links from WAND here.

Other recent local news updates related to COVID:

• The Champaign County Courthouse is going to be welcoming back jurors and jury trials according to News-Gazette coverage today.
• This month saw the expansion of vaccine access in smaller towns and rural areas in Champaign County according to WICS earlier this month.
• Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker toured local facilities here earlier this month. Coverage from Illinois Newsroom here.
• The VA in Danville has been doing outreach to eligible veterans for the vaccine according to WAND.
• CU at Home and public health have been working together to ensure access to the vaccine by homeless members of the community. More that from WCIA here.
• Outreach to local immigrant communities and the New American Center at the campus YMCA was covered by WICS here.

General Updates:

The latest Champaign County COVID data is available from the C-UPHD website here.

The latest updates on vaccinations is available from their website here. The News-Gazettes data updates on vaccination included a helpful chart on 1st and 2nd doses locally by Ben Zigterman:

Full article and more data here.

There are also regular updates with the C-UPHD Administrator Julie Pryde on Urbana Public Television (UPTV6 YouTube Channel here). The most recent interview with Elizabeth Hess is available here from February 22nd.

The Daily Illini also had a recent overview of local contact tracing for anyone interested in how that system works here.

WCIA had an overview of all of the extra work and overtime that has had to be put in at the C-UPHD here.

Consolidated General Election and Early Voting

The Consolidated General Election is Tuesday, April 6th, 2021. Early voting begins for everybody March 12th, (after the primary election results are certified). There are some folks who can Vote Early now if they weren't eligible to vote in a primary (outside of Champaign or Cunningham/Urbana precincts). There is an explanation on Smile Politely here for Early Voting eligibility dates. You can also request your Vote By Mail Ballot here on the Champaign County Clerk's website.

The News-Gazette highlighted an extremely helpful election information resource and non-partisan candidate guide in today's paper here. It's put together by the Champaign County Voter Alliance in collaboration with the local League of Women Voters. From that News-Gazette coverage:

Want to know what Champaign City Council candidates are thinking ahead of the upcoming consolidated election? Wondering about the most pressing needs for the Urbana Park District?

...

Starting March 2 and continuing to March 11, the League is conducting a series of candidate forums on Zoom.

"The League has a really important role in today's democracy," said Trisha Crowley, president of the Champaign County chapter. "Being a nonpartisan organization, we talk with Democrats and Republicans and try to support our mission, which is to provide information to voters."

Full blurb here. More information at the League of Women Voters of Champaign County website here and links to the previous primary candidate forums here. The Champaign County Clerk has a simple list of the candidate's running on their website here: Meet the Candidates. Note that there are several write-in candidates who may be running in your local races at the bottom of the listed candidates! One Urbana Park District board candidate withdrew from the race already. From a letter to the editor in today's News-Gazette:

If you're like most people, you probably weren't even aware that we just had an election this week. Some only noticed when all the headlines and coverage exploded at once upon the election results themselves. It was a consolidated primary election for municipal offices and it had some painfully low turnout. From WCIA earlier this week:

5,127 out of approximately 68,000 eligible voters, that’s just over 7.5%, cast a ballot in Champaign County’s primary elections.

“This was actually lower for Urbana than it was in 2017,” County Clerk Aaron Ammons said. “It’s unsettling and it needs to change.”

...

“Unfortunately, turnout in the primary consolidated elections and general elections usually see this type of turnout in Champaign County,” Ammons said.

That full article here. The News-Gazette had more coverage on the turnout here. 

You'll likely be hard pressed to find anyone who likes the timing of these local consolidated elections. The candidate calendar is even more bonkers as the work to get on the ballot begins before the previous giant even-year general election is over. So why do we do it? Well, according to this twenty year old news story from the year 2001 (oof!):

Before 1982, each unit of Illinois government held its own election, where and when it chose. With consolidated elections, mandated by the state in 1982, elections are set in the same places on the same dates, rotating local races with general elections for county, state and federal government offices...

The goals of holding a consolidated election were to increase voter turnout and save money by doing it all at once.

"Neither has happened," [Whiteside County Clerk Dan Heusinkveld] said.

Full article here. Changes would have to occur at the State level and it may be difficult to find agreement on what might actually increase awareness or interest... a better date? Better outreach? Better civics education? I leave that to the reader to decide.

County and County Board Updates

This post is following up on previous County Board committee and Committee of the Whole meetings in February (previous Cheat Sheet post here) as well as some other County government related updates. 

This week's County Board meeting (agenda packet, addendum, video) started off with the appointment of a new Democratic member for District 6, Jenny Lokshin (District 6 page has been updated). The rest of the meeting focused quite a bit on dividers for the Circuit Clerk's office staff and rapid testing for County employees. The rapid testing would be derived from the UI saliva test developed locally. From the News-Gazette coverage:

In addition to authorizing Kloeppel to negotiate a contract for testing county employees, the county board also Thursday authorized a budget amendment that would cover up to $70,000 in testing expenses...

The cost will likely run $10 to $20 per test, she said, but, “I think I can get it for $10 a test.”

Testing may begin as soon as in March, and county employees will probably be going to UI State Farm Center for testing, Kloeppel said.

Full article here. WCIA also had coverage here. The News-Gazette had more background on this issue in its article previewing the topic before the County Board meeting here.

Public participation in the meeting included continued concerns about the management of the Champaign County Animal Control Department in light of recent incidents, including the mistaken euthanization of a family pet. County Board Chair Kyle Patterson highlighted several of the first black County and Countwide office holders in Champaign County for Black History Month. He also highlighted the likely record tenure of County Board member Lorrain Cowert who has served on the County Board for 36 years.

There was a long discussion and debate on the Circuit Clerk dividers. A handful of Republicans questioned the urgency and long term need of the dividers. Democrats and the Circuit Clerk herself highlighted an ongoing need for both noise control for the call service staff and safety during the pandemic, which may be a long term concern. The proposal failed to gain the 15 votes required for a budgetary amendment. The No votes were Republicans Esry, Goss, Harper, Michaels, Passalacqua, and Paul. McGuire recused (I believe due to a potential conflict of interest) and Jodi Wolken was absent from the meeting.

Another item that received bipartisan opposition and did not pass was a health care contract negotiated by the County Executive. Discussion revolved around the County Board not being included in the process by the County Executive again. The UI saliva testing proposal received support from the board for negotiations with amended language. The County Executive can negotiate for tests up to a $70,000 commitment and assuming weekly volunteer testing as the norm. As noted above that passed over some Republican opposition.

At the end of the meeting the vote on the health care contract was discussed. Board members asked for additional information to consider voting on the contract again at the next meeting with that additional information. Members Michaels and McGuire suggested they might be able to support it in a future vote with more information. The Executive affirmed that it can be brought up at the next meeting and there's still time to approve it within the deadlines. The meeting adjourned just before 8:30pm.

Other County News:

The News-Gazette reported a new associate judge, Matthew D. Lee, will be appointed to the Sixth Circuit:

When he’s sworn in Feb. 25, the Champaign County bench will be back to its full strength of 11: five associate judges and six elected circuit judges.

Associate judges serve at the pleasure of the circuit judges.

Lee will step into the post vacated two weeks ago by the retirement of John Kennedy, an associate judge for 20 years.

That full article here.

The County Clerk has been in the news the past few weeks with the local municipal primary elections coming up and Early Voting already begun (more on the C-U Local Cheat Sheet here). The News-Gazette had coverage of the public testing of voting machines here. Tom's Mailbag answered questions on who makes voting machines for Champaign County here. WICS had an article earlier this month with the initial early voting being down from the high turnout general election here.

Sample ballots and other voter information links are available on the Champaign County Clerk website here. Specimen ballots were printed in the News-Gazette (subscription eEdition links here and here). The News-Gazette also had an update on the non-partisan group in Champaign County promoting voter turnout in cooperation with the League of Women Voters. The Champaign County Voter Alliance also produces the non-partisan candidate guide in Champaign County.

There are continued concerns about Census delays and how that may impact election timelines and the data used for various programs and services in the area. Illinois Newsroom had an overview this week:

The U.S. Census Bureau announced Friday that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other delays, it will not be able to deliver the detailed, block-level data that states need for redistricting until Sept. 30, long past the deadline spelled out in the Illinois Constitution for the General Assembly to approve new maps.

That’s also a full month after candidates are scheduled to begin circulating petitions to run for office and qualify for the March 15, 2022, primary election. The petition period begins Aug. 31 and filing begins Nov. 22, according to a spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Full article available here. The Regional Planning Commission noted their concerns about the Census delays at their January meeting (Cheat Sheet post on that here). The Regional Planning Commission was also in the news for LIHEAP assistance available for utility bills. From WCIA:

Through the RPC’s LIHEAP program, people can catch up on their utility bills, and cover themselves for any extra usage over the coming weeks. The RPC’s director, Lisa Benson, said to apply for benefits as soon as possible.

State moratoriums end March 31. Benson said the RPC is already anticipating a large influx of applicants in the coming weeks. If you have already received benefits, you can apply to have your utilities covered by the RPC’s Emergency Rental Assistance program.

Full article here.

Tom's Mailbag had an answer to the question on how cannabis tax money is collected by the State and then the portion of the tax money the County is eligible for is returned to the local governments here.

County Board, Committee and COW Meetings

Leading up to February's regular County Board meeting, there have been some moments worth highlighting in the other committee and Committee of the Whole meetings so far this month. A couple highlights include a massive rental assistance grant and funding due to pandemic hardships. The Champaign County Democratic party nominated Jenny Lokshin to be appointed to fill the District 6 vacancy. DeShawn Williams resigned from the seat to take a position within the County Treasurer's office.

Environment and Land Use Committee 2/4

For those just getting started, ELUC is a standing committee and often the starting point for policy issues that fall under the categories in its name. The County Board's rules lay out the responsibilities and structure of the various committees on pages 17-20:

This month's ELUC meeting (agenda, video) had part 2 of a 5 part presentation on Solid Waste Management in the County starting at roughly the 10 minute mark (slide presentation available here). Links for part 1 of the Solid Waste Management presentation are available at the bottom of a previous Cheat Sheet post here.

The committee also recommended approval of an authorization for an umpcoming Hazardous Waste Collection event. They discussed the location details at Marketplace Mall as opposed to Parkland, which agreed to do electronic recycling events, but not hazardous waste collection. Tom Kacich had more information on the event in his Mailbag column earlier this month:

An Illinois EPA-sponsored household hazardous waste collection event will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the Market Place Shopping Center.

Residents must pre-register for this event at hhwevent.simplybook.me by selecting from available time slots. Online registration will remain open until all the time slots are full.

Online registration will begin March 8, said Susan Monte, recycling coordinator for Champaign County.

Full mailbag article here. The committee also discussed the increased costs, due at least in part from the pandemic situation. A sale of a property was approved, but was left off the consent agenda to ensure other board members got a chance to hear about the details instead of being lumped in with other non-controversial items.

Committee of the Whole 2/9

The Committee of the Whole (agenda, video) began with a closed session, so there was a long portion of the meeting video with little to no activity until roughly the 1:16 h:m mark. There was no public participation, but Board member Jen Straub relayed an issue brought to her by a concerned citizen in Communications. She raised a concern that a County Board member was publicly quoting "Q Anon" conspiracies regarding the recent insurrection in Washington D.C. and making light of violence against women.

Democrats and Republicans expressed concerns about a lack of County Board input on redistricting maps expected after the Census, the need for public transparency, and a general agreement on maintaining 11 districts with 2 members each. More on the Census from a previous Cheat Sheet post on Regional Planning Commission discussions here. News-Gazette coverage from Tom Kacich here.

On a budget approval item for the Coroner's Office, member Fortado noted that it included payment for services rendered by contractor Shiping Bao. She noted a controversy about his past work involving the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. She argued his involvement was regrettable, but that the payment was still required and needed approval.

There was some discussion of the partitions to be installed at the Circuit Clerk's office, primarily for COVID related safety issues, but also for the benefit of employees who have had to endure an open concept call center and the noise issues that go along with that. The discussion included the reason vaccinations weren't available to staff, designated essential, but not frontline, and why the services required personnel at the courthouse location (access to court documents and in-person court services). There was also a little bit of a back on forth on possible savings on options with the materials to be used.

A Rental Assistance grant through the Regional Planning Commission for $6.2 million dollars was the biggest deal of the meeting. Board members welcomed the assistance for both tenants and landlords and encouraged people to get the word out on the program. Member Fortado praised the short turnaround time for getting the grant and into a functioning local program. From the RPC website:

The COVID-19 pandemic has made life difficult for people across the country, especially renters who have been unable to work, experienced reduced hours, or lost their jobs. Now through its new Emergency Rent Assistance program, the RPC is looking to help renters in Champaign County by providing funds to cover past-due rent and other past-due bills like power, water, and sewer.

Champaign County residents can start the screening process by contacting the Emergency Rent Assistance program call center at 877-548-4205 between 12-7pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. In order to promote safety during the pandemic, the RPC’s offices (1776 E. Washington Street in Urbana) will be open by appointment only and those without appointments will directed back to the call center to schedule an appointment. Facemasks will be required.

Households prioritized for assistance include those with an individual who has received unemployment payments from the State of Illinois (IDES) for 90 days prior to applying, and those with an income at or below 50 percent of the area median. The RPC has set up a special page on its website at www.ccrpc.org/ERA with more details on eligibility requirements.

More information at that page here.

Another moment of strained relations with the County Executive arose over the "Employee Health Insurance & Related Benefits Broker Consultant Services" by both Republicans and Democrats for being left out of the process again. There did not appear to be any disagreement with the results, but that the County Board was cut out of the process. There was general consternation at the County Executive's excuse that relevant members hadn't been appointed yet, when it was the Executive herself who had not yet appointed them.

Justice & Social Services Committee Chair Leah Taylor noted that she will be raising Racial Justice Task Force recommendations and issues at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th. More on the Racial Justice Task Force on our page here.

Zoning Board of Appeals 2/11:

We usually don't cover ZBA meetings so much as they tend to be extremely technical and legal exercises. This month's meeting (agenda, video) involved a great deal of public interest and input on a cannabis growing facility proposed in the Philo area. There was a large file full of letters opposing the facility and the impact it might have on the community and families. There are also a lot of project details in the preliminary memo and supplementary memo in the meeting documents. 

The first 52 minutes of the meeting dealt with the approval of a separate grain elevator project that was approved with all of the various conditions that go with such a project. The rest of the meeting got into the board members and members of the public questioning the applicants for the special use approval in the agriculturally zoned district. The meeting had to be extended a couple times briefly and eventually continued to a future meeting after it ran well past the normally allotted time (roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes total).

Housing Authority of Champaign County Updates

This post has some updates on new people at the Housing Authority of Champaign County and some program updates. The HACC has a new interim Executive Director, Lily Walton. The HACC.net website has a commemoration and farewell page and video dedicated to the outgoing Executive Director, David Northern Sr. 

There is also a recent addition to the Board of Commissioners from the City of Champaign, Bailee VanAntwerp. The Commissioner listing still has the previous commissioner, Jim Rose, listed as of this post.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the intergovernmental organization of the Housing Authority, there is a description and overview available at their about page here:

The Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACCA) is a municipal corporation organized pursuant to the Illinois Housing Authority Act. The jurisdiction of HACC includes all incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County of Champaign, Illinois. The Housing Authority is governed by a seven-member Board of Commissioners. Members of the Board are appointed by the Mayor of the City of Champaign, the Mayor of the City of Urbana and the Chair of the Champaign County Board. One member is a participant in a HACC program. Commissioners serve for five years and have unlimited terms.

HACC was created in 1943 and for many years built, owned and managed only traditional public housing pursuant to Section 9 of the 1937 Housing Act. Faced with distressed Public Housing and ever-decreasing federal funding, HACC began redevelopment of its largest public housing communities in the 1990s using multiple mixed financing methods including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, to create new mixed-income communities. In 2010, HACC became one of only 39 Public Housing Authorities in the country to be designated as a Moving to Work (MTW) Agency.

The Board of Commissioners generally meets on the 4th Thursday of the month from 3-5pm (agenda packets available here). Videos of recent meetings have been posted to their facebook page here. There was a special meeting earlier in January for a closed session, but in the last few minutes, director Northern welcomed the new Commissioner from the City of Champaign, Bailee VanAntwerp.

The regular January meeting (agenda) was split up into two videos on either side of a closed session dealing with employment issues. The public portions are available here, with approving minutes and reports, and here, where they approved the new interim Executive Director, Lily Walton.

Joe Galvan gave public comments as a former regional administrator for HUD. He described the pleasure it was working with the outgoing director and heaped praise and thanks on him and his team at the HACC.

Northern's final report as director is available in the agenda packet here on pages 11-14 of the PDF. The Operations Report following that has a lot of details on the HACC programs, including the YouthBuild program in the news recently. WCIA had a short blurb on the YouthBuild program last month:

YouthBuild was founded by the Housing Authority of Champaign County to help at-risk youth earn a high school diploma and find good jobs.

Recent graduates earned not only high school diplomas, but also OSHA, Flaggers, and NCCER certifications. These certifications help graduates successfully land jobs directly following graduation.

John Taylor II, a now-graduate from Youthbuild, said he is thankful for the staff and other students at Youthbuild for taking the time to get to know him. He said he plans to work for Youthbuild in the future to “help kids like him,” who “want to better themselves.”

HACC Executive Director David Northern said they are actively recruiting participants for the spring. Applications for the program can be found on the HACC website.

Full blurb and video segment here. HACC YouthBuild web page and link to applications here.

There were also updates on the HACC's reentry programs for some of the unique housing challenges for those dealing with the criminal justice system on page 23 of the agenda packet. Snippet:

More information available at the websites of First Followers Reentry and WIN Recovery.

Weather Radio Tower Update: Still Waiting

Since February 2020 we have seen national emergencies from a deadly global pandemic to Russian cyberattacks (on top of previous infrastructure vulnerabilities) to a full blown coup attempt where the U.S. Capitol Building was sacked. We've gone through a tornado season and generally lived in a time where it'd be nice if our emergency weather radios would get us the information we need in the event we had to hunker down over weather or global catastrophe.

Our local NOAA radio tower has been down this whole time. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any definitive news of a replacement even a full year later.

The News-Gazette had an overview of recent updates on the weather radio tower that went down in February of 2020 and still hasn't been replaced with at a new tower location:

A report Monday from NOAA indicated that progress in restoring the service is “extremely slow because we need to find a new broadcast tower to put our equipment on.”

Negotiations that extended through summer and fall for a new tower site fell through...

The new transmitter will be located on a tower in Champaign, but not many are tall enough to do the job.

An announcement on weather.gov indicated officials at the highest levels of NOAA and National Weather Service, along with area congressional representatives, are working on the issue.

Full article here. The National Weather Service continues to have the same basic information:

The NOAA Weather Radio servicing the Champaign, IL area, including the campus of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, went offline on February 13, 2020. A damaged coaxial cable caused repeated outages and finally a full service outage. During the service restoration process, the previous tower space lease was cancelled by the owner, and thus a new transmitter location was required. A new tower location is being sought for a replacement transmitter and to increase reliability of the service in the future.

We will provide updates on the status of the Champaign NOAA Weather Radio transmitter as more information becomes available. This is going to be a very long process, so updates will only be posted about every 30-60 days. 

Why is it taking so long? 

NOAA must find a site and agreement that meets our technical, legal, and financial requirements. A potential lessor will have their own requirements. While we continue through the process, we encourage residents to have multiple ways to receive a warning including enabling wireless emergency alerts on your mobile phone, monitoring local broadcast media, and using trusted weather applications on your mobile phone.

Where are we now in the process of getting it back online? What’s next? 

The lease procurement process continues for a new tower location. After this process is completed and a lease for a new tower location is signed, a structural analysis will be done to ensure the tower can support our NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter antenna. Once the structural analysis is done, we will then execute the lease. Once the lease is executed, technicians will travel to Champaign and install the transmitter. The installation of the antenna and coaxial cable on the tower will be scheduled by the tower crew according to their schedule and the weather.

This isn't very encouraging since this is almost exactly, word for word, what we knew a year ago. From a Tom's Mailbag article in the News-Gazette back on February 28th, 2020:

“I reached out to the NWS to see if there were any possibilities of assisting them,” said Rick Finnie, associate director of technology for WILL. “The NWS is looking for a tower situation that would duplicate their current coverage and we are not able to satisfy their tower requirements.”

The National Weather Service at Lincoln web site says the “outage is due to a damaged coaxial cable, which connects the radio transmitter to the antenna. In addition, a new tower location must be secured to prevent future damage to cabling, which could result in additional future long-term outages. The station will remain offline as the National Weather Service works to relocate the weather radio transmitter to a new tower.

“We have started the process of identifying possible new tower locations for the transmitter. If you have a tower location suggestion, preferably within Champaign County, please contact NWS Lincoln Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) Chris Miller at chris.miller@noaa.gov.

That full Mailbag article available here. I suppose if anybody knows of a possible new tower location, let them know.

Previous updates:

WCIA in September 2020: NWS tower installation pushed to 2021

WICS: Rep. Davis pushes NOAA to fix Weather Radio in Champaign, Piatt Counties

The last Cheat Sheet update on this tower situation was a false hope that it might be back up in 4-6 weeks back in June 2020. 

County Government Updates

This post has some news updates related to County government and information on upcoming meetings this month. The updates have to do with the Champaign County Circuit Clerk's office outreach on cannabis expungement, the annual homeless population survey, and support for eliminating the office of the Recorder of Deeds.

The Circuit Clerk highlighted additional information people effected by State expungements may be unaware of. There is a push to reach out to folks who may have already benefited or could benefit locally. From WAND:

"We actually have a group of 500 cases where people may not be aware that their records have automatically been expunged," said Champaign County Circuit Clerk Susan McGrath. 

The list of individuals whose convictions were presented to the governor for potential pardons authorizing expungement has already been provided to Champaign County and granted by the Champaign County Court. For an individual who believes they fall into this category, they can get a copy of the order granting their expungement from the Office of the Champaign County Circuit Clerk and a certified docket sheet.

Those individuals can also contact the Circuit Clerk’s Office cccircuitclerk@co.champaign.il.us and provide their name, date of birth, address, cell phone number, case number and/or approximate date of conviction. They are encouraged to make this contact either in person or by email by March 1, 2021.

More details and helpful links at the full article here. The News-Gazette had more coverage here.

The annual point-in-time survey to track homeless people in the area took place last week. WAND had a brief overview:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, along with the Champaign County Continuum of Services Providers to the Homeless, mandates the Point-in-Time survey allowing homeless service providers to track progress made towards ending homelessness in the community.

Since July, the CSPH has added six new members, bringing the number of organizations involved to 35...

The data collected from the Point-in-Time count will track the needs of people experiencing homelessness and determine how to distribute the federal funding effectively.

More at that full article here. More information on the Champaign County Continuum of Services Providers to the Homeless is available on the Regional Planning Commission website here with meeting information on their webpage here.

The News-Gazette's editorial board is still on board with getting rid of the Recorder's office and so is the current office holder, former County Board member Mike Ingram. From WCIA:

Champaign County Recorder Mike Ingram ran a campaign to do away with his office. Now, he’s preparing a referendum to make that happen...

He says not much would change for employees in his office. The only major change would be that his staff works for a different department head.

Voters will be able to decide on whether or not to merge the two offices or keep them separate in April.

That full blurb here. News-Gazette editorial here. It may be one of the few things most people can agree on these days.

Upcoming Meetings:

There are County Board committee meetings coming up tonight and heading into next week (see the February meeting calendar here). Tonight is the Environment and Land Use Committee (agenda packet) and will be live streamed on the web and facebook. There will be the 2nd part of a 5 part series on waste management. From a previous Cheat Sheet post:

"[January 7th's] Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) had Part 1 of a 5 part presentation on waste management issues in the County (agenda here, waste presentation PowerPoint here, and video here). There was also an interesting overview of what the County has to do to get back in compliance on its "noxious weed" responsibilities."

The calendar has a key to the abbreviations, for example the VAC is the Veterans' Assistance Commission . The VAC's facebook page has regular updates on the work they're doing here.

COVID News Roundup 1/26

There has been a mountain of news and updates since our last COVID update post a week ago. That Cheat Sheet post highlighted that officials were announcing sustained reductions in cases, hospitalizations and thus reduced mitigations. Soon after that, Region 6, including Champaign County, returned to Phase 4 guidance without additional mitigation. From the News-Gazette:

Region 6 has moved out of the state’s Tier 1 COVID-19 mitigation restrictions to the less restrictive Phase 4.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced the change Thursday morning for the 21-county region that includes Champaign, Douglas, Ford, Piatt and Vermilion counties.

The change was based on improving COVID-19 metrics for the region, including a test-positivity rate of 6.5 percent for three consecutive days, plus staffed intensive care unit bed capacity of 20 percent or more for three consecutive days and no sustained increase in COVID-19 patients in the hospital for seven out of 10 days.

That full article here. The previous Cheat Sheet post had a description and links for the recovery Phases and mitigation Tiers to get back on track after outbreaks. For additional local data and vaccine information check out the C-UPHD coronavirus data page and vaccination dashboard. The return to Phase 4 has meant less restrictions on everything from indoor dining to libraries to sports. Here are just some of the stories on loosening restrictions in the area:

• Youth Sports opening back up from the News-Gazette. There was also an earlier article prior to the decision explaining the metrics and the why.
• Impacts of Phase 4 on campus from the Daily Illini.
• The University Chancellor is pleading with students to adhere to the remaining safety guidance after some concerns were raised by long lines. Coverage by WCIA here. The student infection rate is still far lower than the general community at this time with the News-Gazette reporting its "seven-day positivity rate held at 0.3 percent."
• Champaign Park District and Urbana Park District resuming some indoor activities, reported by Smile Politely.
• Public libraries in Champaign and Urbana have limited openings as reported by the News-Gazette.

There were also some updates on vaccinations (C-UPHD vaccination dashboard):

• Some students and teachers at Unit 4 are able to start signing up for vaccinations according to the News-Gazette today. WCIA had more coverage here.
• WICS had an article on the overwhelming demand in Champaign County and surrounding areas.
• Illinois Newsroom had coverage about building trust with agricultural workers and migrant communities with outreach on the vaccine.
• The Pantagraph had coverage on vaccine delays and nursing homes.
• WICS also had updates on a new Illinois State portal on COVID vaccination information.
• The Daily Illini took a look at the possible student vaccination timeline.
• The Daily Illini also had an overview of the local vaccination push in Champaign County.

Unfortunately as we race to get as many people as possible vaccinated and get this pandemic under control, the new more contagious variant threatens to do more damage. WAND had coverage about more confirmed cases of the virus variant spreading in Illinois. The News-Gazette today laid out specific concerns with the University and the new variant possibly coming here.

Other COVID-19 related updates:

• There is now a memorial established by the Unitarian Universalist church for those lost to the pandemic locally. Reporting from WICS. 
• The IFT teachers union has announced a COVID tracker on its website according to WICS.
• The University of Illinois Board of Trustees says it is still waiting on FDA approval for expanding its testing to more people according to the News-Gazette.
• WCIA had coverage on continued visitor restrictions at local hospitals.
• WCIA and WAND had coverage on the University's "Party Patrol" to help ensure adherence to pandemic guidance.
• The University's "Mom's Weekend" in-person activities were canceled, also from WICS.
• The Daily Illini had an overview of local COVID trends while students were gone.
• There was coverage on how COVID is still impacting "Restaurant Week" events locally in the Daily Illini and WCIA.

It was a busy week for local pandemic news. By the time you read this, there will likely be more news and updates!

Regional Planning Commission Updates

As the Cheat Sheet gets back up and running for 2021, it's worth highlighting one of the major resources for services and programs in the area: The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission. This post includes a general overview of the RPC and the January commission meeting write up. First, a quick overview from their about page:

The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission is an intergovernmental membership organization that provides a variety of programming in the areas of regional, environmental and transportation planning; economic, community, and workforce development; social services; early childhood education; and technical assistance in East Central Illinois. As a multi-faceted government agency, the Commission administers over 100 federal and state grants and contracts with an annual operating budget of $25 million and a staff of over 230 professionals housed in 12 locations serving over 30,000 clients annually.

More at their website here. What you'll find with local governments is that a lot of the funding and collaborations for various programs and organizations go through the Regional Planning Commission. It acts as a conduit between funding sources (Federal, State, or private) to actual boots on the ground organizations offering assistance and services to people in your community. WICS highlighted a recent example with the Champaign County Sheriff's Office last month:

Sheriff Dustin Heuerman and the Champaign County Sheriff's Office have set three initiatives for 2021.

They pertain to Justice Diversion, increasing community relations, and continuing the work of their Special Enforcement Team...

The first initiative is working on Justice Diversion.

They will be working in partnership with the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission to get a social worker to help with certain cases that police get called to.

Full article here. More coverage on these CCSO initiatives at the News-Gazette here.

The commission itself is run by a Chief Executive Officer Dalitso Sulamoyo and commissioners representing local governments across the County. For example, Urbana Mayor Marlin is the chairperson of the commission as of 2021. The chair rotates from year to year (the previous chair was Savoy Mayor Joan Dykstra). There are also two community members serving as commissioners.

As with the last meeting, the discouraging numbers from the 2020 Census played a major role. From the November meeting minutes:

[Planning & Community Development Director Rita Morocoima-Black] presented the final numbers of the Census 2020 to the Commissioners. She commented that the numbers were not very encouraging for the Champaign County area. The numbers are lower than what the staff was hoping the numbers to be. Also, it is believed that the numbers do not include the numbers from the University. The Village of St. Joseph had 85 percent response rate.

The numbers were compared with the numbers from the 2010 Census and the news is not good. It was expected to have better numbers in comparing with 2010, but that is not the case. In Champaign County, numbers were down almost two percent. The City of Champaign was down almost six percent. The City of Urbana was down almost one percent. The Village of Savoy was down almost seven percent. The Village of St. Joseph was up four percent. The Village of Rantoul was down almost four percent. The most discouraging numbers were from the University District. This can be attributed to COVID. It is uncertain if the numbers for the University are correct. 

The full November meeting documents here (video, minutes). This helps provide some context for this January's meeting notes below.

January 22nd Commissioners Meeting:

The meeting video is available here (meeting documents, agenda, and agenda packet). There was some beginning of the year business to attend to, including the new rotating chair and approving the meeting calendar (with some revisions for remote Zoom meetings as opposed to the usual in person location).

Concerns about the 2020 Census were brought up in the last meeting as well as January's. Early indications appear to suggest that there was a significant 2% response drop from 2010. Various funding is often directly based on Census data, so this could have impacts on funding of all sorts of programs and assistance in the coming years.

In the Planning and Community Development Director's report the Census data and products will begin to be available at the end of February with overall counts in early March. Unfortunately the local counts and full details may not be known until July 31st later this summer. 

Workers comp claims and costs are down due to the impacts of pandemic restrictions. Claims are usually due to in-person incidents such as trips and falls.

The tentative launch date for additional emergency rent assistance in the County is February 26th. It was noted that landlords have been frustrated in trying to encourage tenants who qualify for assistance programs to get through the process or even convince them to apply (even though they're eligible). There was discussion about possible outreach to build trust and encourage participation. Lisa Benson, the Community Services Director, noted that there is difficulty in getting proper documentation and there is a need for in-person assistance to help people through the process.

Dennis Roberts of the Urbana City Council and the Workforce Development team at the RPC highlighted a successful beautification project collaboration they hope will inspire more collaborations with local governments and the RPC team there.

The Workforce Development team also highlighted a University committee established to address racism in the community, including a subcommittee on workforce participation. There will be public engagement coming up on ideas and historical steps in the community to move forward. There was some discussion about the energy of addressing racism locally often involving "reinventing the wheel" of beginning steps as opposed to building off of previous work. Champaign City Council at-large member Will Kyles volunteered to participate.

Chief Executive Sulamoyo didn't present his own report and left the robust division reports speak for themselves this month. The meeting went into closed session to deal with employment matters before adjourning.

Champaign County Forest Preserve Updates

The 2020 election had consequences in another County government body: the Champaign County Forest Preserve. A voter referendum for more taxpayer funding passed. Prior to the election the Forest Preserve explained its goals if they received the additional funding. From the News-Gazette this past November:

Water, bike trails and roofing jobs are among the top projects on the Champaign County Forest Preserve District’s to-do list if voters approve a tax increase Tuesday...

Forest preserve district Executive Director Mary Ellen Wuellner said the increase would bring in about $700,000 annually.

No. 1 on the list of projects those funds would pay for: restoring Willow Pond at Middle Fork River Forest Preserve in rural Penfield, at a projected cost of $450,000.

The pond with the only beach in the county has a leak that needs to be sealed, and it will be given a new look.

Full article with other priorities here. There was a follow up article after it passed explaining that the budget would be updated with the new funds in mind. A new preserve project was announced earlier this month by WCIA:

The 98-Acre Heron View Forest Preserve will be the fourth along the Sangamon River. When it’s officially open, you’ll be able to find it sitting between Lake of the Woods and Sangamon River Forest Preserves along County Road 2600 North in Mahomet.

Forest Preserve District officials said as a floodplain forest, the space will allow them to better regulate flood peaks, as well as give visitors a lot of recreational opportunities.

Blue Heron’s and Virginia Bluebells, for which the preserve got its name, will be in full bloom by springtime.

Full blurb here.

Other Forest Preserve News Updates:

• Winter Activity Guide released (Print from PDF here) and WCIA coverage here.
• Replacing a pavilion with new shelters: WCIA Blurb, News-Gazette full article with more details.
• New trail signage to check out: Earlier this month from the News-Gazette.
• A fundraiser for a "new accessible recreation area at the Lake of the Woods peninsula."

A reminder that there are often a multitude of volunteer opportunities at the Forest Preserve. More information on that is available on their website here.

The Preserve is governed by a Board of Commissioners, but meeting information for 2021 still doesn't appear to be available on the website yet. When it is, it will likely be on this page.

Champaign County Bailout Coalition Updates

This post has updates and links from the last meeting of the Champaign County Bailout Coalition, but first some context with the passage of a major piece of legislation. The Illinois General Assembly recently passed a police and criminal justice reform bill that is now waiting on the Governor's signature to become law. In a recent Cheat Sheet post we had the Champaign County Sheriff's reaction, but the bill would also impact many organizations that work with the Criminal Justice system like the Champaign County Bailout Coalition. NBC Chicago had a detailed overview of the bill earlier this month:

House Bill 3653, authored by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, was approved by the Illinois General Assembly Wednesday, bringing "significant changes" to things like police training policies, police accountability, transparency in law enforcement and the rights of detainees and prisoners, according to Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr., who sponsored the bill.

Among the changes the bill would bring are the elimination of monetary bail, a requirement that all police officers wear body cameras by 2025, a ban on all police chokeholds, new guidelines for "decertification" of police officers, and an end to suspended licenses for failure to pay, among several other changes. It also bans police departments from purchasing military equipment like .50 caliber rifles and tanks, increases protection for whistleblowers, and adds to rights for detainees to make phone calls and access their personal contacts before police questioning.

Full article here with a breakdown of the bill by topic. There is a great deal of pushback by law enforcement across the state. From CBS Chicago:

The executive director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, Ed Wojcicki said he wants to be part of any upcoming discussions involving the bill.

“We’re going to ask the governor to veto it, or certainly ammendatorially veto it,” Wojicicki said. “We’re going to identify the most egregious portions of the bill.”

Once he gets the bill, the governor has 60 days to sign it. He issued a statement Wednesday supporting the bill, calling it a model for the nation in justice reform.

That full article with more details here.

The end of cash bail isn't immediate in the bill and it appears that it could take a couple years to transition to a system where a suspect is jailed based on factors such as public safety and flight risk as opposed to how much money they have. The Bailout Coalition's website about page makes clear how their mission remains relevant until that transition occurs:

The Champaign County Bailout Coalition is a non-profit and volunteer-run alliance of local individuals and organizations committed to the abolition of money bail as the criterion for determining pretrial release in Champaign County. Unaffordable bail disregards the legal right of the presumption of innocence and condemns individuals to jail before trial. Moreover, decades of research show that the risks of an individual committing a punishable offense during pretrial release or missing their court dates are unaffected by payment of bond. We believe that justice will be done only when this criminal practice is replaced by mandatory non-monetary release for as many people as possible and support for those awaiting trial.

More information on their about page here. In their most recent meeting and on their facebook page they have made it clear they're still looking for volunteers right now:

CCBC collaborates with other criminal justice reform minded organizations for court watching, fundraising and groups like the Coalition to End Money Bond. Local criminal justice activist and Co-Director of the FirstFollowers Reentry Program in Champaign County highlighted the bail reforms in his initial impressions of the passed bill:

The ending of cash bond is momentous and has been the product of years of grassroots struggle. While legislators will no doubt claim credit for this advance, the real credit goes to the Coalition to End Money Bond and the Chicago Community Bond Fund and other activists/advocates who have been so instrumental in getting this passed. In keeping away multiple attempts to water down this legislation and raising consciousness about EM and all the other ways the system tries to pretend they are making change. I especially salute the impacted people who stepped up so heroically to share their experiences of EM and pretrial injustice. Without their stories and determination, this legislation could not have passed. 

People can listen to more reactions from various organizations and activists at a virtual townhall on the Chicago Community Bond Fund facebook page.

Last week's meeting covered a multitude of topics, but a timely issue involved advocacy for priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine for incarcerated people in prisons and jails. Danville Correctional Center recently had an outbreak that they're still battling. From WCIA last month:

 New numbers released by the Illinois Department of Corrections show 30% of Danville Correctional Center’s inmates are currently battling COVID-19.

“We dreaded this day,” Education Justice Project‘s Rebecca Ginsburg said. “We thought it was likely to come eventually. The warden, especially at Danville Correctional Center, has done a good job of delaying this day. But the day has arrived. The numbers are increasing, doubling – more than doubling on a weekly basis.”

Full article here. Another update from WCIA a few days ago included two new deaths:

Two men in their 60s who are inmates at the Illinois Department of Corrections prison in Danville have died since Thursday after contracting coronavirus...

WCIA reported Jan. 5 that an inmate in his 40s had died on Dec. 26.

Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 896 inmates have tested positive for the virus. Of those 741 have recovered and 155 cases are still active.

Another 147 jail staffers have also tested positive. Of those, 135 have recovered and 12 cases are still active.

That full blurb here. The local Champaign County Sheriff gave a presentation on safety issues at the Main and Satellite jails in Champaign County to the County Board's facilities committee (agenda, video) earlier this month. His presentation included the various ways they have attempted to prevent outbreaks locally in spite of serious limitations in their ability to separate and quarantine the number of incarcerated people during intake and in housing.

The Champaign County Bailout Coalition meetings are bimonthly on Thursday evenings and the upcoming dates/times can be found on their facebook events page here. Their meetings are currently on-line and their next meeting is January 28th at 5-6:30pm. 

January County Board Meeting

The regular meeting of the Champaign County Board was this week (agenda packet, video). Click these links for previous Cheat Sheet posts on Committee meetings earlier this month here and last week's Committee of the Whole and Special meeting here. The January meeting came on the heels of a ruling on the the longstanding disagreement on the appointment power of the County Executive in her favor. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

A legal dispute between Champaign County’s first elected county executive, Darlene Kloeppel, and the county board over executive authority has been decided in Kloeppel’s favor...

The county board hasn’t contested Kloeppel’s authority to make appointments to non-elected vacancies. In filling elected position vacancies, however, the board has relied on the state election code, which states unexpired terms of elected officials should be filled by the appointment of the county board chair with the advice and consent of the county board.

The board contended that the plain language of that statute controls language in the county-executive law, Bohm wrote, but that fails to take into consideration that the county-executive law was passed more recently than the election code.

Full article here. This had left a previous appointment to fill a vacancy on the board in a bit of limbo. Former County Administrator and Deb Busey served as a parliamentarian in case of complicated protocol issues arose. A vote to confirm the appointment of the previous appointee, Cameron Raab, maintained the status quo without any fuss. Some board members facial expressions appeared to ask what the point was of this protracted battle that changed nothing in the short term.

The News-Gazette's conservative opinion columnist Jim Dey had overflowing praise for the ruling as "persuasive," "a tour de force, a clear and concise examination of all the issues involved and a thoughtful rationale..." that leaves one wondering if he's merely a glowing fan of the new Republican Judge. More likely, Republicans are looking at the long term ramifications and the original conservative intentions of the County Executive as a Republican check on a Democratic County Board. The position was designed by and for the popular former County Clerk Gordy Hulten who compared the position to being President of the County. Dey only went as far as describing it as "akin to having a mayor for the county."

When the political tides change, we may see another reversal of who wants to keep the County Executive Form of government, and who wants to revert back to having an appointed County Administrator.

After the appointment was approved, Board Member McGuire called on folks to help others with access to the vaccine. Some of the methods for gaining access use technology which can be difficult for some, especially many elderly people at greater risk. He was also hoping for more detailed breakdowns of vaccination progress among categories such as age groups and Nursing Home residents. The health department's vaccination dashboard has more general data, but includes the current phases and eligibility here.

Appointment votes on a few other boards and commissions fell down mostly party lines. Democrats blocked an appointment to the Mental Health Board, seeking a different candidate to be nominated. Republicans voted against another MHB nominee, but didn't have enough votes to block him.

The Auditor had a presentation for folks interested in the nitty-gritty of the previous year's budget, CAFR (what's this?) and process. It's available at the 45 minute mark in the video. The presentation slides are available here on the County website.

There was an issue with a public participation earlier in the meeting, with one person unable to be heard due to a technical issue. The Board voted to allow Amanda Dixon the opportunity to comment later in the meeting with a vote at around the 54 minute mark. She expressed her frustrations about Animal Control and other authorities not taking her complaints about a pet hording couple seriously until they had caused serious harm to the animals.

There appeared to be some other members of the public attempting to comment as well, but the vote to make an exception was only for the speaker who had the earlier technical issue by name. After last week's nearly 5 hour long COW meeting, there didn't appear to be a willingness to have an extended late night public comment opening.

The meeting ended with a bipartisan statement of appreciation of Deb Busey helping as a parliamentarian and her long time dedication to the County government.