by Check CU | Nov 5, 2024 | Featured, Latest Articles
Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons says voters are to blame for long wait times at the polls Champaign County voters are, once again, encountering extremely long lines at polling locations. The local election authority, County Clerk Aaron Ammons, says the...
by Check CU | May 11, 2024 | Latest Articles
An aerial view of the main quad at the University of Illinois on May 10th, 2024, about twelve hours after protestors evacuated their nearly two week long encampment, and the beginning of graduation weekend. After nearly two weeks, protestors at the University of...
by Check CU | Apr 29, 2024 | Latest Articles
Champaign, IL Unit 4 School Board, as comprised February 2024 (left to right): Amy Armstrong, Mark Thies, Bruce Brown, Superintendent Shelia Boozer (not a Board member), Gianina Baker, Jamar Brown, Heather Vazquez, Betsy Holder Two weeks ago, Check CU published an...
by Check CU | Apr 17, 2024 | Latest Articles
Yorkville District 115 School Board President Darren Crawford (left) swears in a new Board member (October 30, 2023) Check CU has acquired legal invoices showing line by line expenses related to an Open Meetings Act (OMA) violation by the Yorkville, Illinois Community...
by Check CU | Apr 16, 2024 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Chief Larry Boone presents to the City Council on Police Department staffing on April 1st, 2024 The Urbana City Council has recently undergone two presentations pushing for a significant expansion of the Police Department (at significant cost),...
by Check CU | Apr 15, 2024 | Latest Articles
Champaign, Illinois Unit 4 School District Board member Jamar Brown reads a prepared resignation letter during the March 4th Board meeting Champaign, Illinois Unit 4 School District Board member Jamar Brown resigned on March 4th, 2024, saying he can “no longer see a...
by Check CU | Apr 13, 2024 | Latest Articles
Chart of yearly spending on Amazon purchases by the Champaign, Illinois Unit 4 School District (created by Check CU from data acquired via a FOIA request to the District) Check CU has acquired a complete record of Amazon.com purchases by the Champaign, Illinois Unit 4...
by Check CU | Apr 12, 2024 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Attorney David Wesner (far right) argued that the City of Urbana is not required to post meeting minutes online because, according to him, the City website is not maintained by full-time staff. The Attorney General has finally issued a...
by Check CU | Apr 5, 2024 | Latest Articles
Far right: Champaign County Auditor George Danos The Champaign County Board held an unusual meeting yesterday with only one agenda item: “Response to FOIA Request”. The FOIA request which prompted this meeting came from an email address bearing the name Cookie Cutter:...
by Check CU | Feb 6, 2024 | Latest Articles
Emulsicoat asphalt plant in Urbana, Illiois Some residents in Urbana, Illinois have been receiving letters from an Indiana law firm regarding possible litigation over a decades long air quality problem. Neighbors in the Historic East Urbana Neighborhood Association...
by Check CU | Feb 5, 2024 | Latest Articles
On May 2nd, 2023, the Danville, Illinois City Council passed a controversial anti-abortion ordinance which many parties believed was so legally objectionable that it would surely result in a U.S. Supreme Court case. Danville’s legal counsel even suggested that...
by Check CU | Feb 5, 2024 | Latest Articles
Photo of the west side of the Royer Hotel project, taken February 3rd, 2024 Developers who signed a hotel deal with the City of Urbana, Illinois in June of 2019 are now requesting an extension for the fourth time. The Hotel Royer (previously known as the Lincoln...
by Check CU | Jan 29, 2024 | Latest Articles
(please listen to the audio to understand the context of this statement about God and science – the Board member was positing a hypothetical scenario) Nearly six months after unlawfully closing a meeting to the public, the Yorkville Community School District 115...
by Check CU | Jan 17, 2024 | Latest Articles
Yorkville Community School District 115 Board of Education, Director of Communications Brent Edwards Check CU has received a letter from the Yorkville, Illinois Community School District 115 demanding that we alter the contents of a news article which we published...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2024 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Council presentation on Gaza ceasefire resolution by Ben Joselyn on January 8th, 2024 Last week’s Urbana, Illinois City Council meeting was packed wall to wall largely because of a single discussion item on the agenda: the consideration of a...
by Check CU | Jan 9, 2024 | Latest Articles
Yorkville District 115 School Board President Darren Crawford (left) swears in a new Board member (October 30, 2023) Thirteen days ago, the Illinois Attorney General’s office directed Yorkville School District 115 to release the audio recording of an unlawful closed...
by Check CU | Jan 8, 2024 | Latest Articles
Custom Champaign Police Department graphics created by Zach Royce for the Grand Theft Auto video game The Champaign, Illinois Police Department was not happy when they saw images from the popular video game Grand Theft Auto showing squad cars and police officers...
by Check CU | Jan 8, 2024 | Latest Articles
Champaign, Illinois Police officers stand with the Mayor and City Council after being sworn in The City of Champaign is paying out yet again to settle a lawsuit related to unlawfully denied public records. Check CU filed the lawsuit in April of 2022 when the...
by Check CU | Jan 5, 2024 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Attorney (right) argues that the City of Urbana is not required to post meeting minutes online because, according to him, the City website is not maintained by full-time staff. (also pictured: Council member James Quisenberry, City Administrator...
by Check CU | Jan 5, 2024 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin issued a letter on January 4th acknowledging that part of a Plan Commission meeting she attended last month was unlawfully closed to the public (Photo by ILDocs.com) Less than 24 hours after the Illinois Attorney General...
by Check CU | Jan 4, 2024 | Latest Articles
Members of the Urbana, Illinois Plan Commission began to leave the Council Chambers to hold a closed meeting in the 2nd floor conference room. (top right: City Attorney David Wesner, Mayor Diane Marlin, and a City staff member) The Illinois Attorney General has...
by Check CU | Dec 31, 2023 | Latest Articles
Yorkville District 115 School Board President Darren Crawford (left) swears in a new Board member (October 30, 2023) On August 7th, 2023, the members of the Yorkville, Illinois Community School District 115 Board of Education entered into a meeting which was entirely...
by Check CU | Dec 31, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Chief Larry Boone (left) with Champaign Police Chief Tim Tyler (right) The City of Urbana, Illinois seems to be doubling down on an unlawful Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) denial issued in April of 2023. We had asked for records on...
by Check CU | Dec 30, 2023 | Latest Articles
Sample images from University of Illinois license plate readers, as well as their locations According to a determination issued by the Illinois Attorney General, the University of Illinois violated state law when they refused to provide information about their...
by Check CU | Dec 29, 2023 | Latest Articles
Members of the Urbana, Illinois Plan Commission began to leave the Council Chambers to hold a closed meeting in the 2nd floor conference room. (top right: City Attorney David Wesner, Mayor Diane Marlin, and a City staff member) We were recently alerted to a highly...
by Check CU | Dec 29, 2023 | Latest Articles
After initially denying a public records request, the City of Champaign, Illinois agreed to provide the records and pay the legal fees incurred by Check CU founder Christopher Hansen in response to an associated lawsuit. In March of 2022, Check CU published an article...
by Check CU | Dec 21, 2023 | Latest Articles
The Cohen Building at 136 West Main Street in downtown Urbana. The entire second floor has been leased to the City of Urbana since January of 2023. In January of 2023, the Urbana, Illinois City Council approved an agreement to rent the 2nd floor of the Cohen Building...
by Check CU | Dec 18, 2023 | Latest Articles
This individual was seen stalking a woman in West Urbana, then running from the location of a mugging moments later. His clothing and description match that given by the victim. Click here for full resolution image. If you know who this person is, please contact the...
by Check CU | Dec 4, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Staff present their police expansion plan at a City Council meeting on December 4th, 2023 (left to right: Finance Director Elizabeth Hannan, Chief of Police Larry Boone, Deputy Chief of Police Richard Surles After substantial public pushback and the...
by Check CU | Nov 22, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Chief Larry Boone (left) The City of Urbana, Illinois has violated public records laws once again, according to the Illinois Attorney General. Nearly six months ago, Check CU published an article showing that Urbana officials were going out of...
by Check CU | May 30, 2023 | Latest Articles
The City of Urbana, Illinois apparently has no tolerance for relaxed lawn care, even during the internationally promoted “No Mow May” movement. Check CU has learned that Urbana City inspectors are out and about, armed with wooden yardsticks, and they mean...
by Check CU | May 1, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Finalist Larry Boone The City of Urbana, Illinois appears to be continuing their tradition of extreme secrecy in regards to the operations and planning of their police department. Nearly one month ago, Mayor Diane Marlin announced her choice...
by Check CU | Apr 24, 2023 | Latest Articles
Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz After learning that University of Illinois Police Officer Jerald Sandage would be returning to court for new criminal charges (in addition to the felony official misconduct charges he was convicted of last year),...
by Check CU | Apr 21, 2023 | Latest Articles
The Urbana School District #116 Meeting on February 21st, 2023 A recent decision by the Urbana School District #116 Board of Education to close an elementary school has brought heavy criticism from the public, along with some troubling questions about the legality of...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2023 | Latest Articles
Retired Norfolk, VA Police Chief Larry Boone is Urbana’s sole finalist for their new Police Chief The City of Urbana, Illinois seems to have finally settled on a new police chief after becoming aware of the vacancy more than fourteen months ago. On Monday...
by Check CU | Mar 27, 2023 | Latest Articles
Mayor Diane Marlin (right) claimed that the Urbana Police Department had made commitments to improve civilian police review, but the City can’t find any records of those commitments At the March 13th, 2023 Urbana City Council meeting, right before splitting a...
by Check CU | Mar 26, 2023 | Latest Articles
The declarations of Evanston’s public officials, are not entirely consistent with their actions when it comes to accessing government records On July 28th of 2022, Check CU sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the City of Evanston, Illinois...
by Check CU | Mar 21, 2023 | Latest Articles
Village of Rantoul Police Officer Jose Aceves shows other officers the trail of blood on the ground after fatally shooting a man during a car theft investigation The Village of Rantoul, Illinois has released some records related to a fatal officer involved shooting...
by Check CU | Mar 19, 2023 | Latest Articles
On March 13th, 2023, just before a final vote on a Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract, one member of the Urbana City Council laid out just how straightforward basic police accountability can be. Or rather, could have been, if anyone had listened. We...
by Check CU | Mar 17, 2023 | Latest Articles
A screenshot of the Illinois Documents website, where hundreds of Central Illinois public officials are listed in a single directory In recognition of Sunshine Week, Check CU would like to draw attention to some Central Illinois resources that make public records and...
by Check CU | Mar 17, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Clerk Charlie Smyth pioneered records denial schemes that continue to be repeated and cause damage today In recognition of Sunshine Week, Check CU presents the elected official who pioneered illegal public records denial schemes for the City of Urbana,...
by Check CU | Mar 15, 2023 | Latest Articles
The Illinois Attorney General released the 2022 Public Access Counselor’s Annual Report on March 13th in recognition of Sunshine Week. The annual PAC reports are a good resource for anyone interested in keeping up to date on issues related to the Open Meetings...
by Check CU | Mar 13, 2023 | Latest Articles
Ward 5 Councilperson Chaundra Bishop made big promises on police reform during her campaign in 2020/2021, but her actions on Council indicate that she actually wants to slow down and prevent reforms. Some of the new Urbana, Illinois City Council members appear to have...
by Check CU | Mar 12, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Officer Eric Ruff is frequently quick to violence when interacting with residents Another use of force incident by Urbana Police seems to show that officers are ready to draw their guns for almost any type of call, even when there is no...
by Check CU | Mar 12, 2023 | Featured, Latest Articles
Interim Chief of Police Richard Surles (center table, right) and Finance Director Elizabeth Hannan (center table, left) represented the people of Urbana in their negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police last year (for an explanation, see CU-Perspective’s...
by Check CU | Mar 10, 2023 | Latest Articles
This is the moment that University of Illinois Police Officer Kiel Cotter learned that he was going to Champaign County jail for his crimes A few brave college students did what the University of Illinois Police Training Institute failed to do: screen police trainees...
by Check CU | Mar 9, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana and University of Illinois Police were quick to use excessive force against a group of teens trying to sneak out on a Christmas night. The incident occurred in 2018 when a resident called police, reporting seeing what they thought was suspicious activity...
by Check CU | Mar 8, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Officer Eric L Ruff with his TASER It has been more than a year since Check CU requested public records related to likely police misconduct involving Urbana, Illinois Officer Eric L. Ruff. In January of 2022 we learned of an incident...
by Check CU | Mar 8, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Officer Eric L. Ruff (previously an officer for the Village of Rantoul) has a long history of using excessive force against residents Check CU is reviewing another violent incident involving Urbana, Illinois Police Officer Eric Ruff. On March...
by Check CU | Mar 8, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Officer Eric L. Ruff (center) Urbana, Illinois Police Officer Eric Ruff gained local notoriety in 2020 for kneeing a young woman in the ribs, and punching her in the head after she was tackled to the pavement. After video of the arrest...
by Check CU | Mar 7, 2023 | Latest Articles
A dangerous interaction in Urbana, Illinois resulted in an armed “high risk” response by police, and the outcome raises a lot of questions about public safety and police documentation. On March 13th, 2020, an energy salesman ignored signs prohibiting...
by Check CU | Mar 6, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana residents who tried to watch the Committee of the Whole meeting this evening saw this frozen image and heard no audio during important public input on the police contract negotiation process. Years after becoming aware of shortcomings in their IT department,...
by Check CU | Mar 6, 2023 | Latest Articles
University of Illinois Professor Erik J. Sacks, after performing research on the internet, concluded that everyone running against him in a City Council election was an extremist terrorist. Conspiracy theories touted by University of Illinois Professor and prior...
by Check CU | Mar 5, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Council member Jaya Kolisetty, along with other Council members who campaigned heavily on police reform, have taken no action in pursuit of reforms, and have repeatedly pushed to keep the public in the dark. It has been a year since Check CU published the...
by Check CU | Jan 29, 2023 | Latest Articles
The City of Evanston, Illinois is being sued for unlawfully concealing police misconduct records. Check CU filed the lawsuit in Cook County Court on September 30th, 2022, alleging violations of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The lawsuit shows that on...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2023 | Latest Articles
Ever since the surprise unveiling of a new Urbana Police Department Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract on December 19th, 2022, members of the public have shown up to City Council meetings to demand more transparency in the police contract negotiation process. ...
by Check CU | Dec 19, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Urbana City Council once again unanimously voted to move discussions of Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contracts into a secretive closed session room. Some members of the public who attended tonight’s Council meeting, many of whom attended specifically to...
by Check CU | Nov 8, 2022 | Latest Articles
Some Champaign County residents had to wait up to three hours to cast their votes this evening. Hundreds of voters were made to wait at the University of Illinois Union Building polling location in Urbana. About six hundred feet in length, the line snaked through...
by Check CU | Nov 6, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign, Illinois County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman Just months into his first term, which began in 2018, Champaign, Illinois County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman seemingly engaged in a series of unlawful activities regarding free speech and public records laws. In 2019,...
by Check CU | Aug 30, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten and Human Rights and Equity Officer Carla Boyd have both made strong efforts to deny and conceal discrimination complaints, especially complaints against City employees On August 30th, 2022 a Hearing Body of the Urbana...
by Check CU | Aug 8, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign, Illinois City Council member and licensed attorney Tom Bruno At the July 26th, 2022 meeting of the Champaign City Council, local attorney and Council member Tom Bruno made some blatantly false legal claims regarding the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA). A...
by Check CU | Aug 7, 2022 | Latest Articles
On June 7th, 2022 James Quisenberry said that three no votes to a motion on the day prior appeared to be illegal collusion by City Council members Urbana, Illinois Council member James Quisenberry arrived at a strange conclusion at a City Council meeting in early...
by Check CU | Aug 7, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin became visibly upset at a recent Council meeting after Council members did not unanimously approve her list of a dozen City officials. The list was presented for a Council vote on June 6th and included two year appointments to...
by Check CU | Aug 7, 2022 | Latest Articles
Just over two months ago, Urbana Interim Chief of Police Richard Surles released a statement which revealed that more than ten percent the City’s police officers were looking to apply to the Illinois State Police (ISP). Check CU sent a Freedom of Information Act...
by Check CU | Aug 2, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Evanston, Illinois City Council went into closed session last night to discuss the potential appointment of Carol Mitten (currently City Administrator for Urbana, IL) to their vacant City Manager position. The Council’s conclusion: We don’t want her. ...
by Check CU | Jul 31, 2022 | Latest Articles
At an Urbana, Illinois City Council meeting, City Administrator Carol Mitten attempts to justify the City’s use of language in their job application process designed to warn certain individuals from applying Despite endless publicity about offering opportunities for...
by Check CU | Jul 29, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Evanston Police Department is imposing police misconduct complaint requirements that quite clearly violate Illinois State law. The complaint forms and related policies and procedures contain provisions that require the complainant to sign a sworn affidavit,...
by Check CU | Jul 29, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU is investigating Carle Health business practices in Champaign, Illinois. We have received tips regarding unethical business practices including abusive treatment of patients, deceptive billing, scheduling practices designed to overbill, and charging for...
by Check CU | Jul 28, 2022 | Latest Articles
The City of Evanston, Illinois is refusing to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records of sexual misconduct within the Parks and Recreation Department – a scandal involving female lifeguards and other beach workers that has amassed intense public...
by Check CU | Jul 28, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten (right) yells at Check CU reporter Christopher Hansen (left) for attempting to audio record an official Urbana City Council meeting. Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten showed flagrant contempt for the people’s right...
by Check CU | Jul 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
Octapharma Plasma representative Kerry Clish (center) is appealing the business type designation of “clinic”, arguing that plasma centers are not similar to other types of clinics. The North Carolina plasma collection business Octapharma Plasma, Inc. has...
by Check CU | Jul 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
Evanston, Illinois Mayor Daniel Biss made a notable and concerning declaration earlier this month. Biss argued that the City’s search for a new City Manager needed to be as secretive as possible in order to attract a better applicant pool. Though the City...
by Check CU | Jul 26, 2022 | Latest Articles
Rantoul, Illinois Village Attorney David Wesner and Police Chief Tony Brown are not only concealing police misconduct records, they are asking the court to overturn public records laws that have existed for over four decades A Champaign County judge denied an attempt...
by Check CU | Jul 24, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten and past City Attorney James Simon have spent part of their careers ensuring that discrimination complaints are never processed by the City After Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten unlawfully overthrew the...
by Check CU | Jul 22, 2022 | Latest Articles
A number of residents attended the July 18th Evanston, Illinois City Council meeting to speak about the hiring of a new City Manager. After multiple attempts to hire a new City Manager have failed over the past year or more, it seems Evanston officials are...
by Check CU | Jul 21, 2022 | Latest Articles
Just weeks after seeking a two year extension to her position as Urbana City Administrator, Carol Mitten plans to resign and take a City Manager job for Evanston, Illinois Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten is planning to resign her position to take a...
by Check CU | Jul 11, 2022 | Latest Articles
Ward 5 Alderwoman Chaundra Bishop was one of four Council members who voted in favor of the County’s jail expansion The Urbana, Illinois City Council voted 4 to 3 tonight to approve an expansion of the Champaign County satellite jail by more than fifty percent...
by Check CU | Jul 11, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Urbana, Illinois City Council unanimously reappointed Anthony Allegretti and Tony Rice (left top and bottom) to the Civilian Police Review Board, despite repeated past misconduct while serving on the Board On June 27th, 2022 the Urbana, Illinois City Council voted...
by Check CU | Jul 11, 2022 | Latest Articles
On July 5th, 2022 the Urbana, Illinois City Council was presented with a plan for expanding the Champaign County jail, which resides within the City limits. The jail expansion plan would be expensive, and it would increase the total number of jail beds from 141...
by Check CU | Jul 11, 2022 | Latest Articles
County Board member Jim McGuire tours the Champaign, Illinois County jail On Tuesday, July 5th, the Urbana Illinois City Council Committee of the Whole voted to send a County jail expansion plan forward to the July 11th meeting for a final vote. The proposed...
by Check CU | Jun 22, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Attorney was reappointed by the City Council for an additional two years The Urbana, Illinois City Council has opted to reappoint David Wesner as City Attorney, despite his reputation for getting municipalities into legal trouble with dubious...
by Check CU | Jun 22, 2022 | Latest Articles
At a cost of more than $330,000, Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten was appointed for an additional two years The Urbana, Illinois City Council has opted to reappoint the same, often unpopular, City Administrator, Carol Mitten, for an additional two...
by Check CU | Jun 6, 2022 | Latest Articles
(Image from the last publicly broadcast meeting of the Urbana, Illinois Civil Service Commission on March 30th. Traci Nally, Thomas Betz, Elizabeth Borman, Femi Fletcher.) The Urbana, Illinois Civil Service Commission held a meeting on May 25th in a room on the...
by Check CU | Jun 6, 2022 | Latest Articles
A City Council member in Urbana, Illinois made a concerning declaration at a recent City meeting: Councilwoman Shirese Hursey alleged that the utilization of the Zoom conferencing platform by the City for public meetings during COVID attracted “blatant racism”, and...
by Check CU | Jun 5, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Interim Chief of Police Richard Surles says that officer shortage could cause “significant operational challenges” According to a statement issued by Urbana, Illinois Interim Chief of Police Richard Surles on June 2nd, more than ten...
by Check CU | Jun 5, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Attorney David Wesner Members of the public are still waiting to hear an explanation from Urbana, Illinois City Attorney David Wesner in regards to his erroneous legal guidance on an Open Meetings Act (OMA) issue. Nearly a year ago, Wesner...
by Check CU | Jun 2, 2022 | Latest Articles
A private security team from AGB Security Service will police the downtown Champaign, Illinois area for the summer A team of private security guards hired by the City of Champaign, Illinois have arrived to patrol the downtown area during busy hours for the rest of the...
by Check CU | Jun 2, 2022 | Latest Articles
Tracy Chong (author of CU Perspective) interviews a Flock Safety employee as he installs a license plate reader at the intersection of Windsor & Galen in Champaign, IL Residents of Champaign have likely started to notice the dozens of automatic license plate...
by Check CU | May 25, 2022 | Latest Articles
Interim Police Chief Richard Surles (bottom left) and Interim Deputy Police Chief Matt Bain (bottom right) have continued the effort led by recently resigned Police Chief Bryant Seraphin (bottom center) to reduce police oversight in Urbana, Illinois (photo taken at...
by Check CU | May 25, 2022 | Latest Articles
On April 14th, 2022 Check CU reported that the Urbana, Illinois Police Department (UPD) had ceased use of force review in September of 2021 – immediately after getting their new Fraternal Order of Police contract pushed through City Council. New records acquired from...
by Check CU | May 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin has been flip-flopping her position on Open Meetings Act (OMA) compliance in regards to public input. On July 6th 2021, Marlin claimed that allowing remote public input, as the City Council had been doing for more than a year, would...
by Check CU | Apr 24, 2022 | Latest Articles
A second Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit has been filed this month against the City of Urbana, Illinois and the Urbana Police Department. The complaint, filed on behalf of Check CU Founder Christopher Hansen on April 14th, alleges the following: The...
by Check CU | Apr 17, 2022 | Latest Articles
Rantoul Police Chief Tony Brown, Sergeant Jerry King, and Officer Jose Aceves approach resident Wendell Golston after Mayor Charles Smith called for him to be removed for speaking too long. The April 12th meeting of the Ranoul Village Board almost turned into a...
by Check CU | Apr 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
A lawsuit filed last week alleges willful and repeated violations of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by several public bodies in Champaign County. The City of Urbana, the Village of Rantoul, and the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office are...
by Check CU | Apr 15, 2022 | Latest Articles
Village of Rantoul Illinois Officials: Village Clerk and FOIA Officer Janet Gray, Village Administrator Scott Eisenhauer, Village Attorney David Wesner, Police Chief Tony Brown Rantoul, Illinois Village Officials appear to be more concerned with finding ways to deny...
by Check CU | Apr 14, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Chief Bryant Seraphin (now resigned) and Deputy Chief Richard Surles (now Interim Chief) present to the City Council on increased police use of force at the August 23rd, 2021 Council meeting The Urbana, Illinois Police Department appears to...
by Check CU | Apr 13, 2022 | Latest Articles
More than eleven months into their four year terms, the Urbana, Illinois City Council has finally agreed on a set of goals to work toward during 2022 and 2023. After a number of failed attempts, the Council finally voted to approve a list of goals at their April 11th...
by Check CU | Apr 13, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Officials appear to be more concerned with finding ways to deny and delay public records requests than they are with providing the actual records. The City routinely takes months to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from...
by Check CU | Apr 12, 2022 | Latest Articles
Police Chief finalist Angela Coonce (right) speaks to members of the public at an open house on March 29th. Amber Oberheim (left) presses Coonce on distinctions between short-term and long-term solutions to increasing gun crime. Mrs. Oberheim’s husband, a...
by Check CU | Apr 11, 2022 | Latest Articles
University of Illinois PhD graduate and Urbana resident Tracy Chong speaks during public input about FOIA violations The Urbana, Illinois City Council shows no signs of changing their well-established practice of ignoring residents’ reports of Freedom of Information...
