by Check CU | Feb 21, 2022 | Latest Articles
CUPHD representatives Whitney Greger, Kami Lafoon, and Anna Johnson urged the Urbana City Council to pass legislation which would ban e-cigarettes and create fines for business owners. The Champaign Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) is campaigning for laws that...
by Check CU | Feb 20, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign City Council member for District 2, Alicia Beck Check CU recently published an article about Champaign City Council members Alicia Beck and Michael Foellmer giving two senior citizens the boot at Tuesday’s Council meeting. Albert and Claudia Morr...
by Check CU | Feb 19, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign City Council member Alicia Beck bangs her fist on the table as she castigates two residents who raised concerns about gun violence. Albert Morr and his wife Claudia attended the Tuesday night Champaign City Council meeting to address the increasing gun...
by Check CU | Feb 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
On February 3rd, 2022, the Champaign, Illinois Police Department (CPD) supplied Check CU with a police complaint form that quite clearly violates state law. The CPD also supplied the same unlawful forms to individuals who inquired at the police station. The form...
by Check CU | Feb 15, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU has struggled to find vital public records on the City of Danville website, especially those regarding the Danville Police Department, such as: Danville Police Department PoliciesPolice Union Contracts for the Danville Police DepartmentPolice Complaint Forms...
by Check CU | Feb 14, 2022 | Latest Articles
In September 2021, the Urbana City Council voted to significantly reduce their role in selecting police command staff. All seven Urbana City Council members campaigned on increased police oversight and accountability, and four of those Council members made it one of...
by Check CU | Feb 13, 2022 | Latest Articles
Former Police Chief of Champaign, Illinois enters the law enforcement field in Champaign for the first time in ten years Robert T. Finney has reentered the law enforcement profession in Champaign, Illinois for the first time since his resignation as Champaign Police...
by Check CU | Feb 12, 2022 | Latest Articles
Retired Champaign, Illinois Police Chief Robert T. Finney claims that social media comments about his role in the killing of an unarmed boy have damaged his reputation and put his family in danger. Records obtained from the City of Champaign, Illinois show that social...
by Check CU | Feb 10, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin The Urbana Police Department and the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) have been openly violating their mandate for more than two years. Whereas City Ordinance and UPD policy require the Police Department to review TASER gun...
by Check CU | Feb 7, 2022 | Latest Articles
Repeated attempts at acquiring a Danville Police complaint form failed Check CU recently published an article showing that the Danville, Illinois Police Department dispenses unlawful complaint forms. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered that the Police Department...
by Check CU | Feb 4, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU recently published an article about the Danville, Illinois Police Department utilizing unlawful requirements in their civilian complaint forms. The article showed that the complaint form requires a sworn affidavit, and also requires complainants to...
by Check CU | Jan 30, 2022 | Latest Articles
On January 25th, 2022, the City of Danville, Illinois supplied Check CU with a police complaint form that quite clearly violates state law. The form contains an affidavit page that requires the complainant to sign a sworn statement and have it notarized. A...
by Check CU | Jan 30, 2022 | Latest Articles
On May 19, 2021, City of Champaign Police Officers Chris Oberheim and Jeffrey Creel responded to a call regarding a domestic disturbance. After the officers approached an individual sitting in a car outside of the Town Center Apartments complex in the north end of...
by Check CU | Jan 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
At their February 2021 meeting, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Board discuss fines and prosecution for persons failing to wear face masks (Director of Environmental Health Jim Roberts, HR Generalist Amy Roberts, Chair Andy Quarnstrom, Deputy Administrator...
by Check CU | Jan 24, 2022 | Latest Articles
The January 18th meeting of the Champaign City Council had a curious item on the agenda: approval of nearly seven and a half years of meeting minutes for Community Civic Events. There were ninety sets of meeting minutes spanning from June 17, 2014 to November 6,...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
A new 2021 Rantoul Police Department Complaint Form and accompanying instructions bearing the name of Chief of Police Anthony J Brown (click image for full PDF) Check CU recently published an article showing that the civilian complaint forms dispensed by the Rantoul...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
On October 27th, 2021, Check CU published an article which reveals many of the failures of the TASER review process by the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB): Urbana Staff Refuse Oversight on Police TASER Usage From the article: “When the Board members issued...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU commends the Village of Rantoul for keeping a publicly accessible “Document Center”, where hundreds of public records are hosted for 24/7 access. However, of the myriad of documents available on Rantoul’s website, a number of important items are...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
Danville Mayor Rickey Williams violated the Open Meetings Act at several City Council meetings in 2021 Danville Mayor Rickey Williams and the Danville City Council violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) at several of their meetings last year, according to a...
by Check CU | Jan 22, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana Human Resources Director Todd Rent (now HR Director for the University of Iowa) violated FOIA by refusing to provide City financial records to the News Gazette In April of 2014, the City of Urbana was cited by the Illinois Attorney General (IAG) for a Freedom...
by Check CU | Jan 22, 2022 | Latest Articles
2015 Binding Opinion from the Illinois Attorney General citing City of Danville Corporation Counsel David Wesner with violating the Freedom of Information Act. In December of 2015, the City of Danville was cited by the Illinois Attorney General (IAG) for a rather...
by Check CU | Jan 21, 2022 | Latest Articles
On November 7th, 2021, Check CU sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Village of Rantoul asking for past police complaints. The request was sent to Rantoul Village Clerk and FOIA Officer Janet Gray. The records response was handled by Village...
by Check CU | Jan 20, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin announced today that he would resign his position effective March 25, 2022. At just 50 years old, it is likely that Seraphin has already acquired a new position at a different department,...
by Check CU | Jan 19, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Clerk Charlie Smyth devised a scheme to unlawfully classify several Urbana residents as “recurrent requesters” which the City used to delay records requests for months and impose huge illegal fees. Check CU has covered numerous Freedom of...
by Check CU | Jan 18, 2022 | Latest Articles
Rantoul Police Officer Marcus Beach provides a “Citizen Complaint Form” after a 30 minute wait. Check CU has been made aware of Rantoul Police Officers handing out police complaint forms which appear to violate Illinois State Law. On November 7th, 2021,...
by Check CU | Jan 17, 2022 | Latest Articles
After throwing her to the ground and punching her in the back of the head, Officers Michael Cervantes and James Cory Koker pin down a resident so that Officer Eric Ruff can knee her in the ribs. The City of Urbana has devoted considerable time and energy to debating...
by Check CU | Jan 17, 2022 | Latest Articles
(click image to view full 3 page PDF) As public bodies in Champaign County, such as the City of Urbana, City of Champaign, the Champaign Sherriff’s Office, and the University of Illinois continue to consider and implement automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), the...
by Check CU | Jan 17, 2022 | Latest Articles
City of Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin spent months actively muting residents for expressing opinions The City of Urbana offered to pay $12,750 for plaintiff’s attorney’s fees in order to bring an end to an Open Meetings Act (OMA) lawsuit which was filed on November 20th,...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
Rantoul Police Officer Marcus Beach (right) and Rikki McComas (distant left) outside of the Village of Rantoul Police Department building Check CU has recently become aware that Rantoul Police Officers are directing victims of police misconduct to call METCAD 9-1-1 to...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Glover Bannon cost the City of Champaign $5,000 in legal fees after unlawfully concealing copies of human rights complaints. In the spring of 2021, Check CU published an article about denial of public records by the City of Champaign...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Urbana City Council reappointed police officials even after they repeatedly lied about conducting use of force reviews (Grace Wilken, Jaya Kolisetty, James Quisenberry, Diane Marlin, Maryalice Wu, Chaundra Bishop, Christopher Evans, Shirese Hursey) Over four...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
Village of Rantoul Police Officer Rikki McComas guards the parking lot east of the Police Department building from “all sorts of crimes” The Village of Rantoul Police Department appears to have a prized section of asphalt that may be off limits for...
by Check CU | Nov 17, 2021 | Latest Articles
A Flock Safety automatic license plate reader (ALPR) failed to capture this motorcyclist passing by, along with hundreds of other vehicles On October 17th, Check CU visited the Village of Rantoul to observe the automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) that had been...
by Check CU | Nov 14, 2021 | Latest Articles
A clip from a presentation given by Police Chief Bryant Seraphin and ALPR salesman Dan Murdock at the September 20th Urbana City Council meeting (yellow highlighting added by Check CU) When Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin and a representative from automatic...
by Check CU | Nov 14, 2021 | Latest Articles
During the past two months, the City of Urbana and the City of Champaign have held a number of meetings wherein the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) have been discussed. One issue that has been raised numerous times is the failure of normal...
by Check CU | Nov 14, 2021 | Latest Articles
Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) photos provided by Rantoul Attorney David Wesner in response to a FOIA request (click image to see all 68 images in higher resolution) Nearly two months after Chief Bryant Seraphin pushed for the installation of automatic license...
by Check CU | Nov 13, 2021 | Latest Articles
Attorney David Wesner addresses the Urbana City Council before his initial appointment to the position of City Attorney on March 8, 2021 On September 29th Check CU posted an article which described a stream of Open Meetings Act (OMA) violations by the Urbana City...
by Check CU | Oct 27, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten interjects during a CPRB meeting, arguing that the Board is not allowed to perform TASER oversight. The September 22nd Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) meeting continued a theme that has been present at virtually every...
by Check CU | Oct 19, 2021 | Latest Articles
At the October 5th Champaign City Council meeting, a lengthy discussion was held about the Champaign Police Department’s proposal to install 36 automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) at a cost of $189,000 for 2 years (view the full proposal here). A fair portion of...
by Check CU | Oct 19, 2021 | Latest Articles
Check CU is in possession of a letter which was sent to the Urbana City Council on June 22nd this year, in regards to the Mayoral appointment process. The letter was sent by forcibly-retired Urbana Fire Department Division Chief Chad Hensch, and it sheds a...
by Check CU | Oct 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
Check CU has published a number of articles recently about the Urbana Police Department proposal to install a network of cameras to track vehicle movement throughout the City. These automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) photograph vehicles, and save the data (such...
by Check CU | Oct 10, 2021 | Latest Articles
While attempting to perform basic research, Check CU found that the Cunningham Township Board has failed to publicly display, and frequently failed to approve, its meeting minutes since March of this year. The Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) requires minutes of...
by Check CU | Oct 10, 2021 | Latest Articles
At the September 20th City Council meeting the Urbana Police Department (UPD) presented their desire to deploy a network of expensive license plate cameras for the stated purpose of solving violent crimes. These automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)...
by Check CU | Oct 10, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) proposal, initially presented to the City Council on September 20th, has been tabled by the Committee of the Whole (COW) for the time being. At the October 4th COW meeting, some members expressed concerns about the...
by Check CU | Oct 5, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin has repeatedly abused meetings rules and the Open Meetings Act during her terms as Mayor Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) is certainly not a new phenomenon. Hardly a month goes by where Check CU...
by Check CU | Oct 4, 2021 | Latest Articles
An example license plate capture which flags a driver as a “NON RESIDENT” which has been “Seen 3 times in last 30 days” (image from Flock Safety website) At the September 20th City Council meeting the Urbana Police Department (UPD) presented...
by Check CU | Oct 3, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Officers Andrew Hewkin and Sarah Links, posing for a photo in the Urbana City Building In the spring of 2020 Urbana Police officers responded to a call from a resident who had just been the victim of an assault. The victim ran from the attacker and...
by Check CU | Oct 3, 2021 | Latest Articles
Dan Murdock, a salesperson for ALPR supplier Flock Safety, at the September 20, 2021 Urbana City Council meeting During the September 20th Urbana City Council presentation on automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), a number of issues were raised about the lawfulness...
by Check CU | Oct 3, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin swears in City Clerk Phyllis Clark on May 3rd, 2021 At the November 9th, 2020 meeting of the Urbana City Council, a roll call vote was taken on “Ordinance No. 2020-11-063: An Ordinance Amending Ratification of Extension to Emergency Order No....
by Check CU | Oct 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin, City Administrator Carol Mitten, and Lieutenant Jason Norton present to the Urbana City Council on April 27th, 2020 on police use of force and the Aleyah Lewis arrest. Three weeks ago, Check CU published an article which suggested...
by Check CU | Oct 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Council members ask questions on September 20th after a presentation urging them to vote for spending on Automatic License Plate Readers to be distributed throughout the City At the September 20th City Council meeting the Urbana Police Department (UPD)...
by Check CU | Sep 30, 2021 | Latest Articles
On September 13th, the Urbana City Council voted on a new Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract which effectively locked out any police reform efforts for the next two years. The new FOP contract is largely similar to the prior one, which expired and was...
by Check CU | Sep 29, 2021 | Latest Articles
The City of Urbana continues to struggle with lack of basic transparency. While attempting to perform basic research, Check CU has found that the Urbana City Council has failed to publicly display, and frequently failed to approve, its City Council meeting...
by Check CU | Sep 13, 2021 | Latest Articles
Before voting against Urbana’s new Fraternal Order of Police contract this evening, Council member Christopher Evans broke from his typically low-key presence at City Council meetings and issued a prepared statement which certainly turned some heads. Evans spoke...
by Check CU | Sep 12, 2021 | Latest Articles
Since mid-2020, police “use of force” has become a front-and-center issue both locally and nationally. The City of Urbana has been hearing from residents about the need for police use of force reform for the past 18 months, and City officials have frequently...
by Check CU | Sep 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
A deadly shooting occurred at the far end of this parking lot on Ivanhoe Way in Urbana 12 hours before this photo was taken. The Urbana Police Department announced another shooting death this morning, making a total of three such homicides in just over six weeks....
by Check CU | Sep 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
Ward 3 Alderman Shirese Hursey scoffs at Alderman Christopher Evans for espousing oversight of public officials Urbana Ward 3 Alderman Shirese Hursey interrupted another Council member tonight to express her continued irritation with the ongoing pleas from members of...
by Check CU | Aug 30, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin (left) and Deputy Chief Richard Surles (right) present their revised Use of Force Policy to the Urbana City Council on August 23rd, 2021. On August 23rd the Urbana City Council heard a presentation from Chief of Police Bryant...
by Check CU | Aug 28, 2021 | Latest Articles
The scene of a drive-by shooting on the 400 block of West Illinois Street in Urbana. Urbana Police block the street while searching for shell casings. An otherwise calm and quiet Saturday afternoon in West Urbana was interrupted by a sound that has become more...
by Check CU | Aug 23, 2021 | Latest Articles
On July 27 2020 Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin declares the creation of an “Advisory Committee on Public Safety and Policing” Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin made a number of promises to the public after widespread demand for less violence and greater accountability in...
by Check CU | Jul 12, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin made a curious declaration during the July 6th City Council meeting. After numerous requests from the public that the City continue allowing residents to speak at meetings remotely (such as via Zoom), the Mayor has decided that doing so...
by Check CU | May 18, 2021 | Latest Articles
Champaign City Attorney Frederick Stavins and City Manager Dorothy David Approval of minutes is a fairly typical item to find on the meeting agenda for any public body in Illinois. The minutes serve as a written accounting of the actions and votes of a public body,...
by Check CU | Apr 19, 2021 | Latest Articles
Early last week the Illinois Attorney General website that provides vital services to Illinois residents and governmental bodies was taken down, and it is still down. The mysterious incident has cause the website residing at ilattorneygeneral.net to become completely...
by Check CU | Apr 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
The Mayor of Urbana and the Council who helped her promote content-based speech restrictions at public meetings are struggling to cope with a recent Attorney General determination that their meeting rules violate state law. The Council discussed the AG ruling at...
by Check CU | Apr 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
As reported last night, the Champaign County Clerk’s website went down shortly after the polls closed, which meant that residents could not view the April 6th election results. County Clerk Aaron Ammons began posting large batches of screen shots of text files to his...
by Check CU | Apr 6, 2021 | Latest Articles
The Champaign County Clerk’s website has been down most of the night and residents are left waiting on the vote count for more than a hundred candidates running in various races across the County. Polling places in Champaign County closed at 7pm today, and results for...
by Check CU | Apr 5, 2021 | Latest Articles
The Illinois Attorney General has issued a determination against the City of Urbana in regards to three Open Meetings Act complaints submitted to the Public Access Counselor (PAC) late last year. According to the PAC, Mayor Diane Marlin and the Urbana City...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2021 | Latest Articles
This election season, Urbana will have a third party candidate on the ballot for the first time since 2009, when an Independent and a Green Party candidate ran for Mayor. Colin Dodson, who is seeking the Urbana City Council seat in Ward 2, is running under the Party...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2021 | Latest Articles
The February 1st 2021 meeting of the Champaign Human Relations Commission (HRC) revealed a most bizarre and nonsensical City of Champaign policy: according to City staff, the HRC and the public are not allowed to see or know any details about Human Rights complaints...
by Check CU | Apr 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
On March 8th the Urbana City Council finally brought a resolution to an issue that has been under discussion since January. The Council voted to remove City employees and officials from the Urbana Human Rights Ordinance such that residents cannot follow through on a...
by Check CU | Mar 8, 2021 | Latest Articles
Sgt. James Cory Koker helps pin down Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis on April 10, 2020 At tonight’s Urbana City Council meeting, Mayor Diane Marlin will be seeking approval from the Council for the appointment of a handful of positions, such as Deputy Fire Chief and City...
by Check CU | Mar 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
Body worn camera video recovered from the Urbana Police Department shows that police officers and their supervisors seem to have contempt for the public’s right to oversight. In the video, Sgt. James Cory Koker can be heard joking about how he should have told a...
by Check CU | Mar 1, 2021 | Latest Articles
Two vehicles parked just off of West Illinois St in Urbana, all left-side tires punctured. Dozens of West Urbana residents awoke Monday morning to discover one or more flat tires on vehicles parked in the neighborhood. Urbana Police began receiving calls early...
by Check CU | Feb 21, 2021 | Latest Articles
Champaign Police Department staff give a presentation to the City Council on February 9, 2021 On February 9th the Champaign City Council convened with just one agenda item: the “Champaign Police Department Update”. The official update was provided as an 86 page...
by Check CU | Feb 12, 2021 | Latest Articles
On January 15th, the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) convened for an appeals hearing in regards to a handful of police complaints filed more than a year prior. A number of issues arose which seem to indicate that due process is of little concern in regards...
by Check CU | Feb 8, 2021 | Latest Articles
Erik Sacks, Appointed to the Ward 2 City Council seat by Mayor Marlin in late December The newly seated Alderman for Urbana City Council Ward 2, Erik Sacks, has an interesting take on the upcoming Primary election in Urbana. According to Sacks, the wave of...
by Check CU | Feb 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
It seems the City of Urbana will finally be rectifying a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) violation which has been ongoing for multiple months. At the February 8th City Council meeting, Mayor Diane Marlin will designate a FOIA Officer, a position which is...
by Check CU | Jan 31, 2021 | Latest Articles
More than two months after primary candidate petition filings were due, newcomer candidates are still finding themselves in the crosshairs of seasoned politicians. On January 26th Adam Rusch, an Urbana City Council candidate who is running as a Libertarian in...
by Check CU | Jan 31, 2021 | Latest Articles
Law Enforcement Officer Wearing an Avon PC50 Gas Mask and Riot Helmet (the same equipment ordered by the Urbana Police Department) Though the overwhelming demand from the residents of Urbana is to move their police department toward a less violent and more...
by Check CU | Jan 29, 2021 | Latest Articles
After a failed attempt by Police Chief Bryant Seraphin to get Council approval for a new Police Use of Force Policy, the Champaign County ACLU and NAACP are taking a more hands-on approach. On January 11th, Seraphin presented an updated version of the Urbana Police...
by Check CU | Jan 24, 2021 | Latest Articles
Who can vote? US Citizen, by birth or naturalizationAt least 18 years old on or before the next election (born on or before April 6, 2003)If you will be 18 on or before the next General election, you may register and vote in the PrimaryLived in Illinois and in your...
by Check CU | Jan 22, 2021 | Latest Articles
At the Urbana Committee of the Whole meeting on January 19th, City Administrator Carol Mitten brought forth an ordinance change that would exempt City employees, elected officials, and appointed board members from being subject to anti-discrimination laws. Check CU...
by Check CU | Jan 18, 2021 | Latest Articles
The City of Urbana is once again moving in the opposite direction of the overwhelming public demand for increased equality and accountability. City Administrator Carol Mitten is urging the Council to exempt the City and all of its staff from Urbana’s Human...
by Check CU | Jan 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana 2020 Electoral Board: Maryalice Wu, Bill Colbrook, (not pictured: Phyllis Clark). Hearing Officer Deanna Mool, and City Attorney James Simon. At least two complaints have been filed with the Illinois Attorney General in regards to the Urbana Electoral Board...
by Check CU | Jan 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin gets upset at a City Council meeting on January 4th, 2020 over allegations that she frequently tries to deceive the public At the January 4th City Council meeting, Mayor Diane Marlin finally commented on the numerous Open Meetings Act (OMA)...
by Check CU | Jan 6, 2021 | Latest Articles
On November 2nd, 2020, Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten spoke about a mysterious memo regarding the legality of the obstacles she had placed in front of Urbana residents attempting to submit police complaints. The memo was in regards to the filing of...
by Check CU | Jan 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
On December 29th, 2020, the Office of the Attorney General of Illinois issued a determination on a Freedom of Information Act dispute regarding Danville Police Department records. Chief Deputy Attorney General Brent Stratton declared that Danville violated FOIA...
by Check CU | Dec 28, 2020 | Latest Articles
On October 5th, within an Urbana City Council discussion about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin attempted to parade the “enormous expenditure of resources” that the City incurs in fulfilling FOIA requests. She did so by claiming that...
by Check CU | Dec 27, 2020 | Latest Articles
The League of Women Voters of Champaign County has announced that it will host “Candidate Forums” for the positions of Champaign Township Supervisor, Urbana Mayor, and Urbana City Council Wards 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. The League is seeking input from local residents on...
by Check CU | Dec 22, 2020 | Latest Articles
Attorney Ben Gehrt, hired by City Administrator Carol Mitten, argues that Urbana’s Civilian Police Review Board should not be allowed to accept police complaints based on video evidence. The Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) met on December 17th, though...
by Check CU | Dec 16, 2020 | Latest Articles
Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen has finally recused herself from an Electoral Board hearing after issues have been raised about her personal bias in the matter. Some of those issues have been described in a recent Check CU article,...
by Check CU | Dec 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin Two days after losing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin sent out a press release in an attempt to cast blame on a third party. The FOIA lawsuit sought records related to the alleged purse theft by State...
by Check CU | Dec 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Council Member Jared Miller proposes a new meeting agenda item where individual Council members can bring up new items of concern/discussion at any Council meeting (December 7, 2020). The December 7th Urbana City Council meeting demonstrated that the Council...
by Check CU | Dec 14, 2020 | Latest Articles
New Urbana Community Engagement Coordinator, Lemond Peppers, speaks at a Human Relations Commission meeting on December 9th, 2020. Check CU is in possession of records from the City of Urbana which reveal more about the recent hiring of Lemond Peppers as their...
by Check CU | Dec 12, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten and City Attorney James Simon. Mitten has administratively overthrown the outcome of a Human Relations Commission hearing wherein the Commission reversed the wrongful denial by James Simon of a human rights complaint against the...
by Check CU | Dec 11, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Attorney James Simon enters the Champaign County Courthouse to defend the City from a lawsuit on their denial of a public records request seeking the police reports on the alleged purse theft by State Representative Carol Ammons. On the morning of December...
by Check CU | Dec 9, 2020 | Latest Articles
Ward 5 Candidate Meghan McDonald (left) defends against an objection submitted by Cunningham Township Assessor, Wayne T Williams (far right). Williams was represented by his attorney, Abraham Mattew (middle). The hearing took place within the Council chambers of the...
by Check CU | Dec 7, 2020 | Latest Articles
Front (left to right): objector Michael Langendorf, attorney for both objectors Abraham Matthew, objector Wayne WilliamsRear: City Clerk Phyllis Clark, Ward 1 City Council member Maryalice Wu, Ward 6 City Council member William Colbrook This afternoon, Urbana convened...
by Check CU | Dec 7, 2020 | Latest Articles
In January of 2020 there was a big kerfuffle over the alleged theft of a purse from the Carle Auxiliary Resale Boutique, 810 W. University Avenue. State Representative Carol Ammons was named as the suspect and naturally, with very little information, everyone...
by Check CU | Dec 6, 2020 | Latest Articles
In Champaign, a prior staff member of the City is attempting to dismantle the candidacy of one newcomer to the political arena. Rochelle Funderburg, who was the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Champaign from 1988 to 1996, filed a formal objection against...
