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Story category: urban planning
The Water We Rely On: A Series
Story air date: Thursday, September 25, 2008
Bill Hammack has been doing a lot of thinking about east-central Illinois’ water supply. You may know him as WILL’s “Engineer Guy,” bringing complex scientific issues closer to home. All this week, Bill is taking a look at how we use water, how much we have and how we manage it for the future. The different ways we use water at home may seem obvious – but in Part 4, Bill finds some ways we may never have suspected.
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Part 1: Bill Hammack begins the first part of his journey not far from his front door:
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Part 2: Bill Hammack treks through the new Illinois-American well field near Bondville in Champaign County and asks whether these wells will suck dry the Mahomet Aquifer. To get a closer look at the situation, he pays a visit to a house right near where the well field is supposed to be drilled:
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Part 3: Bill Hammack examines what it may take to use the area’s massive underground water supply -- the Mahomet Aquifer – responsibly:
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Story categories:
business • economy • environment • water resources • government • science • urban planningNew Energy Worries, New Vehicles
Story air date: Monday, August 04, 2008
In small towns across the country, many people have decided that a cheaper way to get around is to leave the car in the garage and pile into the golf cart. Golf carts and other small slow-speed vehicles are becoming more appealing to people living in areas where traffic is low, but gas prices are high. In Illinois, several small towns are allowing golf carts on their streets --- while others are holding back. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.
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Story categories:
business • community life • economy • energy • government • lifestyle • urban planningMore, Cleaner Water
Story air date: Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Experts predict that in the next 20 to 30 years, a growing United States will need 30 to 60 percent more water. Growth will be even more explosive in other parts of the world, and the need for clean, usable water may someday be a staggering political issue. AM 580’s Tom Rogers spoke with University of Illinois professor Mark Shannon, who's watching that potential crisis unfold.
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environment • water resources • politics • urban planningThe Chatham Ruling
Story air date: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
In most Illinois counties, it’s possible for a town to impose its own rules on zoning and new construction on land that’s miles outside of the city limits. It happened last year in Champaign County. Such practices worry many rural residents and county officials. But efforts to limit such agreements through legislation are underway in Springfield. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.
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Story categories:
government • Champaign • Champaign County • urban planningRegulating Health Care Growth
Story air date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Six proposals for new health care facilities have been laid out in east-central Illinois in the past year – and a state board has turned down five – the sixth has yet to be heard. Anyone who wants to build a hospital, dialysis facility, nursing home or outpatient surgery center has to get permission from the state Health Facilities Planning Board, through what’s known as a Certificate of Need. AM 580’s Tom Rogers tells us that the process generates controversy elsewhere, though many here in Illinois still want to see it work.
