In-depth reporting by Illinois Public Media News
Listen to the latest Illinois Public Media Newscast:
Play now:
Story category: urban planning
Getting Rural Residents Where They Need to Be
Story air date: Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District gives passengers about 10 million rides each year. But as Dan Petrella of CU-CitizenAccess reports, for Champaign County’s rural residents, getting where they need to go isn’t as easy as walking to the nearest bus stop.
(Photo by Dan Petrella)
Audio archives:
Play now:
Download: mp3 file
Story links:
- Rural Poverty Presents Unique Challenges (Related Story)
- CRIS Rural Transit
- Champaign County Rural Transit Advisory Group
Story categories:
community life • government • Champaign County • United States • transportation • urban planningThe Arguments For -- and Against -- Olympian Drive
Story air date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The debate over the Olympian Drive extension will continue at an Urbana City Council committee-of-the-whole meeting in three weeks. Council members have put off a decision on a state-funded design engineering study for the road. It would be just the latest phase in a long-standing project that Mayor Laurel Prussing says would bring economic development --- and jobs --- to the north edge of the city. But opponents like Bill and Virginia Ziegler (left) and Leslie Cooperbrand (right) argue it would do more harm than good. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports on the Olympian Drive debate.
Audio archives:
Play now:
Download: mp3 file
Story links:
Story categories:
business • community life • government • Champaign • Champaign County • Urbana • transportation • urban planningTent City Supporters Look for a New Home; Champaign's Not So Sure
Story air date: Monday, July 27, 2009
The Safe Haven Tent Community will leave the back yard of the St. Jude Catholic Worker House by the end of July. But Safe Haven and its supporters hope to convince Champaign city officials that semi-permanent housing is better than no housing at all --- and that they should be allowed to stay somewhere in the city. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.
Audio archives:
Play now:
Download: mp3 file
Story categories:
civil rights • community life • government • Champaign • Urbana • urban planningAfter the Gateway Studios Evictions: What About Next Time?
Story air date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Last week’s sudden closure of a residential hotel in Champaign forced dozens of people to look for a place to live on short notice. It also forced the City of Champaign into action – not just to condemn the Gateway Studios for lack of utilities, but to help arrange housing for those residents, most of them low-income. Housing advocates see the evictions – and a similar incident at the Autumn Glen apartment Complex in Rantoul – to call for changes in housing policy in Champaign and Urbana. Former Urbana alderman Danielle Chynoweth has brought a proposal to the Champaign and Urbana city councils to offer cash assistance for relocation to people left homeless by condemnation – the landlord would be held responsible for that money. She spoke with AM 580's Tom Rogers.
The head of Champaign’s Neighborhood Services department, Kevin Jackson, told AM 580’s Jim Meadows last week that while rental help is available from agencies, some of it is based on the applicant’s background. Jackson says the city is open to discussion on permanent policy changes.
Audio archives:
Play now:
Download: mp3 file
Story extras:
Meadows' interview with Kevin Jackson:
Play now:
The full interview with Danielle Chynoweth:
Play now:
Story categories:
civil rights • economy • government • Champaign • Urbana • urban planningThe 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.
