The City Council in Champaign is expected to vote Tuesday night on a new budget that would boost hours at libraries and increase police and fire spending.

If you have questions about what’s next for genetically modified foods, or GMO’s, you can pose them to a panel of experts at a community conversation Wednesday night at the Champaign Public Library. The panel will include speakers from the University of Illinois College Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences (ACES), the U of I Extension, the Illinois Farm Bureau, and a fifth-generation Illinois farmer.

Since 2011, the Champaign Public Library has lost more than 8,000 cardholders, dropping 21 percent from 37,710 to 29,657, according to library data. The Urbana Free Library has lost about 1,100 cardholders in the same time period. It had 13,880 cardholders in 2011 and now has 12,762 cardholders, a decrease of 8.1 percent.

The Champaign Public Library has been seeking a new permanent director for months.  Friday, its Board of Trustees announced Interim Director Donna Pittman had been hired, besting one other finalist.  Among her plans are a library strategic plan, which she calls 'a road map for the years ahead.'

Phoenix Botanical, Champaign County's first medical marijuana dispensary, expects to start business in early April.  Dan Linn, the company's General Manager and National Policy Director, addressed about 50 people on the future of the state's pilot program at a public forum Sunday.