Latest Champaign, Illinois Stories
Ex-Wilco musician Jay Bennett died after an accidental overdose from a prescription painkiller, the Champaign County coroner in Illinois announced Tuesday. Bennett, the band's former keyboardist-guitarist, died May 24 at his home. He was 45. E! News quoted Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup as attributing his death to a lethal amount of fentanyl. Bennett posted a message on his MySpace blog shortly before his death telling fans he planned to have hip-replacement surgery to correct...
Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz have donated $1 million to his alma mater, the University of Illinois, the famed film critic announced. The Chicago Tribune said the Chicago Sun-Times film reviewer's gift will go toward establishing the Roger Ebert Program for Film Studies Fund. The donation was announced during the 11th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival in Champaign, which is organized by the university's College of Media. The University of Illinois is deep in my heart as a great institution,...
First System To Allow Global SMS Support And Serve Approx. 200,000 People Including University Students, Faculty, Staff, Public Officials and Surrounding Citizenry. BOISE, Idaho, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- MyStateUSA, innovators in secure, scalable and flexible emergency communication and notification systems, today disclosed its deployment of what is believed to be the industry's first such Global Notification system, and the successful deployment of AlertSense with the University of...
An Illinois man who helped create a car that transforms into an airplane said the vehicle will be available for public purchase within about two years. Sam Schweighart, 31, of Paxon, Ill., said the Terrafugia Transition, which took its first flight March 5, is expected to retail for about $194,000, the Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette reported Monday. He said about 50 people have already put down $10,000 deposits on the transformable vehicles. Schweighart, who holds a Ph.D. from the...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Zipcar, the world's largest provider of cars on demand by the hour or day, has partnered with the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD), the cities of Champaign and Urbana, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to bring car sharing to the community as an environmentally-friendly transportation alternative. The partnership continues the cities' and university's commitment to invest in sustainable solutions and marks Zipcar's...
Trading Spaces interior designer Doug Wilson was arrested Tuesday for allegedly driving under the influence in Decatur, Ill., TMZ said. Wilson reportedly was pulled over about 1 a.m. after failing to yield to a police car, which had its lights on and siren wailing.The star of the television home improvement show Trading Spaces was arrested for aggravated DUI, driving with a suspended license, failing to yield the right-of-way to an emergency vehicle and illegal transportation of alcohol, TMZ...
Illinois linebacker Martez Wilson was in stable condition at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana following an undisclosed incident. Sports information director Kent Brown did not give details about Wilson's injury, but Champaign police were investigating a stabbing at a campus bar early Friday morning. Like Brown, police refused to say if Wilson was the victim. Lt. Joe Gallo, a police spokesman, said officers were sent to a report of a fight in progress at a campus bar, but when they...
By Dan Craft It's not only the fall concert season that's heating up (see today's cover story on D1) - the curtains are parting on the autumn theater and dance front, too. Following is a look at what's being staged between now and year's end at area theater and performing arts venues. National tours- Sept. 19: Continuous City, 7:30 p.m.; progressive theater troupe The Builders Association returns with its latest fusion of theater and technology; U of I Krannert Center.- Sept. 26: Hubbard...
By Debra Pressey, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill. Aug. 5--URBANA Champaign County Health Care Consumers doesn't think much of the new buildings Carle Clinic and Christie Clinic built in southeast Urbana. Not that they're not nice buildings, the organization said. "But unfortunately, beautiful new facilities don't signal new access," said Cynthia McDonnell, a volunteer with the patient-rights organization. On Monday, she and other Health Care Consumers volunteers stood...
Theater ACT season-closer GIBSON CITY - ACT Theatre Company closes its 2008 summer season with a dinner performance of the musical, "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." Doors for the show open at 6 p.m. Aug. 15, with dinner served at 6:30 p.m. at Percfection Coffee House in Gibson City. The run continues Aug. 16, 22 and 23. The show celebrates the mating game and takes on the truths and myths of relationships. From dating and waiting to love and marriage, complete with in-laws,...
