In mid-February the Urbana City Clerk, Phyllis Clark, released a video for her political campaign that was clearly produced within the Urbana City Building. The video includes numerous shots of Clark within the City Clerk’s Office and even utilized another City employee to participate in staging scenes. Any use of…
On April 20th, 2020, dozens of citizens attended an electronic City Council meeting to voice their concerns about the recent arrest and beating of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis. At that same meeting, Urbana Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin announced that Urbana Police Lieutenant Jason D Norton would be investigating the incident.…
The Illinois Attorney General is asking Champaign Assistant City Attorney Laura Jayne Hall to explain why she fully denied a recent public records request. The request was related to alleged “threats” claimed by City Officials after their much-criticized passage of an emergency ordinance which gives Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen martial-law…
Urbana Police Officials didn’t waste any time attempting to save face and deflect blame after a disturbing police brutality video went viral on April 10th 2020. The video quickly made its rounds on social media, garnering widespread criticism for the Urbana Police Department from local citizens. Just 18 hours later,…
CU-Underground has just received a series of emails and documents from a citizen who has been attempting to acquire public records from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD). The request seeks records relating to the enforcement of Governor Pritzker’s stay-at-home order within Champaign County. This is a very important issue,…
On April 10th, 2020, a video of Urbana Police Officers physically assaulting an unarmed woman, Aleyah Lewis, surfaced on social media. Within two days, the video received tens of thousands of views and thousands of comments by concerned citizens. Around 4:30pm on April 10th, Urbana Police Officers responded to reports…
On April 7th, 2020, the Champaign City Council held their first ever fully-electronic Council meeting. The meeting lasted only 25 minutes, but Council managed to vote on, and unanimously pass, 11 different agenda items. The shortness of the meeting, and the number of items passed without any discussion, may itself…
The emergency order unanimously pass by Urbana City Council on March 16th 2020 continues to come under scrutiny by citizens. We’ve just received notice that since Mayor Diane Marlin has shut down all citizen access to the services offered at the Urbana City Building, citizens now cannot submit police or…
CU-Underground is in possession of documents which show that the City of Champaign is refusing to reveal any information about the “threats” that were allegedly issued to Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen and other City Council Members after they unanimously passed an ordinance would give the Mayor martial-law type powers during…
On March 27th, 2020, a set of images began circulating on social media showing Rantoul Illinois Police Officer Kyle Donovan very flagrantly violating Governor Pritzker’s state-wide order on social distancing. The pictures show Donovan standing very closely to two young boys (with whom he has no relation) and placing his…
Urbana citizens are upset and feeling shutout from their own government after Mayor Diane Marlin literally locked out citizens and the press from access to public meetings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 23, 2020, the Urbana City Council met at their scheduled meeting time in their usual…
On March 19th, 2020, the Champaign County Board attempted to hold their first electronic board meeting in an effort to promote social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. District 4 County Board Member Jim McGuire called the virtual meeting an “utter failure”, and one citizen who watched the meeting described it…
The follies and tribulations of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) process continue to add up at virtually every meeting or action of the board and related City staff. Communications from a citizen show that “Community Relations Specialist” Preston James failed to mail required documents to a complainant after…
On March 16, 2020, the Urbana City Council met to discuss and vote on a “Temporary Emergency Ordinance to Address the COVID-19 Virus Pandemic”. The City of Champaign, which immediately abuts Urbana to the West, passed such an ordinance three days prior, and was met with national scrutiny for their…
On March 16, 2020, the Urbana City Council met to discuss and vote on a “Temporary Emergency Ordinance to Address the COVID-19 Virus Pandemic”. Three days before the meeting, Urbana City Attorney James Simon sent out an emergency ordinance proposal to the Urbana City Council for consideration. Simon’s proposal contained…
On March 16, 2020, Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb released a video informing the public about changes to the Police Department’s policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most notably, Champaign Police will not be taking any walk-in reports and officers will not be responding in-person to reports of crimes unless the…
On March 13th, 2020, Urbana Illinois City Attorney James Simon sent out an emergency ordinance proposal to the Urbana City Council in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed ordinance cites the Urbana city code “Chapter 6 – CIVIL EMERGENCIES” as insufficient to address an emergency such as the COVID-19…
Just hours after unanimously passing an ordinance that grants “extraordinary powers” to Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City is scrambling to explain itself to citizens and news outlets across the state of Illinois. In less than 12 hours, Champaign gained a moderate amount…
CU-Underground is in receipt of a string of emails which include communications from Urbana City Attorney James Simon and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. The communications reveal City staff violating public records laws, and Simon repeatedly lying about the legal findings of the Public Access Counselor at the Attorney General’s…
Just hours after unanimously passing an ordinance that grants “extraordinary powers” to Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen, the City is making efforts to deceive citizens about what was actually voted on. The ordinance that was discussed at Friday morning’s emergency Council meeting contained a list of 30 “orders and regulations”, or…
If you are aware of corruption or misconduct in the Champaign-Urbana area, we want to hear from you. We will investigate and write the stories that the established interest groups would rather see ignored. We also welcome submissions of written articles, so long as they are well substantiated. Submissions of information or articles can be anonymous, and we will protect the identity of anyone submitting information.. Contact us here