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…
