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Tom’s #Mailbag, Dec. 11, 2020 | Tom’s Mailbag

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Questions this week about more mysterious lights in the sky, notorious heists from the University of Illinois Library, how the $24.3 million project at Champaign’s International Prep Academy could be financed, whether the stuff in our recycling bins gets recycled and what’s going on at an old grocery store near downtown Urbana.

Also, voter turnouts on Nov. 3, right of way clearance along U.S. 45 in northern Champaign County, an apartment building under construction in Champaign, mask-wearing college athletes and what happened to the snow?

Neighborhood shop in Urbana

“Can you tell me information about the small shop located at 304 E. California, just off South Vine Street in Urbana? ‘Lumen’ was initially announced as a local coffee shop and cafe. I and a friend walked over there several times in the morning just after it opened, but no one was ever there and I never saw it open to the public. The building looks like it had been a neighborhood store at one time — it has an old fashioned storefront facade similar to Second Hand Rose on East Main Street. Do you know its history? During this year ‘collectibles’ and ‘antiques’ started to accumulate on the small porch, and most recently, small artificial Christmas trees. I have never seen it open, but an A-frame signs says it is open by appointment and for group tours. Is the business mainly an online venture? Will it ever become a neighborhood cafe?”

I talked to Maya Gouliard, who works at the shop that is essentially a boutique shop that is open by appointment only.

Originally, she said, the owners had planned to make it a neighborhood coffee shop. But inspectors said it would have to have a second bathroom which was too costly to install in the old structure.

Lumen has a variety of merchandise including toys, clothing and home decor like lamps, mirrors, artwork and antique glassware.

As to what the building originally was, you are right that it once was a neighborhood store.

The good folks at the Champaign Historical Archives at the Urbana Free Library did a lot of legwork for us and discovered that the property apparently was built around 1916 — that’s the first year it was listed in the city directory.

In 1918 listed at the street address is Arthur A. Bruner. When you go to the names section, the listing says, “A. Bruner (Elizabeth), grocer 304 E. California, r 507 S Urbana Av (U).”

The building apparently remained a small neighborhood grocery store until at least 1946, operated by a number of different individuals including Charles Houts, Orum Johnson, Mathew P. Fox, Pearl Cole Hollingsworth, Paul E. Lorenz, Lawrence W. Taylor and W. Sherman Sphar.

Roadside clearance

“The last month or so, I see the state has cleared the areas where the old U.S. 45 is in Champaign County between Rantoul and Ludlow. What is the purpose of them clearing the areas now? Are they going to continue clearing into Ford County?”

“The right of way from Rantoul to the Ford County line is being cleaned up in an effort to control the invasive brush and trees that have grown up over time,” said Kensil Garnett, the Region 3 engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation. “This brush if left unchecked will continue to get bigger and shade out the prairie plants that we are trying to protect. This cleanup effort is being performed at this time of the year because the species of prairie plants that are native to the area are in dormancy, and the pollinator insects that use the area are in hibernation, thus causing minimal damage and interruption to those species. This area was evaluated earlier this year by the department’s roadside management resource specialist and this is the first step to reclaiming the native prairie that this area is protected for.”

Garnett said he is unaware if District 3, a separate IDOT area that includes Ford County, has any plans to perform the same cleanup.

Faded pavement markings

“I exit I-74 westbound onto Neil Street multiple times a week. I witness, and have been a part of, near-accidents due to people from the right-most exit lane trying to turn into the second lane from the right which is divided and marked by dotted lines but it is extremely faded. Will those lines be repainted and is there any way it can be made more obvious that the right-most exit lane can only turn into the right-most lane on Neil?”

“The lane extension pavement markings that you refer to were added a couple of years ago after similar concerns were expressed by others and witnessed by our staff,” said Garnett. “Those markings were recessed to prevent wear by snow plows but are still very susceptible to traffic wear since they extend through this busy intersection. For durability and visibility, we chose a wet-reflective polyurea pavement marking that is considerably more costly than paint but expected to last 3-4 times longer.

“These and similar markings on our routes will be refreshed during a maintenance interval that acknowledges that life expectancy. Unfortunately, the first application will typically wear or fade more quickly than the reapplications.

“There are no standard signs that convey the expectation for motorists to turn into the lane that they came from.”

Futile to recycle?

“Carolyn Hax, in her Dec. 1 column, indicated that most recycling ends up in landfills. Is this true in Champaign-Urbana? If so, why bother?”

Not true, said Courtney Kwong, the recycling coordinator for the city of Urbana.

“Thank you for your question. We do not landfill acceptable recyclables that are collected in the U-Cycle program. We are fortunate to have strong recycling markets in the Midwest,” she said. “Once the city of Urbana’s U-Cycle contractor sorts and bales recyclables such as plastics, paper, glass and metals they are sold to specific regional brokers.

“Using the example of plastics —  The brokers sell the #1 plastics (PET like soda bottles) collected in the U-Cycle program to Shaw Industries in Georgia to make eco-friendly carpet. The manufacturers shred or pelletize the plastic containers and use that as a feedstock to make new products. Milk jugs, (#2 HDPE) are sent to the Chicago area to be made into park benches, and #3-7 plastics Urbana accepts in the U-Cycle program are sent as a mixed load to a manufacturer in Haviland, Ohio to make drainage pipes. Those pipes are used for farm fields, highways and commercial applications.”

Champaign also recycles all of its appropriate material, said Nichole Millage, the city’s environmental sustainability specialist.

“100 percent of recyclable materials that are put into curbside bins are recycled into usable materials such as carpet, plastic construction materials, new bottles, etc. The fiber material like paper and cardboard is made into new cardboard. The paper is made into essential items such as tissue, napkins, and paper towels,” she said. “I think a lot of the misconception lies in the education portion of recycling.

“There are items that are put in curbside bins that should not be put into those bins for that type of recycling. A majority of those items do end up in the landfill. Items such as plastic bags, batteries, and very large plastic items do not get processed through curbside programs. Items such as those should be taken to the proper places for recycling. Residents can find more information regarding local recycling options on the City’s recycling webpage: champaignil.gov/recycling

Rare books thefts?

“Have there ever been any notable thefts from the University of Illinois’ rare books collection? If so, were any ever recovered?”

Yes, there have been a few notable thefts from the collection, some successful, some not.

The most recent was in the last four years and resulted in the arrest of a Champaign man who admitted stealing rare music books. Here’s a link to that story …

There also have been some real doozies, according to Travis McDade, the curator of law rare books at the University of Illinois College of Law and the author of “Torn From Their Bindings,” a 2018 book about illustrations, maps and books stolen from American university libraries, including a famous heist from the UI Library in 1980.

That one, which occupies a good deal of McDade’s incredibly detailed and well researched book, involved the theft of several valuable books from the Library Stacks by Robert Kindred, a Villa Grove native, and Richard Green.

On the steamy night of June 29 and 30, 1980, they broke into the library through the window of a first-floor bathroom. Kindred entered the stacks and located the books he wanted to steal. He tied them with a nylon rope he had purchased at Champaign Surplus and lowered them eight floors down to Green.

The theft might have gone undetected but for Willis Smalling, a UI maintenance worker who literally stumbled upon the books and called police. Eventually they staked out the scene and caught Kindred as he returned for the books that included a three-volume set of 19th-century lithographs with scenes of the Middle East and an 1832 book of illustrations of Italy.

The book is a fun read, especially for townies who would be familiar with a lot of the names and places referenced.

McDade tells another story of a book theft in 1966 that apparently was for ransom.

“Shortly after the rare books were moved to the location they’re in now they had a display of a lot of really nice materials. The librarians went away for lunch and someone climbed up a fire escape and broke a window, got into the place and broke open the display case and stole books which at the time were worth several hundred thousand dollars,” he recounted. “What ultimately happened is that it was investigated by the FBI and no one found anything.”

Then, he said, the unknown people who stole the books called the library director, Robert Downs, who paid cash — or so the legend goes — to get the books back.

“They made an exchange of what I believe was $10,000, a sort of sackful of cash. Downs kept his mouth shut about it for the rest of his life. He’s dead. His wife is dead,” McDade said. “No one knows the story. The lore is that the exchange took place at midnight under the Alma Mater. So we got the books back.”

It may be a tale but the interesting thing is that the stolen books — Lycophron’s “Alexandra,” “Heraclides on Pontus,” and “Orlando Innamorato” which were valued at the time at more than $75,000 — are back in the library’s possession.

Another valuable book, “De Revolutionibus” (“On the Revolutions”), by astronomer Nicolai Copernicus, was left sitting on a table in the Rare Book Room some 25 years ago “and someone just walked out with it,” McDade said. “That is the most valuable book taken from the UI and it is still missing.”

Obscured stoplight?

“Going east on West University Avenue, approaching Prospect Avenue, I noticed heavy tree branches obscuring the stop lights at Prospect.”

Champaign Public Works spokesman Kris Koester responded, “Our forestry staff went out and did not notice any branches obscuring the stop lights.”

I stood in the middle of the street, more than a block away, and my view wasn’t blocked either.

Where’s the snow?

“What’s the latest first snowfall in C-U history?”

In Champaign-Urbana — where nothing more than occasional traces of snow have been recorded this season — the record for the latest measurable snowfall is the winter of 1912-13 when the first snowfall came on Jan. 4, 1913. An inch was recorded that day. That season 19 inches of snow was recorded, the greatest amounts in February and March (8 inches each).

There does seem to be some correlation between late snowfall starts and puny winter season totals, former state climatologist Jim Angel told me in 2011.

“In more recent times,” he said, “we had a late start in the 1994-1995 winter when the first measurable snow was on New Year’s Eve (0.6 inch). We ended up with only 7.8 inches that year.”

That was the third-lowest seasonal snowfall total in local weather history.

Only twice since 2000 has Champaign-Urbana gone this late without a measurable snowfall. In 2009, the first snowfall came on Dec. 19. In 2001, it arrived on Dec. 14.

I checked the National Weather Service forecast today and there is no mention of the possibility of snow for East Central Illinois until Tuesday night (Dec. 15 or 16).

Line of lights in the sky

“On Thursday, Dec. 3, a little after 6 p.m., I was walking in a dark area of west Champaign, and in the the lower southwest sky there appeared a vertical line of about 12 points of light seeming to drift upward and disappear one by one. Can anyone offer an explanation of what this was? Too early for Santa, and I hadn’t been nipping early at the egg nog, either.”

What you’re seeing is a real thing, dear reader. My sky-watching daughter also has seen the satellites that belong to the Starlink satellite internet constellation being developed by SpaceX. The goal is to provide high-speed satellite Internet access to almost anywhere with a view of the sky.

So far Starlink has launched about 16 groups of 60 satellites each, according to the website Inverse. Each Starlink satellite weighs about 500 pounds, flies at a lower altitude than other communication satellites and is sometimes easily visible.

Astronomers say your best chance to see the satellites is about 30 minutes before sunrise or 30 minutes after sunset. They should appear as a string of pearls moving across the night sky. There are several apps and websites that provide information on when the satellites are best visible in the East Central Illinois sky.






ui chistate

Illinois bench in a NCAA basketball game at State Farm Center in champaign on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2020.




Sideline COVID practices

“In light of college games being canceled because of COVID-19 why don’t the players on the bench and on the sidelines wear masks and practice social distancing? There is a lot of hugging and high fiving going on after a big play. The staff all seen to follow the guidelines.”

Kent Brown, the University of Illinois’ associate director of athletics for media relations, referred us to Randy Ballard, Illinois’ director of sports medicine, who also serves on the Big Ten Return to Competition Task Force.

“The Big Ten does have game day protocols that we follow and work to ensure compliance from staff and student-athletes. All student-athletes and tier I individuals on the sideline are tested the day of competition to mitigate the risk of spread on the field and sidelines of competition,” Ballard said. “These protocols vary from sport to sport, such as the arrangement of the team benches for basketball.”

Brown added, “At the University of Illinois, we are fortunate to have the most robust testing program in college athletics given our campus testing operations and the Big Ten testing program which helps mitigate the possibility of spread. During football games, all staff and non-playing personnel on the field are expected to wear a face mask or covering, but players are not mandated to do so.”

A few college teams are wearing masks, even in competition. Players on DePaul University’s women’s basketball team have been wearing masks in practice and in games since Aug. 7.

DePaul’s medical experts advised that university teams should not be involved in team activities without masks, the Chicago Tribune reported.

All teams have worn them in practices and workouts since returning to campus.

““I’m a team player who listens to our medical people,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno told the Tribune.

Notre Dame volleyball players also wore masks in competition.

And eight of Creighton’s 13 players on the women’s basketball team wear masks during games, a choice coach Jim Flanery left up to each player. The men’s team does not wear masks.






SPORTS-THE-DEPAUL-WOMENS-BASKETBALL-IS-9-TB.jpg

DePaul’s Nadege Jean wears a mask while playing against Chicago State on Nov. 30.



Rough railroad crossing

“I am concerned about the deterioration of the railroad tracks in the 900 block of North State Street, Champaign. Several vehicles have been observed swerving almost onto the right sidewalk area to avoid the impact of crossing those tracks. It’s so rough, that when you drive over that section, it feels like the impact could literally jar the teeth right out of your head — not to mention the jolt to your vehicle.”

In October both the Canadian National and Norfolk Southern railroads — they each have a spur at the location — shut the crossings for a week each and repaired them, said Koester.

Old token

“What can you tell us about the token shown above? It is apparently copper alloy, slightly smaller and thinner, than a dime. On one side it reads ‘CU’ ‘Champaign Urbana Mass Transit Dist.’ On the other, ‘CU’ ‘Good for One Fare.’

“Yes, that looks like a very old School Fare Token,” said MTD Managing Director Karl Gnadt. “We would still accept that as a valid fare.”

International Prep project

“After the school swap concept was abandoned, the Champaign school board approved increasing its construction project at the International Prep school, from the $6 million told to voters to now more than $24 million. At that time, they promised the increase wouldn’t cost taxpayers anything because they had enough money available. While that was only a few months ago, they said last week that they are actually $14 million short of what they need and want to borrow the money without going back to the voters for approval.

“Why isn’t the school board putting a referendum on the ballot and asking the voters directly? If voters agree with the $18 million expansion, they will support it. Is this something that the committee representing taxpayers can be advocating for?”

Champaign school board President Amy Armstrong said no decision has been made about financing the International Prep project. The Nov. 23 meeting where it was discussed “was a combined meeting of the board of education, the finance committee and the referendum oversight committee to discuss the status of all the construction projects and their funding sources.

“During that presentation there was updated financial information regarding several of the resource assumptions that had changed because of COVID-19, and expenditure changes as a result of unanticipated construction issues at Centennial High School. During the presentation several options for addressing funding resources were presented, one of them was an option to use a bank borrowing referred to as a ‘debt certificate.’ Other options included using existing fund balance reserves immediately.”

If the board chose to use debt certificate borrowing, Armstrong said, “the repayment would be made from the district’s regular operating budget. There would be no impact to taxpayers. There is no additional property tax levy that is requested. Debt certificates are paid for by the district within their regular operating budget similar to their computer leases, copier leases, vehicles leases, etc.”

If the district used bank borrowing it would be repaid from the normal operating budget with money from the countywide 1 percent sales tax.

Asked if the financing of International Prep was at odds with promises made by the school board and school district during its 2016 bond issue referendum, she said no.

“COVID-19 disrupted a lot of revenue sources for governmental entities (and private companies as well.) The district is acting in a fiscally responsible manner by handling any changes to the construction project expenses within its existing operating budget. The promise to taxpayers to hold the debt levy consistent is being maintained,” she said. “At this time, the district is not increasing operating tax levies beyond what is regularly allowed under law.

“The district will complete the authorized referendum projects using the approved referendum bonds and the available operating reserves. The district committed to transfer at least $25 million in reserves to finish the projects and is doing so in two parts beginning this Fiscal Year 2021 and Fiscal Year 2022.”

New construction

“I noticed the site at 316 S. State St. next to the JSJ office was cleared and there’s a new foundation being poured. I couldn’t find a permit for that project are you familiar with what’s being built?”

Your reader is correct. There was a demolition permit issued for the structure that was on 316 S. State St.,” said Randy Smith, building safety supervisor for the city of Champaign. “The new footings are for a three-story apartment building that is addressed as 314 S. State St.”

Board of health members

“So Julie Pryde is appointed by the board of health, but are the CUPHD board members elected in public office? If not how are they chosen?”

Yes, all three board members are elected officeholders. They include the chair of the county board (now Kyle Patterson) and the two supervisors of City of Champaign and Cunningham townships (Andy Quarnstrom and Danielle Chynoweth).

Voter turnout

“It was reported last week that close to 73 percent of voters in Illinois turned out for the Nov. 3 election, the highest level since 1992. What was the turnout in Champaign and other nearby counties?”

Most counties in East Central Illinois exceeded the statewide average.

Tops was Piatt County with a 80.17 percent turnout, followed by Iroquois, 78.9 percent; Moultrie, 78.5; McLean, 75.9; Coles, 75.5; Champaign, 75.2; Ford, 74.8; DeWitt, 74.5; and Douglas, 73.7.

The only counties below the statewide average were Vermilion at 68.8 percent and Edgar at 66.7.

More on Savoy 16

We had a couple questions last week about activity at the Savoy 16 movie complex on the same day that Knoxville-based Phoenix Theatres announced it would be taking over the property and another complex in Columbus, Ohio. The former operators of the Savoy 16 had declared bankruptcy.

Christopher Walton, the new village administrator in Savoy, said the announcement was an important breakthrough for the village.

“We found out that the new owners were coming on board shortly after they had completed their deal and the village simply reached out to see what we could do to support what they were needing to have done,” said Walton. “They have already taken care of some structural issues that they came across. We partnered with them in getting life safety inspections scheduled and we’ve had some good, frank conversations about how the theater is an economic hub for the village and that the village is absolutely invested in seeing that they succeed and thrive.

“Staff has been working with them as things have come up — anything from inspections to getting them in contact with (Champaign-Urbana Public Health District) to get their permits.”

Walton said the theater’s reopening depends on COVID-19 and guidance from the state government.

“Both the village and the company realize that we are waiting for the state to permit theaters to reopen again,” he said. “As soon as that happens we’re going to be excited to see them open up.”

According to the Phoenix website only four of their properties are operating. Ten, including Savoy, are temporarily closed.

Another strike for free-dumb

“Didn’t know if you had heard of this interesting story that made the ABC-7 news in Chicago. Darren Bailey and Brad Halbrook held a fundraiser/Christmas party at Yoder’s Kitchen in Arthur last week. Much in violation of COVID-19 guidelines. The buffet continues to operate as usual at Yoder’s.”

Yes, two state legislators, one of whom represents a portion of Champaign County, are among those who don’t believe in wearing face coverings and consider it a heroic act of civil disobedience. They held a Christmas Party on Dec. 3 in Arthur (which is in both Douglas and Moultrie counties). Douglas County today ranks 14th of Illinois’ 102 counties in cases per 100,000 (7,994). Moultrie County is a few notches down at 7,227 cases per 100,000.

A colleague passed along an unsettling essay called “Why Freedom Became Free-Dumb in America.” I suspect that Sen.-elect Bailey and Rep. Halbrook would differ with the premise therein.

“Americans have built a society focused on a certain backwards notion of freedom, free-dumb, the hyper-individualist belief in one’s own right to do anything one pleases, no matter how foolish, destructive, or harmful. But that has cost Americans a truly free society,” wrote Umair Haque.

Here’s a link to the whole thing …

Demonym suggestions

Here’s a remark from last week’s discussion about demonyms for residents of Champaign and Urbana …

“How about Chambanian as a joint demonym? For separate, Urbanite sounds best, but is a bit vague given it existing meaning. Champaignians, meanwhile, could simply be called Champs, perhaps ironically depending on who you ask.”

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