The May/June 2024 issue of the PublicI newspaper has been released! Here is a little information on the stories:

City Business Is Whatever the Community Cares About - by Dua Aldasouqi

This article touches on the 180+ days of local and national calls for a ceasefire and divestment as well as the contributions of Champaign County to the Israeli war machine to make the case that our city should pass a ceasefire resolution - what the community wants.

The Legacy of Local Environmentalist Bruce Hannon - by Robert Hirschfeld

This article pays tribute to local environmentalist and professor emeritus, Bruce Hannon, who passed away this February. Robert touches on his contributions to the preservation of Illinois’s natural treasures.

The IMC Holds a Second Safety Forum - by Jane McClintock

Details the second Public Safety Forum held in March at the UCIMC with a presentation by the Law Enforcement Action Partnership focused on alternative response efforts.

After Fatal Shootings, Rantoul Police Recommended More Training:

They Sent One Officer to a Gun Range - by Farrah Anderson | Invisible Institute

Following the first-ever fatal police shootings, the Rantoul Police Department conducted internal reviews of the involved officers and use-of-force policy - this article traces the unfortunate outcomes.

The Private Market Destroyed Our Nursing Home - by Grant Chassy

Grant reports on the privatization, sale, closure, possession, and recent action on the formerly public Champaign County Nursing Home and the economics behind these events.

Beyond Abortion: Reproductive Justice Envisions More - by Julie Laut

This article details reproductive justice in the post-Roe world, but cautions that the struggle for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy extends beyond abortion rights - that “being pro-choice is not enough.”

Healing Culture in Wartime - by Evelyne Accad

Evelyne writes of the difficulties running a shelter for abused women in Lebanon and creating a Culture and Healing Center, now with the added difficulty of post-10/7 violence in the South with Israel.

Canada Goose Population Control: Homeowner Associations Become Experts - by

Karen Medina, Viktoria Ford, and Penny Hanna

The authors describe a more humane (and legal) approach to goose population control - egg depredation using oil - that has been successfully adopted by two local homeowners associations.

Coalition of Labor Union Women for Champaign County - by Stephanie Fortado

The final article in this issue details the creation in March of a local chapter of the now 50-year young Coalition of Labor Women, or CLUW by representatives of about a dozen labor unions and community groups.

 

In the photo are Miriam Larson, the IMC's Executive Director, and Al Kagan, a Public i Editorial Collective member!

This Blog Post was written and edited by our Spring 2024 intern Brian Graves!