“Urbana deals with revenue loss by not filling vacant posts.” Daily Illini, May 22
Because of the recession, the city of Urbana’s revenue stream has been declining. One thing the city council has been doing to cope with the lost income is not filling vacant posts in city government after their occupants quit. This includes the police department, which currently has two vacant positions that will not be filled in the next fiscal year under the proposed budget.
“Report: Money manager’s fraud as much as $12 million,” News-Gazette, May 24
People may have lost as much as $12 million as the result of alleged fraud by Urbana money manager Timothy J. Roth, according to a report from a court-appointed receiver.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Roth in U.S. District Court in March, claiming he stole mutual-fund shares from several employee deferred-compensation plans that he advised.
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Timothy Bertschy, the receiver appointed to oversee assets controlled by Roth and his enterprises, now says the total loss to victims “may be as high as $12 million,” based on interviews with attorneys, witnesses and victims.
“$3 million remodeling planned for Christie,” News-Gazette, May 22
Christie Clinic is undertaking a $3 million remodeling project at the main clinic in downtown Champaign.
The downtown building at the corner of Neil Street and University Avenue houses most of Christie Clinic’s specialists and major diagnostic equipment, and some of those specialty departments have grown too crowded, Christie’s CEO Alan Gleghorn said.
The clinic has been steadily adding patients, and many of them are winding up at the downtown clinic for specialty care and diagnostics, Gleghorn said.
“Champaign city council to discuss redistricting,” Daily Illini, May 24
The Champaign City Council will hold a study session Tuesday night to begin the process of redistricting the city of Champaign.
The City is obligated by the Constitution every ten years to make sure that the boundaries of its districts reflect accurate population numbers. It is expected that populations shift over time, and now that the 2010 Census has been completed the City Council will begin to formulate the general parameters of the redistricting.
“Jobless rate drops in every Illinois metro area,” Pantagraph, May 26
Unemployment dropped in April in each of Illinois’ 12 metro areas for the eighth straight month, the state Department of Employment Security said Thursday. And officials noted that – aside from flood-soaked Alexander County in southern Illinois – the jobless rate dropped in all of the state’s counties.
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It isn’t clear how much of those decreases are due to unemployed people who’ve given up on finding a new job and aren’t counted, department spokesman Greg Rivara said.