SPlog

Taste of Champaign-Urbana is celebrating 50 years this year, virtually. The virtual Taste of Champaign-Urbana has a Facebook event page here.  Instead of having an event with vendors in the park, C-U residents can go …

Ben Grosser, Associate Professor of New Media in School of Art + Design at University of Illinois, is no stranger to analyzing the current media landscape and our consumption methods as humans on the internet. …

If there was ever a moment in the Champaign County Forest Preserve’s 72-year history that it felt absolutely 110% reasonable for its board to ask the community it serves for a little help, 2020 would …

This year’s Ebertfest was canceled, as most events have been in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When that announcement took place, Roger Ebert’s Film Festival was rescheduled for April 14-17, 2021. Now, the event …

The Leonhard Recreation Center will reopen August 24th. The building will have reduced hours, and members can sign up for an hour-long use of the weight room and walking track. Everyone must be masked at …

Planned Parenthood of Illinois is launching a series called Real Talk: Creating Healthy Conversations with Young People. This virtual education series is designed for parents, guardians, and other at-home caretakers who would like to supplement …

After a bit of “fake fall” last week, with lows in the fifties, summer is back in full swing this week, and that’s a great excuse to go pick up some Angry Lemon from Triptych. …

Industrial Donut is offering this special shark donut in honor of Shark Week. The donut is one of their cake donuts with blue frosting, red icing, sprinkles, and a shark on top.  Photo from Industrial …

Champaign County Forest Preserve District has created a Miniature Garden Camp in a Bag. It’s just $10, and contains all of the ingredients needed to make your own mini garden: “Your bag will contain a …

Gov. Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois will be blanketing the Champaign-Urbana area into 2022. Seven projects in the area total more than $83 million in infrastructure investments. “With the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, Illinois isn’t just …

The November election will be here before we know it, especially in this weird “what is time” era that we’re living in. I know there is a lot that we’re dealing with right now, but …

Check out this post from the Urbana Free Library: Once again we are facing a disease where ventilation plays a role in spread. If we did this once before, couldn’t we do it again? As …

On August 15th, 39 scholars, teachers, and artists will present eight-minute essays via Zoom, all addressing the question of “What happens at the intersection of conceptual art and teaching?” Presenters, hailing from 14 US states …

Come learn the Afro-Brazilian dance martial art with Aisha Chiaramonte of the Capoeira Angola Center of Mestre João Grande-Illinois. This free online workshop, is designed for kids ages five through 11 and their families, will take …

No, it won’t be the same. Dancing around ridiculously with a bunch of strangers, many wearing lederhosen, while you carb load with pretzels and beer is best done in person. Regardless, Oktoberfest is an important …

Beginning tonight, August 6th, Big Thorn Farm and Brewery will be adding their food truck, simply named “The Truck”, to their operation. It will run during all of their regular beer-serving hours, and has an …

If you’ve ever wanted to serve your local theatre scene, now’s your chance. The Celebration Company at the Station Theatre has announced it is accepting nominations for new board members by August 17th.  To learn …

A few months ago, we shared the news that Urbana’s Sweetcorn Festival would be cancelled this year. That’s changed. Instead, it will be a drive-thru festival in the Lincoln Square Mall parking lot on Friday, …

Emerging filmmakers ages 18-21 can still register for the Independent Clapboard Film Festival Workshop series event to be held Saturday, August 8th from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Independent Media Center in downtown …

This pandemic summer has us all looking for new things to get us out of the house in a safe way. If there’s one silver lining, it’s finding some of these gems that I may …

Congressman Rodney Davis (IL-13) has announced he has tested positive for COVID-19. Here’s the tweet, we genuinely wish him a safe and fast recovery: This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19. I will continue to …

From the press release: STATEMENT FROM DR. SUSAN ZOLA “The health, wellness, and safety of our Unit 4 Community is one of our top priorities, especially now.  As we continue to receive feedback, we’ve made …

This week’s weather has been nothing short of perfect. Have you been taking your furry family members for walks? In addition to the dog park, there are plenty of parks and trails and neighborhoods that …

University of Illinois Professor of Biochemistry Erik Procko has developed “an engineered, free-floating receptor protein that binds the virus and blocks infection.” He recently published his study in Science. This development has therapeutic potential in …

As part of a global bellringing commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Japan, the Altgeld bells will toll 75 times for each: at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, August 5th for Hiroshima, and 9:02 …

Each year, Visit Champaign County typically release their Visitor’s Guide, a printed volume that shows would be visitors to the area all that makes Champaign County great. It’s a different kind of year, and like …

It’s about that time when all of those gardens we planted at the beginning of the summer are starting to overflow with tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and such. Since there’s only so much salsa and marinara …

Today is President Barack Obama’s birthday, and Barack Obama Day in Illinois. In honor of his birthday and to celebrate this noted day in our state, take an hour to watch the speech he delivered …

In honor of August being National Black Business Month, check out this local Black-owned home bakery: Brittany’s Sweet Spot. She’s baking cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and more right here in Champaign. She has been posting cake …

Krannert Art Museum will be implementing a timed reservation system to limit capacity, and admission will still be free. Here are the details from their press release: Krannert Art Museum (KAM, kam.illinois.edu) is ready to …

David Kraft, longtime owner of the Art Theater in Downtown Champaign, and his company have started to sell the beloved theater’s parts on their Facebook page. You can see their post here.  The Art closed …

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The Hiroshima Commemoration Committee is inviting the community to join them at the U of I Arboretum on …

If you’d like to play some pool at the bar, but want to keep things on the safer side, Jupiter’s Pizzeria & Billiards gives you the opportunity to play al fresco. They’ve even kept some …

The Magelli Office of Experiential Learning is a part of the Gies College of Business, and it’s an opportunity for area businesses to engage U of I business students in problem solving efforts.  Groups of …

I’m a fan of burgers, and C-U has an incredible offering of burgers. We’ve talked about the best 8 burgers in town, another list of seven burgers that didn’t make the top eight, and C-U’s veggie …

I initially posted about this delight after seeing it on Facebook in early July, and a few weeks later, I took a trip to El Oasis to experience it for myself. It was awesome. Photo …

i3 Broadband has increased download and upload speeds across the board for their current residential customers. As an i3 Broadband customer myself, I was pleasantly surprised when I got an email from the provider a …

Curb Service has released a new video for “Idle at the Gate”, a track from Ready Set Ghost, which dropped just a few weeks back. Featuring Larry Gates II and a bunch of sock puppets, watch the …

University of Illinois has announced more guidelines for this fall’s semester, as they are planning to host in-person instruction in the fall with numerous precautions. The U of I will be requiring twice-weekly COVID-19 testing …

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has announced the cancelation of all of their in-person, public performances for this fall. They will assess what spring looks like later this fall, and make the determination one …

And now, for SPlog #2 of the day surrounding Illinois basketball. Big man Kofi Cockburn will also return next year after testing the NBA Draft waters. This announcement comes just on the tail of fellow …

C-U Folk & Roots Festival has announced they will celebrate their 12th year in 2020 with an all-virtual event. The multi-day, multi-venue event typically took place around Urbana at Rose Bowl Tavern, Krannert Center, Iron …

Illinois basketball star Ayo Dosunmu announced yesterday he will return to the team for his junior season, the Champaign Room reports. This is huge news for Illinois basketball. Reports say Kofi Cockburn will be making an …

Cafe Kopi has expanded their grab-and-go options to include a couple of versions of parfaits: yogurt and granola and cheesecake. I grabbed a cheesecake version the other day for an afternoon snack. It’s a very …

In a press release today, the City of Champaign reminded protesters that “[g]raffiti use…can present a condition of blight within the City” and it “will begin to clean graffiti that has been placed on public …

Arts Alliance Illinois has announced that the deadline to apply for one of two $5,000 artist project grants for the One State conference has been extended until Tuesday, August 4th. Get the details here. Top …

Have you been missing The Idea Store? Beginning August 1st you can return to shopping in person, with some guidelines of course. They will be open Wednesday through Friday 12 to 6 p.m., and Saturday …

I’ve always enjoyed Urbana’s Market at the Square, and in recent years I’ve participated as a community organization leader, chatting up causes I’m passionate about with market-goers, hitting up food trucks, wandering the rows to …