Governor Jeebs

Hell yeah.


Everyone chill out. Jeff Thomas is coming to Illinois, after all

Per a scoop from The News-Gazette‘s Bob Asmussen, all of the rumors that had been circulating over the weekend were false. Thomas is on the way to campus and will begin classes as soon as possible.

Will he play a down as an Illini? I guess we’ll see how the waiver situation works out. He could be pivotal in a bowl berth next year.


Stevie Jay’s updates from Asia are…exactly what I expected

This is a pretty niche area of Champaign-Urbana media, but if you listen to ESPN Radio (93.5 in Champaign-Urbana) you’re probably familiar with “Stevie Jay”, the radio ‘mogul’ who owns a couple of stations in town.

He also has a morning talk show where he spouts pretty tame right wing opinions (my personal favorite was last year when he berated NFL players for peacefully protesting…on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day). If you listen to sports talk radio in your car, you probably hear it when you drive to work in the morning.

Anyway, Stevie (Steven? Steve? Mr. Jay? Dr. Jay? idk how to refer to him) also runs a travel company that books tours to exotic places for those who live in Central Illinois. He’s currently in Asia, and checking in with the radio show every morning about his trip and what he’s seen, etc.

It’s honestly remarkable how much air-time they give to what is essentially a confused travel report. But it’s his station. Be great, I guess.

These are mostly used for descriptions of food and as a harmless advertisement for his travel agency, but occasionally he’ll slide in a take that exemplifies some sort of tone-deafness. Here are some of Stevie’s best (worst?) takeaways from Asia thus far:


Urbana sidewalks must be cleared of snow by Tuesday

Or else!!!

(WICS)


Illini football adds another grad transfer

He’s from Alabama! They’re good!


Champaign Showers hit 200 likes on Facebook overnight

Social metrics rule everything around me. Holler. Here’s a celebratory song:


The News-Gazette‘s statement about publishing mug shots is terrible

Yes, the mugshots are public record. No, that doesn’t mean that The News-Gazette should plaster them on their pages with reckless abandon and gain ad revenue from them.

(Smile Politely)


Judge Orders Trump Administration To Remove 2020 Census Citizenship Question

If you think about it, this is locally-relevant because most of us will get counted during the census.


Piatt County board supports solar energy farms after investigating just what in the heck solar energy is

“It’s another type of agricultural use. It harvests the sun,” said Miller.

I’m sincerely proud of you, Piatt County, but I’m also dying laughing.

This is a real-life application of the value of research and education. If only ~40% of our country were so thoughtful.

(Steve Hoffman / Journal-Republican)

Related: Spurred By State Incentives, Solar Panel Farms Are Coming To Illinois

(Jim Meadows / Illinois Public Media)


The City of Champaign has an app to report non-emergency incidents

Like potholes and stuff.


lol

This story was also picked up by TalkingPointsMemo‘s Nicole Lafond.