Late nights, yellow checkers: Champaign cab driver Greg Borchelt shares his stories from behind the steering wheel
The next call comes at 8:15 p.m. from a man at Farren’s Pub & Eatery in downtown Champaign. Greg Borchelt maneuvers his Yellow Checker cab through the streets past changing streetlights and stop signs and pulls into an alley past the pub. He jumps out of his cab, finds his customer in a flash and is on his way.
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Campus rec head entertains
Tony Clements considers himself a song-and-dance man, except he can neither sing nor dance. But he can entertain. The director of campus recreation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an in-demand speaker and comedian who has the ability to make people laugh and to convey a message — the very reason he is in Mattoon, Ill., today preparing to give the keynote speech at the chamber of commerce’s annual business exposition.
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Four-time Ironman participant more than just an athlete
As you walk into Chuck Smittkamp’s living room in Urbana, you might forget that he lives with a roommate. On the wall, where many people have paintings or family portraits, hang three giant posters — each one a picture of Chuck from one of his first three Ironman events.
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University aims to treat roads before snow, ice
As winter approaches, snow and ice are expected on the streets of Urbana-Champaign. Every day employees are working to ensure that streets are clean, drivers are safe and accidents are kept to a minimum.
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Gay couple feels 'just like everyone else'
Eighteen years after their first date, Sue Searing and Christine Jenkins had a new anniversary to celebrate. They were married on June 23 by a justice of the peace in Ontario, Canada.
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Students confront energy problems as group steps up campaign
Despite the cold weather, students inside many campus buildings might be feeling the heat — and it’s not because of final exams.
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Campus looks to save energy
According to Lee DeBaillie, the University’s energy manager, energy retrofits might include improving the control systems for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and replacing older ones. Installing occupancy sensors that turn on lights only when people are in a room would also increase energy efficiency, he said
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Seniors, relax: Job market improving
December graduates might have an easier time finding a job this year, thanks to an improved job market.
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Rantoul got run over by a reindeer
RANTOUL, Ill. — There’s Klondike and Twinkle and Jingles and Flurry, but these reindeer aren’t here to pull Santa’s sleigh. They’re a part of the Christmas experience at Hardy’s Evergreen Acres in Rantoul.
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No Child Left Behind sparks debate
The fairness of the No Child Left Behind Act, a federal legislation bill that expands the government’s role in elementary and secondary education, has been called into question in school districts across the country.
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Writer on a mission to make a connection
I leave Urbana at 11 a.m. and drive up I-57 North toward Chicago at about 80 mph. While listening to Dar Williams on my stereo, I think about my grandparents who I haven’t seen since August. I am on a mission — a mission to learn more about my grandparents, begin a deeper relationship with them, whatever that means — to form an emotional connection, a friendship perhaps.
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Super freak
Freak accidents. They happen everywhere but they seem to haunt college campuses religiously. In 1999, 12 people were killed at Texas A&M because of the collapse of a bonfire. Just a couple of weeks ago, a student at Penn State University was stuck in an elevator and attempted to crawl out — only to fall 40 feet to her death.
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Holiday cheers had near and far
While the focus may have shifted away from the party scene and toward the library during finals week, students are still looking ahead as plans for break begin to fall into place.
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Gift-giving 101: Scheming and scraping
Okay, so it’s that time of year again where I have to scrape together my earnings to give the six other people in my family the Christmas gift that they’ve always dreamed of.
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A climb to the top
Brian Mazzoni lives to climb.
Mazzoni, a University senior in leisure studies and Champaign resident, started working at Vertical Plains Rock Climbing Gym a year ago.
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