• Council votes in favor of more sirens: Champaign could see five new warning sirens installed before the start of next year's "tornado season" due to a city council decision Tuesday.

The council voted to allow the fire department to continue reviewing vendor proposals for the sirens, which would be installed in areas of the city not covered by the 10 existing sirens.

Fire Chief John Corbly said every tornado siren in town can be heard for one mile and that making them louder to cover wider areas is not an option.

The new sirens would have battery backup capability, which would enable them to operate during a widespread power outage.

Because the old sirens do not have this capability, council member Tom Bruno suggested relocating them to buildings with diesel power generators.

City Manager Steven Carter wrote in a report to the council that the cost of the sirens is estimated at $100,000 and is included in the current budget.

— Jeff Fijol