News Bureau

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Fox/Atkins Development LLC and the University of Illinois present a free summer concert featuring the Barcelona, Spain-based Alma Afrobeat Ensembleat 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 19, in Research Park.

Some areas of Illinois experienced record-breaking amounts of rain in May, as statewide totals mark the sixth consecutive month with above average rainfall, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Through the centuries, people have devised imaginative puzzles to test our wits. Three-dimensional puzzles crafted of wood, metal, plastic and other durable materials are designed to be taken apart, rearranged or untangled. The exhibit “Fall to pieces: Ingenious mechanical puzzles from around the world,” debuts June 4 at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures and runs through July 21.

Crisis knows no season, and for as little as $5 per month, faculty members and staff can make a difference in the life of a co-worker in crisis.

After a cooling spell last weekend, soil temperatures are once again rising in Illinois, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Emergency responders will take part in a full-scale emergency exercise at Willard Airport in Savoy on Monday, May 20, beginning at 6 p.m. The exercise will not affect scheduled air travel.

Illinois alumnus St. Elmo Brady was the first African American to obtain a doctorate in chemistry in the U.S. He received his degree in 1916 for work completed at Noyes Laboratory and continued his career as a professor of chemistry at historically black colleges and universities. Brady was recently honored for his accomplishment by the American Chemical Society through the designation of a national historic chemical landmark.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal will host the Illinois Fire Service Institute Training Showcase on May 15 outside the Illinois state Capitol in Springfield. The event will provide state legislators with an in-depth look at the training efforts for firefighters taking place throughout the state.

The 2019 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference is May 21-22 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign. This year the conference will expand beyond the aquatic environment to include air and soil studies, along with the effects of contaminants on human and animal health.

A wet April extended the trend for above-average precipitation in Illinois. This year was the seventh-wettest December-to-April period on record, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Members of the news media may pick up stadium passes and parking passes for commencement at the Office of Public Affairs, 507 E. Green St., Champaign. Commencement is Saturday, May 11, at 9:30 a.m.

Illini Emergency Medical Services, a program of the Illinois Fire Service Institute that provides nontransport care to the 58,000 students, staff and faculty members at the Urbana-Champaign campus, was recognized as a Bronze Level EMS Ready Campus at the annual conference of the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation.

The University YMCA is seeking volunteers and donations for its 18th annual Dump & Run recycling program. Collections during the May period of Dump & Run will be held exclusively at the Stock Pavilion, 1402 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana, because the MCORE construction project limits access to  the University YMCA building on Wright Street.

Since 1982, thousands of young people have experienced the performing arts at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts by attending creative daytime programs. These performances are designed to invigorate students’ imaginations while also addressing Common Core and Illinois learning standards.

The UP Center, in collaboration with the University YMCA’s Art @ the Y program, is hosting the exhibit “Queering UP the Arts: Celebration of Queer Artists and Artworks,”  on display through May 13 in the University Y’s Murphy Gallery. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The gallery, located at 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The exhibition includes submissions from adult and youth artists from Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Saybrook and Bloomington. The artworks are of various mediums including digital prints, photographs, cyanotypes, spray paint, acrylics and many other types.

Art @ the Y seeks to engage issues of social justice through quality arts programming. The UP Center was founded in 2009 as an organization to advocate for the equality, wellness, advocacy and visibility of the LGBTQ communities in Champaign County.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association announced that CSOA-presented concerts scheduled to take place from Wednesday, April 10, to Tuesday, April 23, are canceled due to the current strike by musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Nicole Krauss, an award-winning and best-selling author, will talk about her latest novel, “Forest Dark,” and her other works at two campus events April 9.

The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced $28.6 million in grants to support 233 humanities projects nationwide, including four at the University of Illinois. Each of the Illinois researchers will receive an award of $6,000.

An initiative of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the Health Make-a-Thon aims to help Champaign County residents bring to life their ideas for improving human health through the Health Maker Lab – a network of maker labs, design spaces and fabrication facilities across the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois. Out of 140 ideas submitted, 20 finalists have been selected to pitch their concepts to a panel of judges and a live audience on April 13. Ten will each win $10,000 in Health Maker Lab resources to create a prototype of their idea.

The 14th Annual Edible Book Festival, sponsored by the University Library at the University of Illinois and Common Ground Food Co-operative, will be held April 6. The campus and local community are invited to experience this unique intersection of literature and cuisine.

Significant rain in March led to above-normal soil moisture in Illinois and major flooding events for many local streams and rivers, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the U. of I.’s Illinois State Water Survey. 

DoCha, downtown Champaign’s premiere free chamber music festival, announces its 10th anniversary season, Friday to Sunday, April 5-7.

Visiting scholar to present 'Can You Trust Your Local News' lecturePenny Muse Abernathy, a Knight Chair of journalism and digital media economics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, will present her lecture “Can You Trust Your Local News?” Saturday, April 6, at 12:20 p.m. in Room 300 of Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana.

Come Home to Krannert Center weekend, Friday-Sunday, April 12-14, celebrates Krannert Center for the Performing Arts’ 50th anniversary. The cornerstone event of the weekend, the Come Home Gala, will be held in the center’s lobby Saturday, April 13 at 6 p.m.

Information provided for news media interested in covering the Day of Service on the U. of I. at Urbana-Champaign campus Saturday, April 6. Hundreds of volunteers will package 28,000 pounds of food for delivery to families in need throughout eastern Illinois.

This year’s Ebert Film Fest will include “Almost Famous” and “Sideways,” documentaries on Maya Angelou and Fred Rogers, and guest actresses Gina Gershon, Virginia Madsen and Jennifer Tilly.

The new exhibit “Chess: Gymnasium of the Mind” opens April 4 in Spurlock Museum of World Culture’s central core gallery, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana. The display features a variety of chess sets from around the world highlighting unique pieces, boards and moves, and runs through July 7.

Despite record cold air temperatures, soil temperatures averaged slightly warmer than normal in Illinois this winter. Consequently, the arctic conditions are expected to have little effect on overwintering field crop insect pest populations.

A wide range of air temperatures occurred in Illinois this winter with periods of warmer temperatures in the 60s and 70s and extreme cold with lows in the -30s. Overall, temperatures averaged 29.9 degrees, 0.8 degrees above normal for the season.

An Aretha Franklin concert film from nearly 50 years ago, now restored and released, will open this year’s Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest.”

An arctic outbreak in late January led to widespread bitterly cold temperatures across much of the Upper Midwest, including Illinois. On the morning of Jan. 31, the cooperative weather observer at Mount Carroll in Carroll County reported a temperature of -38 degrees.  

Brazilian music educator and scholar Juliana Cantarelli Vita presents a lecture and recital on Afro-Brazilian percussion genres, Saturday, March 30 at 7 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana.

David P. Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics and the director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, will deliver the annual Marjorie Hall Thulin Lecture in Religion on Wednesday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m., in Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana.

Since at least 1906, South Asian students have attended the University of Illinois. In a talk scheduled for March 21 at 5 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, archivist Salvatore V. De Sando will highlight some of the first South Asian students, early South Asian student-organized events on campus and early South Asian student organizations. This presentation is based on original archival research, and historic campus photos will be featured to bring the story to life.

In March, the New York-based Mark Morris Dance Group returns to its Midwest home at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Over the course of its one-week residency, the company will conduct public engagement work with the Champaign, Urbana and U. of I. community and present two ticketed performances of “Pepperland.”

February was particularly cold and stormy in Illinois, with an almost constant succession of storms resulting in moderate snow accumulations for the northern counties and persistent rain events and widespread flooding for the far southern counties.

The preliminary average statewide precipitation was 3.33 inches, which is 1.27 inches above the long-term average, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. 

Illinois Theatre continues its 2018-19 season with “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Simon Stephens. Adapted from Mark Haddon’s award-winning novel of the same name, the play follows Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old on the autism spectrum, as he explores the meanings of family and forgiveness while investigating the death of his neighbor’s dog. The play is told through Christopher’s eyes and the company has worked with The Autism Project to tell this story in a way that is truthful to families who experience life with autism spectrum disorder.

On Saturday, March 9, at 1 p.m.,  Illinois Theatre will offer a sensory-friendly performancefor adult and young adult audience members (and their families) who are on the autism spectrum or who otherwise need a less intense sensory experience. Through modifications of the lighting, sound and media designs, theperformance is intended as a safe and welcoming opportunity for adults and young adults with autism and their supporters.

The relaxed, sensory-friendly environment may also work well for those who have other chronic issues, may not be able to sit for long periods of time, or simply enjoy a more casual performance experience. “Social Story”booklets will be available in advance to help audience members know what to expect during their visit to Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and during the play itself. Audiences are invited to bring comfort items (fidget toys, blankets, etc.) with them and to use a “safe space” area outside of the theater as needed, where a live video feed of the performance will be available.

The production contains the graphic depiction of an animal’s death, which may not be suitable for all viewers. The play is based on Haddon’s young adult novel and is most appropriate for audiences age 14 and up.

Tickets are $10 and available through the Krannert Center Ticket Office, at KrannertCenter.com, or by calling 217-333-6280.

Performances without the sensory-friendly modifications run from Thursday, Feb. 28 to Sunday, March 10.

“’Before the sun is set ...’: Imagining Granada between light and lines,” an exhibition of works on paper by architect Jose Vazquez representing the architecture, landscape and city of historic Granada, Spain, begins Monday, March 4, at 5:30 p.m. in Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 E. Lorado Taft Drive in Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fourteenth Biennial Black Sacred Music Symposium Concert begins Sunday, March 10, at 5 p.m. in the Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana.

A post-World War II romance is the first film announced for this year’s “Ebertfest,” coming April 10-13 to downtown Champaign and the U. of I. The film will be shown in memory of its co-star, Scott Wilson, a frequent past festival guest. Organizers also announced an added role in this year’s festival for film critic Richard Roeper.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the School of Music at Illinois are exploring the diversity of today’s contemporary music scene during the months of February and March.

January 2019 will be a month remembered by an unseasonably warm start, followed by a torrent of winter storms and ending with a monumental Arctic air outbreak that shattered many record-cold temperatures across the state.

In the first 10 days of January, the statewide average temperature was 9 to 14 degrees above normal, according to Brian Kerschner, spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office, part of the Illinois State Water Survey at the U. of I. The highest temperature recorded for the month was 66 degrees, which occurred at two stations: one in Pulaski County on Jan. 2 and one in Jersey County on Jan. 8.

University Primary School, the laboratory school of the College of Education at Illinois, is enrolling students in preschool to fifth grade and is holding an open house for the communityon Saturday, Feb. 16, any time between 10 a.m.-noon.

Illinois has been experiencing some of its coldest weather in decades and, in some locations, ever.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cooperative weather observer at Mount Carroll in northeastern Illinois reported a temperature of -38 degrees on the morning of Jan. 31.

Eric Minor, a University of Illinois alumnus with more than two decades of experience in corporate brand marketing, will become the university’s first-ever chief marketing officer effective Jan. 31 pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

The Chancellor’s Commission on Native Imagery: Healing and Reconciliation is seeking input from the community to help the campus move forward on the matter of the permanently retired symbol Chief Illiniwek.

The Illinois Fire Service Institute, part of the U. of I., will host a ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 10 a.m. on the IFSI training grounds in Champaign. The event, held in cooperation with the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal, will officially release four mobile trailers containing equipment essential for firefighting skills training.

With warmer-than-average temperatures, December 2018 brought slight snowfall and a historic late-season severe weather outbreak to Illinois.

On Dec. 1, the National Weather Service confirmed 29 tornadoes in Illinois, an event that is considered the largest December tornado outbreak in state history, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesman for the state climatologist office at the U. of I.’s Illinois State Water Survey. The second-largest number of tornadoes in December was 21  in 1957.

Illinois Public Media announces the launch of “Reel Midwest,” a new independent film series that aims to find the best in features, documentaries and short films in Illinois and across the Midwest. “Reel Midwest” showcases the region’s brightest talents through a selection of thought-provoking documentaries, narrative dramas and short films.

The statewide average temperature for November in Illinois was 35.3 degrees, which is 7.2 degrees below normal, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey at the U. of I. November 2018 was ranked the eighth-coldest November on record.

The Chancellor’s Commission on Native Imagery: Healing and Reconciliation begins its work today.