Recently in Chambana Category

This report paints a much less benign and much more disturbing picture.

An informant working with the UI police officers investigating Layden told a Champaign County judge Wednesday that he has known Layden since 2007 and used cocaine with him "40 to 50 times" in the last seven months in Layden's office in the Newman Center, 604 E. Armory Ave., C, and in Layden's residence in the rectory across the street at 1007 S. Sixth St., C.

The informant spelled out for Judge Harry Clem his relationship and contacts with Layden in order for police to obtain search warrants for Layden's office and residence. Clem issued those warrants Wednesday, and UI police investigators searched the office and residence and collected several items of evidence, including about 3 grams of powder cocaine, Interim UI Police Chief Jeff Christensen said...

First Assistant State's Attorney Steve Ziegler said in court Thursday that the UI police monitored a cocaine purchase by the informant from Layden on Sept. 4. That alleged transaction occurred in a garage at the Newman Center after Layden obtained drugs from his car, according to Ziegler.

Police also monitored the informant in a Sept. 9 purchase of cocaine from Layden. On that day, Ziegler said, the informant met Layden at the Newman Center to arrange a buy. Layden then drove to another location in Urbana where police believe he picked up the drugs, then returned to the Newman Center. He then sent a text message to the informant saying the drugs were ready for delivery.

The big news here in C-U is that one of the priests at the Newman Center was arrested on drug charges yesterday evening.

I checked the diocesan website and the Newman Center page for more information, but none has been posted yet. In the meantime. be sure to keep Fr. Layden and the staff and students at St. John's in your prayers.

UPDATE:

The Bloomington Pantagraph has a more substantial report, noting that the Diocese of Peoria released a statement from Bishop Daniel Jenky saying that Fr. Layden has been suspended. The report also notes that Fr. Layden pled not guilty at his arraignment today.

UPDATE 2:

HOI, Peoria's ABC affiliate, has a .pdf of the statement from the diocese.

• ...to ease back in to bike riding.
• ...to bandage up all open wounds before bike riding.
• ...not to layer shirts when it's over 80 degrees.
• ...that Green St. between Mattis and Prospect is way hillier the same strip of John St.
• ...that the library is farther from my house than I thought
• ...that I need to build up to the 7+ mile commute to work -- and that it will probably take me about 45 -50 minutes one way.

Old Champaign County Nursing Home converted into law enforcement training facility.

The Office (the bar not the TV show) is closed for good.

Of course, this partially stems from The Office serving underaged kids during Unofficial, and Tom Cochrane plans to take advantage of stupidly generous tax breaks (do we really need to subsidize the owner of several existing bars) to open a new bar in the same spot, so don't shed too many tears.

I had no idea that the Curtis Road /I-57 exchange was costing $13.5 million.

Here's a map of the area:

View Larger Map

At the top and bottom of the map are existing interchanges. Right smack in the middle (at the green arrow) is Curtis Rd. As you can see, the intersection of Curtis and I-57 is surrounded by corn fields.

Granted, this was done because Champaign has grown and is likely continue to grow southwest, so pretty soon those cornfields will be replaced by McMansions. But to the extent that that growth is south, it will head straight for the Monticello Road (Route 18) exit. So the only people who really benefit from this are those who live west of Duncan, south of Kirby and north of Old Church. And we've spent $13.5 million that could have been used to repair Champaign's crumbling arterial roads to save them six minutes of driving time.

Patrick Thompson, a local community activist who has caused numerous headaches for police in Champaign-Urbana, is currently undergoing his third trial for charges that he forcibly entered his neighbor's apartment and assaulted her in 2004.

Thompson's supporters imply that the charges are trumped up, and indeed on the surface things look suspicious: there is no physical evidence, the police didn't investigate the crime scene when it happened, and the case mostly boils down to the word of the assaulted woman. Not being personally acquainted with the case, I refuse to take sides either way, but objectively, it's hard to see a conviction being handed down when it's her word against his.

That said, there was a major development this week when the judge in the case threw out the home invasion charge, on the basis that the defense "failed to present evidence...that Thompson was not a peace officer acting in the line of duty." The report goes on to report that the judge justified his dismissal by claiming that "'A significant segment' of the police population does not wear typical uniforms while working."

It's pretty obvious that Patrick Thomspon is not a peace officer. In fact, he's made a career out of making life difficult for "peace officers." There seem to be two possibilities here: 1) The prosecution is grossly negligent, because really, how hard is it to prove that somebody isn't a cop? or 2) The judge is trying to make this case go away.

Look, it's entirely possible that these charges are a mockery of justice, but throwing out a charge for failing to prove a negative doesn't advance the cause of justice.

UPDATE: Brian Dolinar says it's negligence. He's not exactly an impartial observer, but I don't think he's a liar either. The circus goes on.

This week, my diocesan newspaper leads with the building project at St. John's Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois.

(That first link will expire when the next issue comes out, so go to their archive page if you're reading this after July 20.)

Micro-brewery coming to downtown Champaign.

Champaign Police Increasing Patrols for Speeding

This is my doom. Of course, the car I drive now is slightly less of a hoopty cop-magnet than the one I got 4 tickets in 24 months in, so here's hoping!

The Daily Illini has an article about the destruction of beautiful old homes in Urbana to make way for cheap, hideous apartment buildings where the owners can pack more students in.

On the one hand, this is a shame. Instead of old, classy homes with lawns and porches, they're putting up the college equivalent of McMansions that crowd the sidewalk and never have enough parking spaces.

On the other hand, and here I'm putting on my completely selfish "it's all about me" hat, the more students we can pack into the 2 square miles of campustown, the less drunken loudmouths we'll have spilling into respectable neighborhoods. And if we're going to be replacing fine old houses with cheap construction apartments, better on campus than out in the neighborhoods where families live.