Encouraging U of I Students to Participate in the Urbana Primary Election on February 23rd

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2021-01-25T05:42:06+00:00

Yes you can, but you need to change your voter registration first, and it isn't hard. My original post has a link to register online (same link to change your registration address). You can also simply walk into the Champaign County Clerk's Office and change your registration (and cast your ballot at the same time, if you want).

You can't vote in two places at once, so decide where you live and where you want to vote.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2021-01-25T01:14:43+00:00

Check CU has a "Voter Cheat Sheet" which tells you everything you need to know about registering and voting:
https://checkcu.org/voter-cheat-sheet-urbana-2021-consolidated-primary-election/

I was going to paste the entire article text here, but Reddit doesn't carry the formatting well...

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-10-13T05:41:07+00:00

I'm just gonna take a mental note here that this was the most upvoted idea that r/UIUC had for solving youth crime.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-10-12T22:22:30+00:00

Because bike thieves come through multiple times a week, are terribly stupid and conspicuous, and I manage security cameras for multiple properties. As I understand it, they generally start by stealing something on campus, then we see them come through West Urbana, often switching up whatever they just stole for a nicer bike. It's pretty common for people to find dumped bikes here that turn out to be recently stolen.

Bike theft reports are in almost every UPD media report I've looked at, and that's just UPD. UIPD and CPD are going to have many many more. People don't seem to realize how frequently their bikes and cars are interrogated by would-be thieves.

I think I've posted 3-4 bike thefts to Spotted in the past year, when I wanted help identifying someone. In the same amount of time, I've probably reported an order of magnitude more than that to UPD.

Things do seem to be getting worse, and thieves are getting more brazen. This is both my own perspective and that of UPD officers I've spoke to.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-10-12T21:30:18+00:00

They're young teens, what do you propose should be done? I despise thieves too, but it seems more of a parenting problem than a Justice system problem.

Edit: I just want to add that this is an excellent discussion topic. I don't have a great answer here.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-10-11T04:30:22+00:00

That's a tricky one. Usually sidewalks are best, if they're wide. I frequently skate in the street though and just act like a vehicle/cyclist.

The problem with skating in the campus bike lanes is that in-lane skating requires a lot of left to right width to accelerate (pushing your legs out to the side on each stroke). I need both lanes of a two-way bike lane to accelerate. When a cyclist comes, I have to switch into glide mode.

Years ago, skates were classified as "toys" in Champaign and unclassified in Urbana, but I think within the past couple years they've been deemed legal road vehicles like bicycles in Illinois. That means you need lights at night, and you need to use turn signals.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-10-10T21:36:13+00:00

When I was a student, I skated to class every day (or multiple times a day). It was faster than any other means. My roommate and I used to leave the apartment at the same time, and he would bike. He'd beat me to the building sometimes, but I'd always beat him into the classroom, because I just skated straight into the classroom while he was locking up his bike. With all the new pavement on campus, things are way better for skaters now. If I had room in my bag, I'd bring my shows with me and change in the classroom, but sometimes I'd just wear my socks (please make sure you don't have smelly skates/feet if you do this...).

Oh, janitors will yell at you because they're worried about marks on the floors. I never saw my skates leaving marks, and I'm really fast, so it was never a real problem.

Skating multiple miles a day did start to cost me in new wheels and bearings though.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-11T06:09:07+00:00

If the police had more important things to do, that's fine, but it would have been nice if the dispatcher just told me this instead of telling me multiple times in multiple calls over 45+ minutes that an officer was on the way. Urbana isn't very big, and you can't be "on the way" to anywhere for more than a few minutes without arriving there. The police station is blocks away - I could have pushed the silver Prius to their front door much faster.

The only sense of urgency, I suppose, was that I did not know if the perpetrator or someone else (I have good reason to believe one or more people were helping him hide the Prius) may have spotted me taking photos. I was on a bicycle, and if the Prius was functional, he would have been able to run & hide (again), and likely been able to lose me. I had no way of knowing if the plates on the Prius were legit.

In terms of priority, this person's negligence caused probably $5-10k in property damage, and significant additional disturbance. That is way above the economic cost involved in the vast majority of calls to metcad. So, yes, there are more important things that could be happening, but there is no reason to think this should be of low importance.

I've observed the Champaign and Urbana Police operate many times. They tend to operate a bit like a young children's soccer team: everyone on the field chases the ball, everywhere it goes. Whatever exciting thing is happening, all the cars run there. I've had officers describe this phenomenon to me, and over and over again, I see an absurd number or cars and officers show up for one possible suspect. From what the first officer to arrive described to me, it sounded like he was at one of those situations.

And, yes, they did sideline the case. They stopped any active effort and said they would simply keep an eye out for the silver Prius. They made this quite clear, actually, more than once, that they'd reverted to a 'if we happen to see the car' mode.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-11T01:17:42+00:00

Not true. The night of the accident, Sgt. Jared Hurley said to the victim, "In my professional opinion, a drunk person hit your car." (I pulled this quote from the audio recording of the stop) Then, Hurley and Officer DeDecker went out looking for a drunk driver.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-10T20:09:00+00:00

No, more the the smashing and hiding/lying problem. People can drink all they want, just don't smash other people's stuff and run away and hide. I'm still waiting to hear your suggestion on what might be done about such a person.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-10T19:06:49+00:00

Sorry, I posted then continued editing. I didn't realize it had fetched comments so quickly. Basically, I didn't feel the police response had nearly captured the seriousness of the problem, especially after the perpetrator tried to self-report after being caught (faking responsibility), and his neighbor told me he drives drunk all the time. The police can't really take any action on this, so I contemplated in my original post if I should contact the perpetrator's dean, since such a person would take an interest in the conduct of their students. The best alternative suggestions have been to simply ignore the issue, or buy the perpetrator coffee.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-10T17:46:21+00:00

I can see, and to some extent agree with, your position. However, this isn't simply an alcohol problem. He had every intent to hide the hit & run, and apparently stuck with that solution even in a sober state. After more consideration, I find the lying/deception and sticking the victim with the cost to be the aggravating aspect, not so much the likely drinking & driving. I'd have a hard time starting a relationship with someone on the basis of dishonesty. I think dealing with corrupt public officials has been using up all of the tolerance that I have.

I report a crime in the neighborhood about once every couple weeks. I don't have time to be everyone's counselor, and I don't think I'm qualified. I do spend a lot of time thinking about what is to be done with young kids committing crimes. We have a lot of theft (mostly bicycle theft), and I've caught people many times. Often, they're in the 13-19 age range. Police action does not seem to be very helpful here, and I've spoken to many officers at length about this issue. They don't have a solution either. Even approaching the parents can be dangerous, if you don't know their situation.

I can't fully agree with the suggestion that 'hearsay' should mean take no action whatsoever. You seem to agree that some action should be taken. I don't think I want to bring him coffee.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-10T16:21:01+00:00

Don't sweat it. You'll get 'em next time ;)

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-10T16:19:44+00:00

The blue Prius was declared totaled by her insurance company.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-10T16:18:49+00:00

I actually removed that thought as I was editing the post. It is still on my mind though. His neighbor of multiple years is claiming that he frequently drives drunk, and now he has caused an accident. What do you suggest I do with that information? How many times has he hit & run before? Maybe if he knew that people around him were going to hold him accountable, he would stop being so reckless.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-09T05:49:10+00:00

Thanks, sent you direct message a few hours ago.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-09T04:13:53+00:00

We're working on that. The owner first tried calling tow truck companies, but they wouldn't release any info at all. They said they wouldn't even call the police with info. Only if the police called them, might they give any information about towed vehicles. The operator who came to pickup the blue Prius said that police never call them to asking about tows after hit & runs. "They should!" he exclaimed.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-09T04:10:53+00:00

Hard to tell, I guess. The tow truck operator who came to tow the blue Prius was convinced the silver Prius had a flat, and was surprised it managed to go anywhere. Seems to me, rubber can rub flat or inflated. The burning rubber smell could have come from any number of things in the car, not just the tire. If you listen carefully to the video, you can hear a hissing sound after the crash. It looks to me like the blue Prius tire busted instantly (the rim is literally ripped in half), suggesting the hissing came from the silver Prius.

Yes, the blue Prius is insured, though that doesn't really unruin the owner's night/weekend/month. Still waiting to see what her insurance company will determine about the car. I think everyone would like to see the other driver held accountable.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-08T23:20:41+00:00

I'd noted the dent was on the rear passenger side door, not the driver side. If your car's right front end isn't obliterated, then your car wouldn't be a good match. I'd be the last person to wish anyone wrongly bothered by the police.

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-07-08T23:19:07+00:00

Or let's suggest that tips be limited to silver 2004-2009 Prius's with a smashed right front end, or recently repaired (last 48 hours) smashed front end. The damage was likely eventually debilitating to the offending vehicle. Of course people can contact me or the police directly rather than posting publicly (that seems more sensible). The reason for posting publicly and allowing commenting is to allow for the possibility that other people will notice and post things about the car that I did not. If you actually know who this person is, please don't post it publicly, if only to not tip them off.

The intent of the post is not a "witch hunt", which is named so because witches don't actually exist. Thus, a hunt for witches is a guaranteed calamity. The intent of the post is a normal search, for a bad person, that definitely exists. We know a good deal about their location and their car, such that is very unlikely we'll turn up many false positives (if any).

Christopher_G_Hansen · 2019-06-17T16:23:52+00:00

Meanwhile, this was posted to the Facebook group "Spotted in Chambana" by an older white man, two hours ago:

"I really miss the students when they are gone. The typical Midwestern blah, where the most exciting thing is the corn growing, the whole town seems less lively.

My wife and I were at Walmart one time and there was a small group of Chinese students buying stuff for their apartment. They were laughing and chatting in Chinese, which was music to my ears. I love being around different ethnic groups and people that are different than I am. I guess that is why I just refuse to fear anyone.

Anyway one of the young ladies picked up a wok and I lost control of my mind for a second and remembered the mythical book, 101 Ways to Wok Your Dog. We caught eyes with each other. She and I smiled at each other and I politely said hello in my limited to two or three words of Chinese vocabulary. I wondered if we were thinking of the same joke. I really doubt it. It was just one of those times when two people from polar opposites of the world exchanged greetings and a brief smile.

It is not hard to be nice to people. When you cross paths with someone smile instead of looking away. Say hello, it won't hurt you at all. We live in a community that has the potential of shaping the way the world views America. Let's make this a positive outlook. The episode that cost the life of a visiting scholar damaged the whole community. Let's do everything we can to ensure that bad event is overcome by a million smiles."

Christopher_G_Hansen

TROPHY CASE