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Champaign-Urbana is hosting free Grandparents Day events as Scovill Zoo holds an animal festival with cake walks and games on Sunday, Sept.

13. Local options also include train rides at Monticello Railway Museum and various fall festivals this weekend.

Film CU & Film-Fanatic.Club have announced the inaugural CU Cinema Crawl, a weeklong film festival scheduled from March 3–8, 2027 at over a dozen venues in Champaign-Urbana; more details on films and schedules will be shared soon.

A new guide highlights local thrift shops offering a range of second-hand goods from nonprofit stores to for-profit consignment venues.

The guide points to places like Simply Chic + All Things Kids in Champaign for affordable clothing, household items, and vintage finds.

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District launched its 17 Cherry bus route in August.

The route runs weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. — serving key stops from Carle Champaign on Curtis through Jefferson Middle School to the Champaign Public Library to ease access to health care and community services.

AgriTech Automation from Chrisman debuted its new grain monitoring system at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa today; it uses programmable controllers, touchscreen systems (and a mobile app) to send alerts about equipment issues to help farmers avoid costly damage during harvest.

Extreme heat warning is in effect until 7 p.m. CDT Saturday across portions of central Illinois, with heat index values reaching 105; residents are advised to drink plenty of fluids + stay indoors to prevent heat-related illnesses.

Holiday GLOW returns to Allerton Park in Monticello for its 10th season this December; visitors will experience the walk-through display nightly from 5 to 9 p.m. on Dec.

6-23 and Dec. 26-31, with special events on opening weekend Dec. 4-5.

Illinois Athletics is changing parking routes for Fighting Illini football games, so fans must follow assigned traffic directions starting 3.5 hours before kickoff.

The system aims to ease congestion around Memorial Stadium + directs rideshare passengers to pick-up spots at the State Farm Center circle drives.