While working as a Multimedia Producer for Illinois Public Media/WILL-TV in Champaign-Urbana, I had the chance to produce feature stories about projects developed by the University of Illinois that affect people beyond its campus.
The first story was about the Farm of the Future - an autonomous farm that uses robots, drones, and other technology to produce agriculture. Watch it below:
Producer: Manu Ferreira
"Succeeding in a New World" presents some of the challenges that international students face while living abroad. From the language barrier and academic pressure to the difficulty of making new friends from other countries. The special presentation also shows how they overcome cultural differences to have a great experience in the US.
Producer: Manu Ferreira
Director: Emmie Larson
Advisor: Kenneth R. Erdey
Copyright 2022
University of Illinois
Video issue story about Moore's Rescue Ranch
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course of Multimedia Storytelling.
Master of Science in Journalism at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022
Produced by Manu Ferreira
Advisor: Prof. Charles "Stretch" Ledford
Video profile story about the Urbana Museum of Photography.
Movie lovers from all over the country will be reunited in Champaign for the 22nd Ebertfest. Starting next Wednesday, April 20th, the traditional film festival returns to its annual in-person edition at the Virginia Theater after two years.
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| Photo by Manu Ferreira |
To celebrate its comeback, the event features award-winning movies, discussions with filmmakers, music presentations, and other unique experiences for the public.
“We usually have about 12 movies every festival. This time we have four music performances that are integrated into the festival. And a lot of the movies are about comedy or about music. So, we wanted to return with a kind of a joyous event,” says Andy Hall, the Assistant Festival Director.
The list includes “Soy Cubana” by Jeremy Ungar, “Nightmare Alley” by Guillermo Del Toro, the documentary “Summer of Soul”, and a silent movie that will be screened along with a full live orchestra.
“The Chicago Mob and Orchestra directed by Renee Baker will join us this year on Saturday morning to score the movie “Siren of the Tropics”, which is a Josephine Baker movie from the 20s,” explains Hall.
The Virginia Theater is all ready to receive the public. The space was recently renovated. “During COVID, when we were shut down, we put in a new sound system and a new climate control system for the auditorium. Both of those were pretty big projects,” affirms Mitch Marlow, the Virginia Theatre’s PR Manager.
Since we are coming back from a pandemic, producers are taking one safety measure to make the audience more comfortable. “We decided to have empty seats between groups. So, people will feel that there is still a little bit of space between them and strangers that they might meet at the event,” explains Andy Hall.
Mitch Marlow says the expectation is that the Ebertfest will be well attended. “One of the films is already sold out and the other ones are getting close.”
Despite all excitement of having the festival back, unfortunate news: the comedian Gilbert Gottfried, one of the headline guests, passed away this week.
“We are devastated. After talking to him for so long and looking forward so much to having him with us at the festival. But we are still very honored and privileged to have the movie 'Gilbert' scheduled at the event. We are excited to have the director with us still to talk about the person Gilbert was,” declares Hall.
The event’s producers also found a way to honor the comedian. “We are dedicating the whole festival to the memory of Gilbert Gottfried this year,” reveals.
Ebertfest will happen from April 20 to 23, 2022. Tickets and festival passes are available on the website www.thevirginia.gov. University of Illinois students have a special discount.
For more details, visit the website www.ebertfest.com.
Watch the TV story for UI7 Live:
This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that the ten community-based testing sites in the state are closing today, March 31st.
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| Market Place testing site in Champaign | Credit: Manu Ferreira |
Health officials say the end of federal funding and the drop in demand for tests is the reason the operations will be shut down in Aurora, Bloomington, Champaign, Fairview Heights, Rockford, Arlington Heights, Peoria, Harwood Heights, South Holland, and Waukegan.
“The State had a contract to run those sites, and it was supposed to be closed last year. But we had the surge of Delta and then the Omicron in the Fall as well. So, the State decided to extend those,” explains Awais Vaid, the Deputy Administrator and the Epidemiologist of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
Demand for tests at the Community-Based sites reached a peak of more than 1,040 tests per day at each site in November 2020. However, according to IDPH, this number dropped considerably with each site seeing fewer than 50 individuals per day.
“Right now, the testing site at the Market Place Mall was not being utilized as much. Five or 10 people in a day were testing, so the numbers were very small.”
The SHIELD system was created by the University of Illinois in 2020 and was recently expanded statewide. The CovidSHIELD requires only a small amount of saliva from an individual and provides results within six to 12 hours. It is also an option free of charge.
You can order at-home COVID-19 tests on the website www.covidtests.gov. To schedule a saliva-based test visit the website www.shieldillinois.com.
Five of the locations that are closing (Aurora, Arlington Heights, South Holland, Fairview Heights, and Peoria) also provide vaccinations. This service will be suspended as well. To find COVID-19 vaccines available near you, visit www.vaccines.gov.
This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website.
It’s been one month since Russia invaded Ukraine. More than 3.5 million people have fled the country looking for a safe place to live. Organizations all over the world started fundraising projects to help the refugees.
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| Credit: Farrah Anderson/Illinois Newsroom |
Here in Champaign-Urbana, the Ukrainian Student Association has raised over twelve thousand dollars with various initiatives, like rallies, t-shirt fundraisers, and a collaboration with other clubs on campus. Its President Larysa Brandys says they have been working to spread awareness about what is happening in Ukraine and to collect as many donations as possible.
“We are currently in process of planning a number of fundraisings with other organizations on campus such as UofI UNICEF chapter and the Center for Children Action Network. We're also planning a vigil scheduled for April 7th. It's going to be a collaboration with some other schools across the US that have Ukrainian clubs,” explains Brandys.
Another project on the University of Illinois campus was created by Carle Illinois College of Medicine. The students launched a medical and physical goods supply drive to get additional aid to the region. “These people need help, and the things they need are things many of us have lying around our homes. We all have the ability to make a difference in this crisis,” affirms Dylan Mann, a fourth-year medical student, and co-lead on the relief project.
Small businesses are also stepping up to support Ukraine. Central Illinois Bakehouse in Champaign recreated a traditional Ukrainian garlic bread to raise funds for children and families.
The International Committee is an organization that is currently in Poland supporting Ukrainian refugees with essential supplies and psychological care. Miranda says they are happy to bake for such an important cause.
“It’s a wonderful benefit to be able to give back to not only our community but to the global community. We love being able to benefit all of the people of the world and just not our small town.”
The goal is to sell five hundred Pampushky, which sum up a total of ten thousand dollars in donations. “We have currently sold a hundred twenty-six. We are matching the first ten thousand dollars in donations, which will be five hundred, so we are just going to stop when we hit our goal.”
The Pampushky is available at Central Illinois Bakehouse and Pekara Bakery in Champaign, at Urbana Farms Market, and Martinelli’s Market in Bloomington. It is also possible to order it online at centralillinoisbakehouse.com.
This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website.
Watch the UI7Live TV story about the Pampushky:
Urbana Fire Chief is set to retire in May. Chuck Lauss will leave the department after three and a half years of service.
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| Chuck Lauss | Credit: Manu Ferreira |
Lauss came to Urbana as fire chief in 2018 having a large background. He started his fire service in the city of Pekin, where he worked for 22 years. After retiring there, he commanded the fire department at Caterpillar facilities in the Peoria area for 5 years, and served the city of Peoria as an assistant fire chief and later fire chief.
All together sum up to a 35-year career. “I love this job. It’s never been a job to me. You know, for 35 years I love it so much, I’ve never gone to work,” he says.
Although his time was short in Urbana, he is proud of his and the staff's accomplishments. Including plans for two new modern stations and six additional firefighters that will join the department in May.
Chuck Lauss said that the crew always talks about things that are important for the department, such as the new stations, for example. “The firefighters have started collecting data on what the new stations should look like for health and safety purposes. We got all that stuff put together.”
The two old stations are a little over 50 years old now and don’t offer many facilities focused on health and safety. Therefore, they expect to implement workout and movie rooms, as well as nutrition and psychological programs.
“I want them to look at putting things in the stations that affect their retirement. We want them to retire healthy and happy,” explains.
The biggest challenge
Lauss says he has faced big challenges during his time in Urbana. The biggest one is Covid-19.
“It’s been a long process to navigate through, but as we had worked together with other staff members and with this awesome department, we maintained our staffing and we never had any reduction in services. But it has been a challenge of making sure we are complying with the testing, with the masking mandate, with the social distancing, all of that. We try to make sure that everybody stays safe,” states Lauss.
Now the plan is to move to South Carolina and enjoy his time with his wife. “I jokingly tell my wife that this 35-year love affair with my career is just coming to a close and we will spend a lot of more time together,” revealed the Chief adding that he will miss the fire service.
"I’ll miss my Urbana firefighters. They’ve been part of my family, my life, but it’s time. It’s time to move on to the next chapter,” added
Chuck Lauss’ last day in the office is on May 6th. But on the 5th, the city of Urbana will do a walkout ceremony to honor his service. The new fire chief will be announced by the mayor soon.
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| Credit: Manu Ferreira |
*This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website. Click here to watch the TV story.
The Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon will be different this year. The event’s organizers announced that its 26.2-mile run was canceled. The competition is part of the traditional race weekend that will happen between April 28th and 30th.
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| Photo courtesy by Illinois Marathon |
The official announcement was made through posts on the Illinois Marathon’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Runners that had registered for the race were also contacted by email.
According to director Jan Seeley, the full marathon won’t take place due to impacts of the ongoing pandemic, which includes limitations on public safety resources.
Champaign Police Department is currently down on 26 officers from its authorized maximum, while the Urbana Police Department is down on about two. That means the ability to provide enough security for participants in the longer race through both cities was at risk.
“We need to be able to have a safe route for everybody. Looking at the existing resources to do that, we felt the new smaller footprint was the right direction to go,” Seeley said. “The marathon route was too big.”
However, all the other event races will take off. People can sign up for the Half-marathon, Marathon Relay, 5K and 10K, Green Street Mile, and Youth run. The announcement also included a few changes to the schedule.
For other information and registration, visit the website www.illinoismarathon.com.
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| Photo courtesy of Illinois Marathon |
*This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website.
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