Latest news with #TonyBruno
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Champaign School Board president responds after tense meeting outing superintendent
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A contentious Champaign School Board meeting is still making waves almost 24 hours later. The meeting saw an approval to move on from Superintendent Dr. Sheila Boozer — a fiery public comment period — and even a near fight. 'We conducted some tough business last night,' said Champaign School Board President Tony Bruno. Champaign board to continue proposed solar farm discussion later this summer Bruno was steadfast — saying they did what the voters wanted. He realizes this wasn't a decision agreed upon by 100% of people — but still thinks it's the right thing to do. 'The election was 60 days ago,' Bruno said. And it's been busy ever since for Bruno and the newly elected board members. The Champaign School Board had their third special board meeting on Thursday to decide the future of Superintendent Boozer. The board voted 5-2, approving a separation agreement with Boozer. Bruno said this decision was made by people at the polls. 'They decided who would serve in these roles,' Bruno said. 'And there were candidates who wanted to do exactly what we did last night. And there were candidates who took the opposite position, and the voters spoke, and we delivered.' It brought immediate blowback. People questioned the board's decision during the public comment portion of the meeting. Bruno said that part of the meeting was designed to let everyone speak. But he also people in the crowd continued interrupting. Champaign restaurant asks for help after cameras catch teens damaging property 'It's bad for our community to have a circus play out at a meeting of a governmental body,' Bruno said. 'Every person who wanted to speak was given an opportunity during the public comment period. But then there becomes a time when it's the board's turn to speak.' And he said that's unacceptable. Bruno also had a man walk aggressively towards him who had to be stopped by security. He said the security staff will be assessing how to balance keeping the meetings open and accessible while still being safe for board members. 'We have to leave the bad examples of the last board in the past and we have to move on, and we have to act like adults,' Bruno said. 'And you may not agree with the business that's being conducted or the votes that are being taken, but this is a democracy and we're operating as a functioning unit of government.' Bruno said he hopes the board can move forward and work together on other issues coming in the future. WCIA reached out to Justin Michael Hendrix and Grace Kang — the two board members who voted against the separation agreement. WCIA didn't hear back from Hendrix — and Kang declined to comment on Friday. WCIA also reached out to the board's former president, Gianina Baker, who was in attendance Thursday night, but didn't hear back from her. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Agenda change causes disagreements at Champaign school board meeting
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A new board has been seated, but uncertainties remain for the Champaign School District. It was the first meeting in nearly a month, after two of April's planned sessions lacked the members to proceed. But now it's a new board, as the district swore in their newest five members at a special meeting Friday Night. State Senator initiates audit into Discovery Partners Institute after project objective change The meeting was supposed to be a formality with the new board taking their oaths and seats. However, certain questions and concerns from a pair of new board members along with the crowd about next week's agenda made the meeting quite rowdy. 'I know it sounds like it should be a complicated answer, but it's really a simple answer,' said newly elected Board President Tony Bruno. 'Yeah, it's just adults acting like adults for once.' Friday night's Champaign District special meeting began with five new members taking their seats. Christy Arnold, Tony Bruno and Grace Kang will serve four-year terms. 'I'm looking forward to getting the train back on the tracks, and I think we're going to do that pretty soon,' Bruno said. Fatima Ahmed and Justin Michael Hendrix will serve two-year terms. 'It's a privilege to have the trust of so many of the community,' Ahmed said. As the old board exited, the new board got to official business: Selecting Bruno as the Board President for a one-year term. High-speed rail survey could help bring trains through Central Illinois 'That's five for Mr. Bruno, and two for Justin Michael Hendrix,' said the board. Fatima Ahmed was tapped as the board's Vice President for a one-year term as well. 'We got six for member Ahmed, and one for Justin Michael Hendrix,' the board said. But the final hour and a half of the meeting was where things got interesting. The majority of the board decided to throw out the previously set agenda for next week and instead use a new one. The old agenda featured administrative appointments for several schools including Booker T. Washington STEM Academy and Centennial High School. Those appointments never happened with the old board thanks to a lack of attendance for the last month. 'I took them off this proposed agenda because if you vote no, if you feel like you don't have enough information to vote yes, and you vote no, then that person can't be brought back before the school board for six more months,' Bruno said. 'And I think that's wrong.' Concerns over the changed agenda resulted in a disruptive back-and-forth between the board and the crowd, with members Kang and Hendrix echoing the crowd's concerns. Most ramps at I-57, I-74 interchange will be open by year's end, IDOT says 'This agenda, are we approving that together today, or what is happening here?' Kang said. 'This agenda right here sounds like a set up for the new members,' Hendrix said. And next week could remain interesting. New business includes the 'issuance of an RFP for an executive search firm for superintendent.' 'To know that we are deciding to remove a superintendent without my conversation is dangerous,' Hendrix said. This means the new board could soon come with a new superintendent. 'This agenda has been created since April 14 and it is something our team does together, it is not one person, and so, for someone to come in and to bring the agenda to be done and then ask my staff to post it, that is not how things work,' said Superintendent Sheila Boozer. It's a quick turnaround for the next board meeting, which will be Monday, May 12. Among the items discussed will be deciding what happens next with Superintendent Sheila Boozer's job. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
70% chance of favorable weather for this evening's ULA launch from Florida
April 28 (UPI) -- United Launch Alliance on Monday plans to launch Amazon's first 27 satellites after earlier launch plans were scrubbed nearly three weeks ago because of inclement weather in Florida. Liftoff for Kuiper-1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. There is a two-hour launch window, and it can be pushed back to Tuesday in case of bad weather again or technical problems. There is a 10-mile ring around the launch site for weather considerations. On Monday, weather conditions were listed as 70% favorable, according to ULA. The 106.5-foot Atlas 551 booster will put 27 Kuiper satellites into orbit at an altitude of 280 miles for high-speed Internet access to millions of people around the world. The Atlas V 551 rocket is configured with five side-mounted solid rocket boosters and a medium-length payload fairing, according to ULA. The rocket elements were assembled inside the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to the launch pad. Amazon plans to launch 3,232 Kuiper satellites by 2029, including half by mid-2026. The Federal Communications Commission in February 2023 approved the entire Project Kuiper after ULA dealt with the risks of orbital debris. Last week, ULA President and CEO Tony Bruno said the company is targeting late spring or early summer for its next Kuiper Atlas launch. The company also is planning its first national security mission via a Vulcan rocket. In October 2023, ULA launched two prototype Kuiper satellites into orbit for testing. Amazon is building the satellites in Kirkland, Wash. "We've designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and every launch is an opportunity to add more capacity and coverage to our network," Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper, said in a pre-launch blog posting. "We've done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we've flown our final satellite design and the first time we've deployed so many satellites at once." Rival SpaceX has launched 7,000 Starlink satellites for more than 5 million subscribers. Also, Eutelsat OneWeb also is entering the market for low Earth orbit satellites for internet usage. United Launch Alliance LLC was formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
