The Champaign City Council voted Tuesday evening to create a citizens advisory committee to review Champaign Police Department complaint investigations.

A rally to end gun violence over the weekend in Champaign also served as a tribute to a local gun violence victim. Michael DeArmond was among those leading a march of 35 people on the city’s north side Saturday, on what would have been his daughter Desirie DeArmond Austin’s 25th birthday.

The city has been working on tearing down and rebuilding homes in the northeast Champaign neighborhood since outlining its goals in 2007. Unanimously backed by the Champaign City Council Tuesday, the plan initiates an agreement with suburban-Chicago based AHDVS, a minority-owned contractor. But city council members stipulated that hiring local minorities was key to the plan's continued backing. 

The Champaign City Council has given its police department the go-ahead to convene a working group to study the idea of forming a citizen police review board.

Champaign City Council members Tuesday approved a second excessive force lawsuit settlement involving Police Officer Matt Rush, this one for $225,000, but only after an hour of emotional public comments and a march by activists through the downtown streets, calling for Rush to step down and face criminal charges.