217 Today: Decatur school closure exposes gaps in state-required inspections

By Farrah Anderson
Sep 25, 2023

Photo: Emily Hays/Illinois Public Media

Monday, September 25, 2023

Today’s headlines:

The Biden administration’s move to expand work permits for some seeking asylum in the U.S. is welcome news to immigration advocates. But some experts want to see expanded protections to enable all undocumented immigrants to find work.
Many hospitals across the Chicago area do not have midwives, despite research showing they can help prevent more pregnant people from dying.
Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act has seen little progress towards building equitable jobs in green energy.
Police are looking for the person who shot 3 people in downtown Champaign early Sunday morning.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn more about how the last state-required inspection of Decatur Public Schools didn’t catch that two of their buildings were falling apart.

Reporting today contributed by Eric Stock, Kristen Schorsch, Mawa Iqbal, Reginald Hardwick and Emily Hays.

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