217 Today: Remembering Latrelle Bright, a pillar in the Champaign-Urbana theater community

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Beloved University of Illinois theater professor Latrelle Bright, who died Sept. 21, 2025, is shown in a photograph made by her husband, Rex Bennett, in Bali, Indonesia, in 2023. After a several-week program in theater, dance and mask-making, she and Bennett extended the trip into a vacation.
  • Photo: Rex Bennett

Thursday, November 6, 2025

Today’s headlines: 

  • A federal judge yesterday ordered authorities to improve a Chicago-area immigration facility after a group of detainees sued, alleging they were being kept in “inhumane” conditions.
  • The Illinois Department of Corrections is working to make an emergency rule for scanning prisoners’ mail permanent.
  • Illinois Governor JB Pritzker says he’s proud to see Democratic candidates winning elections around the country on Tuesday.
  • Governor JB Pritzker has ordered all state and U.S. flags in Illinois to be flown at half-staff to honor the death of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

In today’s deep dive, a University of Illinois theater professor touched the lives of nearly everyone she worked with.  

217 Today is produced by Stephanie Orellana. Reporting today contributed by Jennifer King, Capitol News Illinois, Mawa Iqbal, Arjun Thakkar and Adelyn Mui.

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Stephanie Orellana