217 Today: Some Midwest states take power to ban wind and solar projects away from local communities

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Wind turbines near Burlington Junction in northwest Missouri, on Oct. 15, 2022. Local governments throughout the Midwest and Great Plains have moved to restrict such projects in recent years.
  • Photo: Carlos Moreno / KCUR

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Today’s headlines:

  • In celebration of Black History Month, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza honored 5 downstate Black leaders.
  • U.S. Senator Dick Durbin says the Senate did the right thing by passing additional aid for Ukraine.
  • A proposal in Springfield would require any law enforcement agencies that are encrypting their police scanner transmissions to still make their live activity available to the media.
  • U.S. Senator Dick Durbin spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for a project aimed to restore aquatic vegetation in a portion of the Illinois River.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn more about how two Midwestern states recently passed laws making it hard for local governments to say no to green projects.

217 Today is produced by Stephanie Mosqueda. Reporting contributed by Mawa Iqbal, Alex Degman, Yvonne Boose and Jim Meadows.

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Stephanie Mosqueda

Stephanie Mosqueda is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with minors in Spanish and public relations. She is the 217 Today producer and a reporter for the Illinois Student Newsroom.