217 Today: What’s Happening in Central Illinois Feb. 5 – Feb 8

Tiktok Instagram Facebook-f
Midwest Lace is just one of the landscape paintings by Caroline Goldsmith, whose work will be featured at a solo show at the Illini Union Art Gallery on Thursday.
  • Photo: Courtesy of Caroline Goldsmith Art

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Today’s headlines: 

  • A controversial pro-ICE Instagram post by the Illini Republicans… has prompted backlash on the University of Illinois campus.
  • Governor JB Pritzer is sticking with a pension plan he proposed two years ago.
  • The Chicago woman who border patrol agents shot five times last October called the incident an “execution” in a public forum yesterday.
  • The groundhog is predicting six more weeks of winter, and so is Illinois climatologist. 

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn about what is coming to the Central Illinois area in the world of arts, culture and entertainment.

217 Today is produced by Giuliana Means. Reporting today contributed by Will Bower, Eric Stock,  Capitol News Illinois, Kimberly Schofield, Adelyn Mui, and Giuliana Means.

WILL and the Illinois Newsroom are committed to bringing you in-depth, relevant coverage that keeps you informed and engages you with our community and state. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. Donate today >>

Giuliana Means