217 Today: Women are a growing segment of hunters. But keeping them in the sport remains a challenge

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A women wearing a camo jacket with an orange beanie hold a gun is one the left side of the image
Charlene Gawronski waits in a tree stand in the early hours of Michigan’s opening day of the deer firearm season. When out in the field, she said she often thinks of her Uncle Bob, who taught her to hunt rabbits when she was a girl. “Sometimes, I’ll say a prayer, and instead of talking to Jesus or God, I’ll say, ‘Uncle Bob, give me a good shot. Or make sure that I take a clean, ethical shot,’” she said.
  • Photo: Teresa Homsi / Harvest Public Media

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Today’s headlines:

  • Officials in Urbana are weighing a proposal that would require the city’s police department to get approval before it can use surveillance technology.
  • Another member of the Champaign Unit 4 school board has resigned.
  • The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is encouraging residents to get vaccinated as cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, are rising in the community.
  • An Illinois lawmaker wants to limit Artificial Intelligence’s role in denying people healthcare coverage. 
  • Illinois’s state climatologist says weather conditions last month were mild and led to one of the warmest Novembers on record.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn about the barriers women face as they try to break into the sport of hunting. 

217 Today is produced by Stephanie Mosqueda. Reporting today contributed by Madison Holcomb, Emily Hays, Anulika Ochuba, Alex Degman, Jim Meadows and Teresa Homsi.

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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.