News Around Illinois – February 28, 2020

News Around Illinois Cover

Fees, Not Tuition Rising At Danville Area Community College

DANVILLE – Student fees will be going up at Danville Area Community College, but tuition will remain the same. Trustees for the community college voted unanimously Thursday to increase the technology-and-activity fee for students from $20 per credit hour to $25. The college’s basic tuition rate of $140 per credit hour will remain the same, as will tuition for other residency categories. The decision at Danville Area Community College comes one week after trustees at Champaign’s Parkland College also voted to keep their basic tuition the same, at $148.50 per credit hour. – Jim Meadows, Illinois Newsroom

Illinois Governor Seeks To Spend $40M For River Port Project

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants the state to spend $40 million to develop a river port in Cairo, where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet. The Southern Illinoisan reports that Senate President Don Harmon filed the capital bill proposal last week as a formality on Pritzker’s behalf. The measure would spend $110 million for statewide public port projects that include constructing the terminal in Cairo. Pritzker’s proposal comes after Sen. Dale Fowler spent months advocating for an inland Cairo port. Fowler says the earmarked money indicates the project is inching closer to becoming a reality. – Associated Press

Two Top Chicago Tribune Editors Leaving As Part Of Shakeup

CHICAGO — The exodus of journalists from the Chicago Tribune continues since a hedge fund with a reputation for eliminating jobs became the parent company’s largest shareholder.  On Thursday, the paper reported that Bruce Dold, the paper’s publisher and editor-in-chief, is leaving after 42 years. Also leaving is Managing Editor Peter Kendall. The departures come days after several reporters and editors from the Tribune and other papers in Tribune Publishing’s chain of papers took voluntary buyouts. They come weeks after Tribune Publishing CEO Tim Knight stepped down. Alden Global Capital took a 32% stake in Tribune Publishing last November. – Associated Press

Chicago Schools Drop Columbus Day For Indigenous Peoples Day

CHICAGO — Chicago’s public schools will no longer observe Columbus Day, replacing that October school holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day. The decision by the Chicago Board of Education has aroused the ire of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. It’s president, Sergio Giangrande, on Thursday called the decision a “slap in the face” of the more than 500,000 Italian Americans in Chicago. Grande says his group, which sponsors the city’s annual Columbus Day parade, is moving to reverse the school district’s decision. The five-to-two decision by the Chicago Board of Education follows similar efforts elsewhere, including South Dakota, to recognize the negative effect of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the western hemisphere on the indigenous population.  – Associated Press

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