217 Today: Iranian American U of I grad student organizes demonstration to support overseas protests

Friday, December 9, 2022

Today’s headlines:

  • Illinois State Senator Mike Simmons joined U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and other health experts in Chicago Thursday to talk about youth mental health.
  • Democratic Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is celebrating Thursday’s congressional passage of landmark legislation that enshrines gay marriage into federal law.
  • Rates of suicidal ideation have increased among pregnant women over the past 10 years according to a University of Illinois study.
  • Champaign city officials are discussing ways to build a permanent park in the Garden Hills neighborhood, an area of town where children have no park to visit without crossing a set of railroad tracks.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll hear from an Iranian American graduate student who’s organizing protests in Champaign-Urbana in solidarity with those in his home country.

217 Today is produced by Sydney Wood. Reporting today contributed by Mawa Iqbal, Dave McKinney, Luis Velazquez, Jacqueline Barba and Nour Longi.

Sydney Wood