Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Today’s headlines:
- Opening statements take place this morning in the murder trial of a former sheriff’s deputy charged with shooting Sonya Massey last year.
- University of Illinois Chicago is ending the consideration of race, gender and other factors in financial aid and faculty hiring and tenure decisions, campus leaders say.
- The Trump administration has agreed to an extension of a judge’s temporary block on deploying the National Guard to Chicago while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the case.
- Construction began this week on a new walking and biking path in Urbana to connect East Washington and Main Streets.
In today’s deep dive, Illinois prisons are scanning mail to keep drugs out but staff say violence and drugs are still a problem at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg.
217 Today is produced by Stephanie Orellana. Reporting today contributed by Arjun Thakkar, Lisa Kurian Phillip, Capitol News Illinois, Mawa Iqbal and Jane Carlson.