With police brutality in the news, parents may be wondering how to talk to their children about racism and White supremacy. These conversations are familiar to Black families, but University of Illinois Professors Shardé Smith and Helen Neville say all families should be having them. Illinois Newsroom education reporter Lee Gaines recently spoke with Smith,…
CHAMPAIGN – March Madness is returning to Champaign-Urbana. The Illinois High School Association board voted Monday to move its Boys Basketball State Finals tournament from Peoria to the University of Illinois State Farm Center for the next three years. The board voted to keep the girls’ tournament at Illinois State’s Redbird Arena in Normal, rejecting a…
Blood drives have been considered an essential service in Illinois during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’ve still seen a decline in donations since the pandemic began. Now, as elective surgeries return to full swing at hospitals, local blood centers are asking for more people to donate. The drop in blood donations initially corresponded with a…
SPRINGFIELD – The state announced Friday that the 2020 Illinois and Du Quoin State Fairs will be cancelled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Illinois joins Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and other states in canceling the annual gathering of livestock displays, entertainment and food. The Department of Agriculture is arranging a virtual Junior Livestock Show…
The Illinois Newsroom team is answering questions from listeners to navigate this unprecedented time. Have a question you want answered? Ask here. In today’s edition of “Ask the Newsroom,” we’ve answered questions on pools reopening during Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois Plan, and SNAP benefits for the month of June. Please note, the information…
NTSB: Plane Spiraled Before Fatal Crash In Illinois Field CARLINVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A small plane that crashed last month while heading from Missouri to Michigan, killing four men aboard, entered into a “right descending spiral” before it went down in a southwestern Illinois farm field, authorities said. Investigators will examine the wreckage to determine…
CHAMPAIGN – After 26 years, the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum in Champaign is closing, a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its building is being put up for sale. Orpheum board president Janet Wattnem says the decision to close was difficult, because they believed the museum provided a valuable resource. “I think the community deserves…
In the past two weeks, the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) has issued about $1.4 billion to agricultural producers to provide a boost…
The Illinois Department of Public Health has so far collected more than 1 million COVID-19 tests from testing sites across the state. Illinois Newsroom education reporter Lee Gaines spoke with Morning Edition host Brian Moline about what it was like to get tested at Champaign’s drive thru COVID-19 testing site. Lee Gaines: Well, I want…
Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago announced Thursday they’ve performed the first successful double-lung transplant on a COVID-19 patient in the United States. The woman in her 20s was otherwise healthy but developed a severe case of COVID-19 that resulted in hospitalization, says Dr. Ankit Bharat, Northwestern’s chief of thoracic surgery. For two months,…
State Grants To Help Child Care Centers Reopen As Illinois begins to re-open, and people go back to work, they’ll need safe and reliable child care. That was the message Wednesday from Gov. JB Pritzker when he announced a sizeable portion of federal CARES Act funds will go to child care providers. At Skip-a-long Child…
URBANA – Bryant Seraphin’s appointment as Urbana police chief has been renewed for another year by the Urbana City Council. Approval came Wednesday night, on a 5-1 vote, with one abstention. Alderman William Colbrook (R-Ward 6) abstained, citing his position as Parkland College police chief. The “no” vote came from Alderman Jared Miller. The Ward…
A Dialogue On Race Begins With Police In Bloomington-Normal NORMAL – On Saturday, a diverse group of around 60 people gathered in the parking lot of CrossFit Bloomington-Normal to have a conversation about race. Called “The Community Unification Project,” the event was organized by CrossFit owner Chad Hobbs in coordination with the Normal Police Department…
URBANA – The union for graduate student workers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wants most instruction to stay online through the fall semester — as a precaution against the coronavirus. U of I officials released a report last week produced by a university-appointed task force that outlines possible scenarios for the fall semester,…
URBANA – Exposure to severe, chronic stress affects children’s growth and development. But while some children seem to be damaged by early adversity, others are able to thrive. Following a screening of the film “Broken Places” on WILL-TV on Monday, Illinois Newsroom spoke with a panel of local experts about how supportive relationships early in…