Wednesday, April 6, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois teachers and school staff who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are now eligible for paid sick leave for any virus-related days off. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is severely understaffed even as caseloads surge which means there are fewer investigators available to take on more cases….
April 6, 1922, marked the first broadcast of the University of Illinois’ radio station WILL-AM, then operating as WRM. At the time, both listeners and the university were still figuring out the role of radio broadcasting in American life. In the century that followed, WILL built a program schedule dedicated to both learning and culture, expanding to FM, television and online.
CHAMPAIGN – Champaign Unit 4 School District teachers voted 76 percent to 24 percent on Tuesday to ratify their new contract, rather than go on strike. The contract would lengthen the school day, something the Unit 4 Board of Education has pushed but teachers say will burn them out. Champaign Federation of Teachers co-president Mike…
URBANA — Lyric Theatre @ Illinois brings Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” to the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana for three shows, starting Tuesday at 7:30pm. Lyric Theatre co-director Nathan Gunn is the stage director for this production, with Andrew Megill as conductor. Illinois Newsroom’s Brian Moline spoke with three actors performing…
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 Today’s headlines: Democrats in Springfield are floating new ways to help Illinois police as part of an anti-crime push. As Champaign Unit 4 teachers and board members negotiate a new contract, parents are waiting to hear how the school day might change. Health officials report that the number of active COVID-19…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign Unit 4 School District teachers vote on their new contract on Tuesday, the day they had originally planned to go on strike. Illinois Newsroom obtained copies of the draft agreement and pay scale. Read those documents here and here. Unit 4 and the Champaign Federation of Teachers have tentatively agreed to lengthen…
Monday, April 4, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois Democratic lawmakers unveiled a multi-billion-dollar spending plan last Friday to combat increased crime throughout the state. Illinois Senate Democrats are proposing several measures to give people a collective $1.8 billion in tax breaks. Two big Midwestern organizations are teaming up to feed refugees fleeing the Ukrainian war zone….
Friday, April 1, 2022 Today’s headlines: The Illinois Senate approved a measure Thursday to pay vaccinated teachers and other public school workers for any time they took off related to COVID-19, such as a sick or exposed family member. People who physically attack Illinois Department of Children and Family Services workers would face stiffer charges…
INDIANAPOLIS — At the start of the pandemic, many wished there was a pill people could swallow to make a COVID-19 infection go away. Two years later, we have not just one, but two of those pills, in addition to other outpatient and inpatient treatments. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/03/covidfunding-feature-web.mp3 Listen to this story here. The federal government established…
Thursday, March 31, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois Democrats are floating Chicago as a potential host city for their party’s 2024 national convention. The Illinois State Board of Education plans to award $4 million in grants to increase the number of bilingual educators in the state. Unit 4 reached a tentative agreement Tuesday night on a…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign Unit 4 teachers have a tentative contract agreement with the district. In an email to union members early Wednesday morning, Champaign Federation of Teachers leadership says there will be a vote for teachers to ratify the contract on Tuesday April 5th, the day teachers had planned to go on strike. Speaking at…
CHAMPAIGN – Meteorologists say strong winds, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour, followed by thunderstorms will impact Central Illinois today. The National Weather Service says a Wind Advisory is in effect Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The Champaign-Urbana, Danville, and Decatur areas should expect peak wind gusts 45 to 50 mph….
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Today’s headlines: Champaign Unit 4 teachers have a tentative contract agreement with the district. Incarcerated people in Illinois who are up for a possible early release will have to wait another month to get their cases heard because the board that deals with those requests no longer has enough members to…
Every spring Americans grumble about losing an hour of sleep to daylight saving time. This year the debate over changing the clocks is lingering, after the U.S. Senate passed a bill to end the biannual time changes and make daylight saving time permanent. Similar measures have been proposed in 27 states, including Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois…
Tuesday, March 29, 2022 Today’s headlines: As Champaign teachers prepare for a possible strike, a Unit 4 Board of Education member explained the district’s side of contract negotiations at Monday’s school board meeting. This year the annual debate over daylight saving time has lingered longer than usual after the U.S. Senate passed a bill recently…