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…
CHAMPAIGN – As Champaign teachers prepare for a possible strike, a Unit 4 School District Board of Education member explained the district’s side of contract negotiations. The board has otherwise declined all interview requests and provided generic, written statements instead. Board member Bruce Brown spoke at Monday’s meeting. He emphasized that elementary school teachers would…
INDIANAPOLIS — Seven-year-old Phil Will still recognizes where the tape that split his house into two sides was glued to the ground. The kitchen and shelves where his mom stores board games were on one side, and the staircase leading to the basement was on the other side. That tape stayed there for more than…
CHAMPAIGN — Michael Davis describes an ideal client for his new project. An elderly couple is trying to make ends meet with their retirement income. They can’t afford to fix their leaky roof. By the time they pass their house onto their children, the house has mold and is too far gone for repairs. This…
Monday, March 28, 2022 Today’s headlines: Residents of rural Champaign County have a new chance to pay for home repairs too expensive for their incomes. A new recreational space is coming to Champaign’s Garden Hills community this summer. A building boom is underway in Danville as residents prepare for a new casino and other projects….