SPRINGFIELD – Planned Parenthood affiliates in Illinois and Wisconsin said Thursday they have formed a partnership to expand services at an abortion clinic in Waukegan to help serve residents of Wisconsin, where abortion services are now banned. That announcement came three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade,…
There aren’t any definite numbers about how many farmers belong to the LGBTQ community in the U.S, but many are making a point to become more visible in their rural communities. COGGON, Iowa — Growing up on her family’s farm in Coggon, Iowa, Shae Pesek couldn’t envision being able to have the life she wanted…
Thursday, July 14, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois college students and people who work in higher education in the state will no longer face COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Last week, Judge Lisa Holder White was sworn in as the first Black woman justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. She said her time as both a prosecutor and…
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois will soon have a new Department of Public Health director and its first electric vehicles coordinator after Gov. JB Pritzker announced those appointments in recent days. Dr. Sameer Vohra, a Springfield pediatrician, will still need approval from the state Senate to become the permanent replacement for former Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who…
On Tuesday, the first probable case of monkeypox was reported in Champaign County, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD). The World Health Organization describes monkeypox as a potentially serious viral illness, fatal in 3 to 6 percent of cases. CUPHD administrator Julie Pryde said that monkeypox is spread in numerous ways, though her department…
SAUGET — llinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed a new law limiting the ways so-called “forever” chemicals can be disposed of in the state. But the sheer volume of these chemicals continues to present significant challenges. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s528/audio/2022/07/0712pfasf.mp3 Listen to this story here. PFAS or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are shorthand for a family of over…
URBANA — Black facilities workers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are trying to end racial harassment on the job – through a class action lawsuit. Friedman & Houlding lawyer Shilpa Narayan is representing the Black facilities workers in the case. She says that after three years of reviewing internal university documents, she’s found a…
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has appointed a new director of the state’s public health department. Dr. Colleen McNicholas testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday on what her clinic has experienced since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Black facilities workers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have taken a major…
SPRINGFIELD – In the wake of a July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured, Gov. JB Pritzker is calling for a ban at both the state and national levels on military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. The governor made those calls on national cable television and…
As protests continue after the repeal of Roe v. Wade – a ruling that allows states to control access to abortion – the conversation often revolves around women’s reproductive rights. But women aren’t the only ones whose access to healthcare is impacted by the recent Supreme Court decision. Transgender and non-binary people can – and…
URBANA — The Urbana City Council voted Monday to allow new jail construction within city limits. Champaign County plans to expand its satellite jail on Lierman Avenue. The new jail will have fewer total beds in a more modern facility. “Think about [an isolation cell with] four walls with a door and a small window….
Tuesday, July 12, 2022 Today’s headlines: President Joe Biden is praising Highland Park’s mayor and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for their responses to last week’s July 4th mass shooting. On Monday, the Urbana City Council voted to allow new jail construction within city limits. The Dobbs ruling that reversed Roe v. Wade may also limit…
Years before starting a landmark research project on abortion access, Diana Greene Foster saw firsthand the impact that banning abortion can have, through her grandmother Dorothy. Dorothy became pregnant at 19. It was not planned, and Foster thinks if her grandmother had access to a legal abortion, she would’ve gotten one. But in 1940, that…
SPRINGFIELD – State tax revenues grew by $5.5 billion in the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, exceeding $50 billion for the first time in Illinois’ history, according to a new report from a state budgeting agency. The 12 percent base revenue growth in Fiscal Year 2022 gave lawmakers near-unprecedented flexibility in the current budget year….
SPRINGFIELD – Four months before the general election, six incumbent state lawmakers appeared primed for an early rejection by voters based on unofficial tallies this week. The longest-serving of the incumbents to lose their primary election was Democratic Rep. Mike Zalewski, of Riverside, a founding member of the House’s “Mod Squad” of moderate Democrats. He…