It’s been 110 years since the 1908 Race Riot erupted in Springfield. The violence and its aftermath inspired the founding of the NAACP, the prominent civil rights organization. A number of groups in the city recognized and remembered the violence and lives lost in a series of public events earlier this month. There are also…
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law a slew of legislation this month intended to alleviate Illinois’s teacher shortage. But some teachers and union leaders doubt the measures are enough. Illinois Newsroom’s Lee Gaines spoke with Linda Darling-Hammond to find out what legislative fixes actually work. Darling-Hammond is the president and CEO of the Learning Policy…
Michelle McAnarney said she realized her daughter Darby was different than other children soon after she was born. “She was always a little delayed…
Just before noon on a recent Saturday, a group of political memorabilia collectors jostled for a spot around an exhibit table, checking their final bids…
The answer lies within the Russian nesting doll structure of our government and law enforcement jurisdictions. The City of Urbana sits within Champaign County which sits within the State of Illinois which sits within the United States of America. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal agency that enforces federal immigration laws, and its…
In a community with as many resources as Champaign-Urbana, why does gun violence persist? That’s the question Donte’ Lotts, a community liaison for CU Fresh Start — an initiative created in 2015 to mitigate gun violence — asked a group of about 50 Champaign-Urbana residents, social service providers, university employees and other community leaders on…
There were more than 2,000 teaching, administrative, support staff and other positions across the state that went unfilled during the 2016-17 school year, according to a report from the Illinois State Board of Education.
How many people would come to discuss the topic of students and trauma? No guests had been confirmed, but social media activity suggested high turnout for Illinois Newsroom’s first event News & Brews: How Schools Can Better Help Kids Cope. Now it was a question of capacity. The tap room in Riggs Beer Company in…
Thirty-eight calves, between two and four months old, moo and kick at the dirt floor in a steel barn in Brush, Colorado. One by one, a handler leads…
Two counties in southwestern Illinois grow the majority of the nation’s — possibly the world’s — horseradish. The city of Collinsville, population 25…
Simple, everyday tasks – like ordering coffee, crossing the street, or getting gas – can be an obstacle, or an intimidating challenge for people recently released from prison. This is especially true for people who have spent many years behind bars.
DeVonte Jones began to show signs of schizophrenia as a teenager. His first public episode was nine years ago at a ball game at Wavering Park in Quincy,…
Jenn Glaser lie in bed with a severe pain in her right hip. In the last few days a large abscess had developed under her skin–an infection from injecting drugs. After six years of heroin addiction, Glaser had had many of these but always managed to take care of them on her own. She avoided…
Children who experience trauma often face behavioral, health and academic challenges, according to decades of research . Kristine Argue, instructional…
Conversations around gun violence often revolve around long-term solutions, like improving schools or the local economy. But even if those things were easy — and they’re not — it would take a generation to realize the benefits. And for the Illinoisans living and dying in these communities — mostly low-income, black communities — they don’t…