Danville school district superintendent faces racist threats
District 118 Superintendent Alicia Geddis says she received a threat this summer that was allegedly from the Ku Klux Klan.
University of Illinois System president: Departing U of I Chancellor ‘colleague, friend’
University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen said in an interview that UIUC Chancellor Robert Jones has been his partner, colleague and friend through many major events.
Disappointed Mahomet parents hope school board keeps trying after failure of bond referendum
MAHOMET – Mahomet voters defeated the school district’s latest attempt to pay for a new elementary and junior high, according to unofficial election results from Champaign County.
Mahomet voters reject bond proposal for new middle and elementary schools
On Tuesday, voters in the Mahomet-Seymour area decided they did not want to pay for new elementary and junior high school buildings. According to unofficial Champaign County election results, 54 percent of those who voted were against the referendum.
One group of Illinoisans can’t vote this November – those serving felony convictions
DANVILLE — People in prison can vote in Vermont, Maine and Washington, D.C. It’s a right that one incarcerated Illinois man would like to have. “The incarcerated community is probably the largest group of people who have the most skin in the game, yet we’re not acknowledged as stakeholders,” Raúl Dorado said. About 29,000 people are…
After Biden’s apology for Indian boarding schools, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Illinois urges support for language revitalization
DEKALB — Joseph Rupnick’s mother was a toddler when federal agents took her away from her parents and sent her to a Catholic boarding school out of state. After that, she never spoke her first language again. “She didn’t speak much about it. Most of what we were told was that the nuns weren’t very…
State breaks up classes in Stateville prison closure
GALESBURG — For the first time in two decades, Robert Curry has a window. Curry is one of over 400 men transferred out of Stateville Correctional Center before its closure at the end of September. “I am able to see the world,” he said. “I’m able to see things like the highway from the yard….
UPDATE: University of Illinois food and building service workers vote for new contract, officially ending strike
Updated at 4 PM on Oct. 3, 2024 CHAMPAIGN — Custodial and dining workers at the University of Illinois have voted to accept the administration’s contract proposal instead of going back on strike. The new contract will last three years. Hourly wages will go up by one dollar the first year, 90 cents the next…
U of I students feel the effects of SEIU strike, other campus unions rally with building and service workers
URBANA – The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign has closed a dining hall and stopped serving hot food at campus stores while building and food service workers are on strike. Students say lines are longer and the food options are limited at what remains open. Sophomore Sauntrel Johnson has been missing his favorite part of his meal,…
University of Illinois dining and custodial workers go on strike
Food and building service workers, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 73, at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign went on strike Monday morning. Wages are a major issue. “They give us just a little bit every year,” said building service worker Liem To. “A lot of departments get a lot more money than…
University of Illinois says dining and custodial workers may strike as soon as Sunday
The university said they have scheduled six more bargaining sessions.
University of Illinois building and food service workers vote to strike
Updated 6 p.m. Sept. 13, 2023 URBANA — As a building service worker at the University of Illinois, Melody Decker has cleaned up feces in shower stalls and vomit that just missed trash cans. Despite her own visceral reactions to bodily fluids, she loves her job. She said she has made lasting friendships with students…
Percentage of underrepresented freshmen slightly up at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign despite end of affirmative action
URBANA — The University of Illinois published its 10-day enrollment numbers Wednesday. It’s a first look at how much of an impact the end of affirmative action has on diversity at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. “We tried to do a number of things in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to improve…
Principal of Urbana’s new multilingual school: ‘It’s really refreshing’
URBANA – About 16 % of the 300,000 English learners in Illinois are taking public school classes to become bilingual in both their first language and English. Few of those schools are fully multilingual. One is in Champaign and after years of debate, Yankee Ridge Multilingual Elementary School opened in Urbana earlier this month. IPM…
Families have mixed feelings as Urbana opens its first fully multilingual school
URBANA — Felix Ayanbode has statistics at his fingertips for why his daughter should learn multiple languages. His first grader, Faith, is learning to be bilingual in French and English at Urbana District 116’s first multilingual school, Yankee Ridge Elementary. “When you know another language, you are able to have a peek into another culture….