SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Republican lawmakers in Washington have condemned the mass shooting in Texas but they’re defending gun rights. US Representative Rodney Davis issued a statement calling Tuesday’s shooting “pure evil,” but says taking guns away from law-abiding citizens won’t stop the violence. He proposes strengthening school security, investing in resource officers, and gun safety…
WASHINGTON — In the wake of the 27th school shooting of 2022, Democrats in Congress are asking for more than thoughts and prayers. After the death of 19 children in Uvalde, Texas, today’s discussions on Capitol Hill centered around the need for bipartisan action to curb gun violence. U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, whose 17th Congressional…
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker has signed the “Jelani Day” bill into law, amending the Missing Persons Identification Act in hopes of preventing a repeat of what the Day family experienced last year. When Jelani Day went missing, his body was not found for nearly two weeks. Once found, Day’s remains went unidentified for three…
PEORIA — Decades after Jubilee College ended operations as a frontier educational institution, it was operated as a federal Indian boarding school. That troubling part of the Peoria County historic landmark’s legacy may soon receive official recognition. A new report commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior sheds light on the locations where Indigenous…
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin held a rare press conference Monday that turned into repeated questions about the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade. The fundraising frontrunner among Republicans in the Illinois governor’s race repeatedly dodged questions Monday about his stance on a possible national abortion ban and whether he voted for former President Donald Trump…
Abortions will still be legal in the state of Illinois if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the federal constitutional protections enshrined by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. But Planned Parenthood of Illinois president and CEO Jennifer Welch warns the state would become an oasis in a Midwestern “abortion desert” if a draft majority opinion…
MARSEILLES, Ill. — There was music, but it wasn’t a celebration. It was a commemoration of those lost in the fight for fair pay and safe conditions. That fight turned bloody 90 years ago in Marseilles. During the throes of the Depression, local laborers protested a company bringing in out-of-state, underpaid workers to build a…
AURORA — After hearing about the number of veterans who die by suicide, one northern Illinois man decided to do something about it. A total of 167 Illinois veterans took their lives in 2019, according to Illinois Department of Public Affairs. The average number of Illinois veteran suicides from 2015 through 2018 is 159. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s528/audio/2022/04/0421vetf.mp3…
Before closing out its truncated spring legislative session earlier this month, the General Assembly approved language that will be put to voters in November, asking whether Illinois should amend its constitution to add a so-called “Workers’ Rights Amendment” to guarantee the right to collectively bargain in a state with a long tradition of strong organized…
It’s never been a better time to sell manure. “We have been inundated with calls,” said Andy Scholting, president and co-founder of Nutrient Advisors, a Nebraskan manure broker. “We’ve certainly never seen so much demand for manure fertilizer.” Farmers are blowing up the office’s phones, hoping to find an alternative to expensive synthetic fertilizers. Prices…
DEKALB — Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker just signed a nearly $47 billion budget into law. That includes substantial increases to the need-based student Monetary Award Program — or MAP Grants. WNIJ’s Peter Medlin talked with Partnership for College Completion policy manager Mike Abrahamson about what it means for Illinois college students. Peter Medlin, WNIJ education…
Rivian is turning to someone outside the automotive industry to become its first chief sustainability officer. Anisa Kamadoli Costa officially joined Rivian on Monday. She will be responsible for the electric automaker’s sustainability roadmap for both the business and its products. Costa spent nearly two decades at Tiffany & Co., where she aligned the company’s…
Applications are now open for an annual Illinois poetry contest. Henry Haupt, a spokesperson for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, said those who submit their work to the 18th annual Illinois Emerging Writers Competition Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award should let their true essence shine through. “That comes across, particularly in poetry,” he said. “If…
UIS faculty union members voted Wednesday to authorize an intent to strike. A notice will be filed Thursday with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. The first day faculty could walk out Is May 2. Kristi Barnwell is the president of the University Professionals of Illinois-Springfield United Faculty. “We authorized the vote in the hopes…
The nearly 4 million square feet of space at Rivian’s Normal plant is lined with some of the most advanced manufacturing equipment in the world. It has some of the biggest robots in the automotive manufacturing world too – capable of moving something as humongous as the side panel of a soon-to-be Amazon delivery van….