Illinois business leaders want more funding for child care as facilities close and demand increases
Bloomington-Normal has recently seen child care facility closures even though demand is still high.
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Immigration Project grapples with reduction of accredited legal program for immigrant families
The Immigration Project said their DOJ Reps have served approximately 948 individuals in Central and Southern Illinois.
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Central Illinois Regional Airport seeks community donations to support unpaid TSA officers
On day 39 of the partial government shutdown, TSA officers across the country missed at least one full paycheck.
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Rep. Darin LaHood wants the war in Iran to wind down, doesn’t think ICE in airports is ‘the right approach’
The Peoria-area Republican representing parts of Bloomington-Normal won’t commit to green lighting a request for an additional $200 billion from Congress to fund the ongoing conflict.
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Mass shooting injures 6, including ISU students, in off-campus residential neighborhood
The victims include two juvenile males, two adult males, and two adult females, police said. Illinois State University Police said in a statement that two of the people injured are ISU students.
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Super PAC scorecard — how outside spending groups fared in efforts to influence Illinois primary voters
An unprecedented influx of special interest money into primary races led to mixed results for big industries on election night.
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Illinois U.S. Reps. Bost, Budzinski and Miller win their primaries
All three Metro East members of Congress won their party’s primary contest on Tuesday and will advance to the general election.
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Enrollment at Illinois public K-12 schools is down 10% over the past decade. Will some schools have to close?
Schools closing isn’t super common, but it does happen. Data WNIJ obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education shows 72 public schools have closed in the past five years.
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Four Democrats battle in March primary to succeed Susana Mendoza as Illinois comptroller
State Reps. Margaret Croke and Stephanie Kifowit, state Sen. Karina Villa, and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim are all looking to replace outgoing Comptroller Susana Mendoza
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Knox College professor turns prairie, loss into poems in ‘Broken Hallelujah’
The poems in “Broken Hallelujah” are rooted in prairie life, but they are also shaped by grief — and the changing seasons of Kitchen’s life, from her mother’s death to entering her own era of becoming a grandmother.
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Chrisman teen dies after being hit in head by line drive
A 15-year-old teen is dead after being struck with a baseball and suffering a traumatic head injury, according to the Peoria County coroner.
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The Trump administration tried to freeze federal child care funding for Illinois. How would it impact families using the state’s Child Care Assistance Program?
CCAP subsidizes childcare for around 100,000 low-income families in Illinois across thousands of childcare facilities.
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State Farm reports strong growth — and shares some of it with policyholders
The net worth of State Farm ended 2025 at $170 billion, compared to $145.2 billion at the end of 2024. The increase came from improved operations and growth in investments.
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Ranked choice voting stalled in Illinois, waiting for clarity from the courts
Ranked choice voting allows people to rank candidates in the order they most want them. If no candidate gets 50%, the lowest candidate is dropped and their supporters’ votes go to their second choice.
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Illinois schools counted on federal grants to ease a shortage of school psychologists. After cancelation and a year of court battles, the future’s uncertain.
Over the past year, the Trump administration has terminated multiple grants — together worth over $10 million — that were supposed to help schools in Illinois hire more mental health professionals.
