Police

Danville District 118 schools transition to E-learning day after report of threat

DANVILLE -A report of a threat on social media led Danville School District 118 to transition to an E-learning day Wednesday.  The school district made the announcement early Wednesday morning and said that all district buildings and schools will be closed for the day, so police can investigate. Danville Police detectives located a social media…

At least 50 people hold "On Strike" signs and listen to a speaker. Many wear purple "SEIU" shirts. They stand on a lawn in front of a domed building.
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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,…

A Vietnamese dining hall worker holds a "On Strike" sign. Other workers are behind him on the sidewalk at an intersection.
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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…

McKinley Health Center wants UIUC students to get flu shots so that they’ll ‘never miss a memory’
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McKinley Health Center wants UIUC students to get flu shots so that they’ll ‘never miss a memory’

URBANA – With students resuming school, coughs and sneezes have become more prevalent across campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. And the number of flu cases has been surging ever since, according to Awais Vaid, executive director of McKinley Health Center. In response to the surge, McKinley will be providing free, walk-in flu shots…

University of Illinois system approves more than $8 billion budget to keep up with growing number of students

University of Illinois system approves more than $8 billion budget to keep up with growing number of students

URBANA  — The University of Illinois Board of Trustees approved an $8.3 billion budget for the current fiscal year, representing a 6.2% increase from fiscal year 2024. The U of I system reported another record year in student enrollment for the fall semester, with a systemwide total of 97,772 enrolled students at the universities in…

A woman holds a microphone. People with SEIU shirts and signs stand in the background.

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…

Students fills a sidewalk leading to the University of Illinois Quad in Urbana-Champaign on August 26, 2024.
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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…

U of I students on quad
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University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sees record-breaking enrollment of over 59,000 students as fall semester begins

  CHAMPAIGN —  The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has a record-breaking class for the fall 2024 semester. With a freshman enrollment of 9,008, the new class brings record total student enrollment at 59,238, including on-campus and online students. This total includes 37,140 undergraduates and also a record number of 20,765 graduate students, according to a…

Principal of Urbana’s new multilingual school: ‘It’s really refreshing’
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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…

A 6-year-old grins at the camera in a pink t-shirt while her father holds her arm. Both are in a car.

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….

With more incoming students than expected, University of Illinois offers returning students $2,000 to move off campus

With more incoming students than expected, University of Illinois offers returning students $2,000 to move off campus

The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign has more incoming students this year than can fit in its dorms. So, U of I is offering $2,000 – plus 100 meal tickets – to returning students to move off campus.

Eleven students sit around tables in a classroom with one green wall and one white wall. There are posters, maps and printed sheets on the walls, and there is podcasting equipment in one back corner. The student in the foreground has long, light brown hair and a big red hoodie.
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Rural student “didn’t see any changes” after Illinois LGBTQ+ history law passed

Common textbooks from companies like McGraw Hill have long included information on Asian American, African American and Native American history — but not LGBTQ+ history. That can make it challenging for teachers to comply with Illinois inclusive history requirements.