217 Today: CETACEAN comes to the Stock Pavilion this weekend

217 Today: CETACEAN comes to the Stock Pavilion this weekend

September 28, 2023 Today’s headlines: Some healthcare professionals trying to get licensed in Illinois have been delayed more than half a year. A coalition of pro-abortion rights groups is planning to protest outside of a fundraising event in Chicago for crisis pregnancy centers. The end of cash bail in Illinois means those who are waiting on…

217 Today: Energy assistance in Illinois may fall short without a federal boost

217 Today: Energy assistance in Illinois may fall short without a federal boost

September 27, 2023 Today’s headlines: The Illinois Secretary of State office is implementing changes to motor vehicle centers — with a focus on senior drivers. Thousands of migrants seeking asylum have been approved for expedited work permits and an extended Temporary Protected Status, but others are being left out. Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan…

217 Today: U.S. expands Temporary Protected Status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans

217 Today: U.S. expands Temporary Protected Status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans

Tuesday, September 26, 2023 Today’s headlines:  U.S. Senator Dick Durbin joined members of the United Auto Workers on the picket line Monday at the General Motors in Bolingbrook. Rantoul residents picked up clothes, baby food and even a home printer free of charge on Monday. The new COVID-19 booster shot is now available. The shots…

217 Today: Decatur school closure exposes gaps in state-required inspections

217 Today: Decatur school closure exposes gaps in state-required inspections

Monday, September 25, 2023 Today’s headlines:  The Biden administration’s move to expand work permits for some seeking asylum in the U.S. is welcome news to immigration advocates. But some experts want to see expanded protections to enable all undocumented immigrants to find work. Many hospitals across the Chicago area do not have midwives, despite research showing…

217 Today: Midwives could help prevent more deaths. Why don’t more Chicago-area hospitals have them?

217 Today: Midwives could help prevent more deaths. Why don’t more Chicago-area hospitals have them?

September 22, 2023 Today’s headlines: Federal lawmakers from Illinois are calling on their Republican colleagues to avoid a government shutdown. The Illinois State Board of Education is considering further tightening rules for restraining and isolating students in schools. The American Library Association says 2023 has been another record year for book ban attempts in the…

217 Today: Sen. Tammy Duckworth disapproves senator’s blockade of military promotions

217 Today: Sen. Tammy Duckworth disapproves senator’s blockade of military promotions

September 21, 2023 Today’s headlines: A local mosque is gathering funds for survivors of the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco earlier this month. Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is calling on his colleagues in Washington to pass the Credit Card Competition Act. Democratic Congressman Eric Sorensen says he and his colleagues on the House Agriculture…

217 Today: Ghanaian musician showcases his West African culture at upcoming performance

217 Today: Ghanaian musician showcases his West African culture at upcoming performance

September 20, 2023 Today’s headlines: On National Voter Registration Day the first Black sorority in history joined with the Champaign County Clerk’s office and League of Women Voters to get Champaign County registered to vote for next year’s election. In the wake of disturbing allegations of sexual harassment by leaders at the National Association of Realtors,…

217 Today: Illinois no longer has cash bail. Are courts ready?

217 Today: Illinois no longer has cash bail. Are courts ready?

Tuesday, September 19, 2023 Today’s headlines:  Monday was supposed to be Illinois’ first day without cash bail. But judges in some counties were still setting money bonds. Despite the historic changes to cash bail, it was mostly a slow day in Metro East courthouses. Illinois passed a new law that allows Native American ancestral remains to…

217 Today: Downstate leaders say they will need help handling the historic end to cash bail

217 Today: Downstate leaders say they will need help handling the historic end to cash bail

Monday, September 18, 2023 Today’s headlines:  Advocates for survivors of sex crimes and domestic violence are cheering the end of cash bail in Illinois on Monday.  The numbers are out on a COVID-era program aimed at helping preschool through eighth-grade students learn at Decatur Public Schools. Around a hundred people met Saturday at the Urbana Free…

217 Today: Drag star Alaska talks Pygmalion, drag bans

217 Today: Drag star Alaska talks Pygmalion, drag bans

September 15, 2023 Today’s headlines: The Fighting Illini football team plays their first Big Ten Conference game of the season Saturday against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Danville Symphony Orchestra is getting ready for its first season since the retirement of longtime music director Jeremy Swerling. Parents and students from Chicago Catholic schools are…

217 Today: Morris Day prepared to mesmerize fans in his return to central Illinois

217 Today: Morris Day prepared to mesmerize fans in his return to central Illinois

September 14, 2023 Today’s headlines: The annual Pygmalion festival returns to Champaign-Urbana next week and two winners of RuPaul’s Drag Race will be an opening act.  Book bans have been growing in many states. Some Illinois experts on the subject brought the matter before the U.S. Congress. Illinois is set to eliminate cash bail in…

217 Today: ‘It was an old man’s sport’ – Celebrating 50 years of hip-hop

217 Today: ‘It was an old man’s sport’ – Celebrating 50 years of hip-hop

September 13, 2023 Today’s headlines: Teaching assistants and security officers with the Decatur School District 61 rallied on Tuesday for wages they say they can live on. Transgender Illinoisans must now seek permission to compete in high school sports. llinois’ new law meant to prevent book bans at schools and public libraries got some attention during…

217 Today: Serving farm fresh food in schools is getting big federal support — but will ‘farm to school’ stick?

217 Today: Serving farm fresh food in schools is getting big federal support — but will ‘farm to school’ stick?

Tuesday, September 12, 2023 Today’s headlines:  Illinois state representative Maura Hirschauer is enlisting gun control advocates to help revive a bill targeting domestic violence. A bell from the unfinished World War Two battleship, USS Illinois, was used in Champaign, to remember those lost in the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Five workers are still hospitalized after…

217 Today: ‘Greener Pastures’ explores farming, climate change and mental health

217 Today: ‘Greener Pastures’ explores farming, climate change and mental health

Monday, September 11, 2023 Today’s headlines:  Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth is reintroducing a bill to require seat belts on school buses nationwide. An attorney nationally known for defending men accused of sexual misconduct has been hired by an Illinois State University administrator charged with assaulting a minor. An electric vehicle battery plant is opening in Kankakee…

217 Today: Ani DiFranco brings 30+ years of folk and feminism to Krannert’s Ellnora Guitar Festival

217 Today: Ani DiFranco brings 30+ years of folk and feminism to Krannert’s Ellnora Guitar Festival

September 8, 2023 Today’s headlines: Illinois’s two U.S. Senators are outraged over the hold on confirming and promoting members of the military and they blame one fellow Senator. More than 6 million individuals are living with Alzheimer’s in the United States and one organization is working to bring those numbers down. A royal member of a…