CHAMPAIGN — Gerald McWorter — a professor in African American Studies at the University of Illinois — said he grew up hearing stories about his great-great-grandfather, Frank McWorter. “Free Frank,” a former slave who bought his own freedom, founded New Philadelphia, Illinois in 1836. The town was an incorporated town for fifty years — and
The report — released this month — credits an increase in community engagement as the cause.
CHAMPAIGN — An adult employee at a daycare facility in Rantoul has come down with monkeypox. The “patient is doing well and the case poses little risk to general public,” the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District announced on Friday. They’re currently investigating the case. According to The News-Gazette, it’s the state’s first case of monkeypox at
SPRINGFIELD — While COVID may not be top of mind for people anymore, the pandemic isn’t over. And for some who have had COVID, neither is their illness. Many patients with long COVID experience symptoms for weeks or months after their initial infection has passed. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/07/20220719-secovid2wayweb-edit.mp3 Listen to this story here. Nationwide, 1 in 5
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Beginning July 16, the Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988. CHICAGO — After a bad breakup, 19-year-old
On July 1, Governor J.B. Pritzker froze a proposed gas tax hike, while suspending the grocery tax on certain items. These were two of many initiatives meant to quell rising inflation. Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, described inflation as a time when “most prices are rising,” as
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available. Contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Updated June 16 at 2 p.m. SPRINGFIELD — Staff at Memorial Behavioral Health in Springfield, Illinois, are on call around the clock to
Kentucky lawmakers have been hard at work to erode access to abortion in the state — long before the leak of a draft opinion on May 2 indicating the U.S. Supreme Court might overturn Roe v. Wade and remove federal protections for abortion as early as June. In April, the Republican-led legislature overrode
URBANA – When Victor Figueroa got home from his private school in Chicago and started to wash his hair, he said he kept finding small pieces of paper in it. Puzzled, Figueroa said he didn’t know where they were coming from. One day while sitting in class, he turned around. He saw students holding small
URBANA — In order to make water safe to drink, it has to go through a process called chemical disinfection. This process, however necessary, creates byproducts. University of Illinois researcher Lois Raetzman says it is possible that one chemical byproduct could have serious health effects. “So we’re absolutely not saying you should not disinfect water.
Ann Crain has volunteered at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield for four years. She greets guests and answers questions about the exhibits– which all focus on the life, and legacy, of President Abraham Lincoln. Every year, the museum brings out its copy of the Gettysburg Address around the anniversary of its
MORTON — The great pumpkin shortage of 2021 is turning out to be as real as Linus’ Great Pumpkin. Neither ever showed. Instead, despite some national headlines about a pumpkin shortage this year, Midwestern farmers say there’s nothing to worry about. “God granted us quite a bounty this year,” says John Ackerman, who grows pumpkins
CHAMPAIGN — Keith Thomas wears many hats in the Champaign-Urbana community. He’s a full-time pastor at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church. And he’s also been on the frontlines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, working as a hospital chaplain at OSF HealthCare. Thomas says the hardest situations he’s been in — as a local chaplain — have
SPRINGFIELD – COVID-19 cases are rising once again in Illinois — and most of the U.S. — with the more contagious delta variant now making up the vast majority of new coronavirus cases, according to federal and state data. In Illinois as of mid-August, the delta variant makes up more than 90% of new COVID-19
URBANA – Halfway through 2021, Urbana had already surpassed the total number of shootings that took place in 2020. Last month, the Urbana Police Department reported 55 shootings had occurred so far this year — more than the 53 that occurred in all of 2020. This follows a trend of heightened gun violence throughout the