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Story category: economy
WILL Connect: The Economy, Tracking New Directions for Displaced Workers
Story air date: Thursday, August 27, 2009
In central Illinois, many employers large and small have downsized or closed altogether, forcing thousands of laid-off workers to consider new options. In our latest report as part of our outreach project “WILL Connect: The Economy”, AM 580’s Jeff Bossert looks at the retraining of workers. Ingenuity and government-funded training are giving many of them a jump on a new career, or a better shot at an old one:
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business • economy • education • peopleWILL Connect: The Economy, Meeting Those Who Asked for Help
Story air date: Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Organizations that help the poor in east-central Illinois are giving out more and more assistance. But there may be many people who for some reason or another have not made that call for help. In the latest of our series of stories in connection with the outreach project “WILL Connect: The Economy,” AM 580’s Tom Rogers introduces us to people who decided to make the leap and reach out for aid, and people who encourage others to do so.
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economy • labor • peopleWILL Connect: The Economy, Looking at the Burden on Food Banks
Story air date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009
With the economy shaky and unemployment up, more people are turning to food pantries for help in getting enough to eat. In east-central Illinois, food pantries -- and the regional food bank that supplies them -- say more people are coming to them for help, some of them for the first time. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.
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economy • lifestyle • people500 Attend Federal Reserve Roundtable in Decatur
Story air date: Monday, August 17, 2009
Officials with the Federal Reserve say they’re committed to returning to Washington with proposals for modifying mortgage loans, and foreclosure mediation. But they also want to hear more from communities hit the hardest by the mortgage crisis.
In Decatur over the weekend, about 500 people from the region heard from the enterprise that creates monetary policy. They also had a chance to apply pressure for changes in lending practices. AM 580’s Jeff Bossert reports:
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economy • government • IllinoisAfter the Gateway Studios Evictions: What About Next Time?
Story air date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Last week’s sudden closure of a residential hotel in Champaign forced dozens of people to look for a place to live on short notice. It also forced the City of Champaign into action – not just to condemn the Gateway Studios for lack of utilities, but to help arrange housing for those residents, most of them low-income. Housing advocates see the evictions – and a similar incident at the Autumn Glen apartment Complex in Rantoul – to call for changes in housing policy in Champaign and Urbana. Former Urbana alderman Danielle Chynoweth has brought a proposal to the Champaign and Urbana city councils to offer cash assistance for relocation to people left homeless by condemnation – the landlord would be held responsible for that money. She spoke with AM 580's Tom Rogers.
The head of Champaign’s Neighborhood Services department, Kevin Jackson, told AM 580’s Jim Meadows last week that while rental help is available from agencies, some of it is based on the applicant’s background. Jackson says the city is open to discussion on permanent policy changes.
