The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Thursday April 15, 2021

Brian Moline
 
Water runs off a central Illinois farm into the East Branch Embarras River through a tile drainage pipe.

Water runs off a central Illinois farm into the East Branch Embarras River through a tile drainage pipe. Dana Cronin/Illinois Newsroom

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Thursday April 15, 2021

Today's headlines:

  • A new report is calling for potentially higher energy bills to help keep two Illinois nuclear power plants in operation.

  • Physicists recently announced a discovery that suggests there are unknown particles and forces in the universe.

  • The University of Illinois' Asian American Cultural Center is hosting workshops to help bystanders intervene whenever they see a racist act.

  • Nearly a third of Champaign County's vaccine-eligible population is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.

In today's deep dive, it's been six years since Illinois embarked on a plan to reduce fertilizer runoff into rivers and streams and improve water quality. So far, it's not working.

Reporting today contributed by Dave McKinney, Lee Gaines, Vivian La, and Dana Cronin.