The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021

Brian Moline and Farrah Anderson
 
Front entrance of the now vacant News-Gazette building in downtown Champaign. The newspaper downsized and moved to a smaller building, following its acquisition in 2019 by Community Media Group. The downtown building was sold separately.

Front entrance of the now vacant News-Gazette building in downtown Champaign. The newspaper downsized and moved to a smaller building, following its acquisition in 2019 by Community Media Group. The downtown building was sold separately. Jim Meadows/Illinois Newsroom

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Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021

Today's headlines:

  • State employees who work in congregate settings like prisons and group homes for adults with disabilities have until end of day today to get their first COVID-19 vaccine dose. But despite progress with Illinois’ largest public employee union, Governor JB Pritzker has reached impasse on negotiations over his vaccine mandate’s application to 12,000 state workers.

  • Staffing shortages have left many schools, including Rockford Public Schools, with many empty classrooms and sporadic attendance if kids can't get a ride to school.

  • The Champaign Unit 4 Board of Education decided on Monday to keep on AGB, the security company that has guarded Champaign middle and high schools since August.

  • The LaSalle County coroner says Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day, who disappeared before being found dead, died from drowning.

In today's deep dive, we'll hear Illinois Newsroom’s Jim Meadows speak with a Northwestern professor who has spent years researching areas with a shortage of news coverage. This is part of Illinois Public Media's "Who's in Charge Of The News" series where we're exploring topics like news deserts and the changing journalism landscape. 

217 Today is produced by Farrah Anderson. Reporting today contributed by Hannah Meisel, Peter Medlin, Emily Hays and Jim Meadows.