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News Local/State

Link Between Medicaid Expansion & Increased Opioid Deaths Not Supported By Data, New Study Finds

Some have blamed the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act for helping fuel America’s opioid epidemic, noting how states that expanded the federal-state health insurance program for low-income people have seen higher rates of opioid overdose deaths. But a new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago casts doubt on this theory.

Danville Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr.
City of Danville

News Local/State

Danville Mayor Confident Of Casino Success

The mayor of Danville lives near a Big Lots store, where a bus from East Peoria’s Par-A-Dice Casino regularly stops to pick up customers. Mayor Rickey Williams Junior says he hopes a casino planned for his eastern Illinois city will lead to other buses bringing out-of-towners to Danville instead.

A rail tank car at the Illinois Fire Service Institute.
Darrell Hoemann/The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

News Local/State

State Fire Service Institute Plans Day For Veterans Interested In Firefighting

The state firefighter training facility at the University of Illinois will host military veterans on Sunday, October 27, bringing together vets who might become firefighters with some who already are. The daylong program will mark the second year that the Illinois Fire Service Institute has reached out to veterans.