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News Local/State

Q&A: Here’s What One Expert In The $290 Million Case Against Monsanto Had To Say About The Trial

On August 10, a San Francisco court ordered the agribusiness company Monsanto to pay nearly $290 million in damages to a California man who alleges his cancer was caused by Roundup, the company’s most widely used herbicide. The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting reached out to Charles Benbrook, one expert for the plaintiff, to learn more about the trial and what it could mean for the future of glyphosate. 

Decatur resident Brandy O'Connor at home with her son, Mark Bolen, 10. Mark has cerebral palsy and O'Connor said she has struggled to find a childcare facility willing and able to care for him.
Sarah Edwards/Illinois Newsroom

News Local/State

Illinois Families, Kids With Disabilities Suffer Without Childcare

According to a new study from the University of Nevada, nearly 70 percent of surveyed childcare professionals in the state indicated they have at least some difficulty caring for infants and toddlers with disabilities. A lack of childcare providers willing to accept children with both social, emotional and physical special needs is a common problem for families in Illinois. 

Aretha Franklin performs at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., in 2013. Franklin died on Thursday in Detroit.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

News Local/State

Aretha Franklin Was America’s Truest Voice

Aretha Franklin's voice is the voice of America. No other contemporary artist embodied the nation's brash optimism with as much flair, nor exemplified its sorrow-forged resilience as convincingly. No one better expressed American joy. Her murmurs gave shape to a sensuality that defeated repressive moral codes and replaced them with the commandments of tenderness, of sweet bitter love. Her high notes made hope happen. When she sang, we remembered that we could walk on the moon.