News Local/State
Actor and alumnus Nick Offerman will be the commencement speaker for the University of Illinois' Urbana campus on May 13. The selection was confirmed late Tuesday afternoon with a short video of Offerman posted to the U of I's Facebook page. In the video, Offerman took on the mannerisms of Ron Swanson, the character he played on the TV show "Parks and Recreation."
News Local/State
State Representative Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) says she’ll announce by late June if she’s running for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District in 2018. For now, she's formed an exploratory committee to help her decide whether to challenge Republican Congressman Rodney Davis of Taylorville. She announced her possible run for Congress after Tuesday's women's march in downtown Springfield.
News Local/State
Legislation aims to improve working conditions for temporary workers as the need for them increases. There were more than 840,000 workers employed by staffing agencies in Illinois in 2015, according to the American Staffing Association.
News Local/State
It's a sentiment shared by Democratic politicians and liberal pundits: disgust over how Republicans drew up favorable (for them) legislative districts after the 2010 Census. But one place Democrats aren't fighting is Illinois, where they could be seen as the bad guy, having drawn legislative boundaries in 2011 that put the GOP at a disadvantage.
News Local/State
Champaign's longest-serving elected official, Michael La Due, is stepping down after 32 years on the Champaign City Council. He looks back on the changes Champaign has seen since he first took office in 1985.
News Local/State
For 45 years, the chimes in the tower of Altgeld Hall on the University of Illinois Urbana campus were played by Chimesmaster Sue Wood, and volunteers that she trained. She was honored at Altgeld on Monday by 30 friends and fellow performers, officially retiring from her role as Chimemaster. But she still plans to play occasionally when safety upgrades in the Altgeld Tower are complete.
News Local/State
Illinois is observing its first-ever Distracted Driving Awareness Week, starting Monday. More than 300 law-enforcement agencies in the state will focus on violations for distracted driving, along with providing general education about the problem.
News Local/State
The 2016 presidential election results defied polling and pundits alike. As a result, news organizations have been discussing how they can better cover elections going forward. NPR's Sarah McCammon covered the Donald Trump campaign, and spoke with Brian Moline about lessons reporters can learn from the campaign.
News Local/State
After two years of challenging weather, runners in Saturday's 2017 Illinois Marathon finally got a break. Conditions were dry with temperatures in the mid-40s, though wind gusts topped 20 mph. Organizers say this year's events included more than 17,000 people.
News Local/State
Governor Bruce Rauner was asked Friday why he’s changed his position on an abortion law since the 2014 campaign. At issue is whether Illinois should repeal a prohibition on using state money for the procedure. The restriction affects state employees and low-income people on government health programs.
