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Cubs fans celebrate on Clark Street after the team won the National League Championship Series Saturday night.
Andrew Gill/WBEZ

News Local/State

Cubs Fans Hope World Series Ends ‘Lovable Losers’ Nickname

No more curses, no more goats, no more Bartman or just plain bad luck. All of those evil spirits are now done and gone thanks to the Cubs winning the National League pennant Saturday. And Cubs fans are feeling confident as the team heads into game one of the World Series Tuesday against the Cleveland Indians. On Saturday night, when the last out was made during the playoffs, the roar of the crowd was like a tsunami flowing down the streets in the Wrigleyville neighborhood.

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Flyer promoting last week's meeting for residents in Champaign's 5th and Hill neighborhoods.
(Jeff Bossert/Illinois Public Media)

News Local/State

US EPA Encouraged By Meeting For Champaign’s 5th & Hill Residents

The agency says about 30 residents attended a public meeting last week for those living in the 5th and Hill area – near the site now owned by Ameren that once held a manufactured gas plant. At least 10 homes in the neighborhood will be tested for toxic vapors early next year, but On-Scene Coordinator Andy Maguire hopes to sign up more in the next few weeks. 

Chicago Cubs fans celebrate outside Wrigley Field after the Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 in Game 6 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, in Chicago. The Cubs advanced to the World Series.
Matt Marton/Assocated Press

News Local/State

Cub Fans Celebrate End of World Series Drought

Chicago Cubs fans are waking up to a new reality: Their team is headed to the World Series for the first time in 71 years. Many still-stunned fans took to social media Sunday morning to ask if they'd been dreaming and to catch up on the posts from famous Cubs fans. Those posting to social media after the pennant-clinching 5-0 win Saturday over the LA Dodgers included first lady Michelle Obama, actor Bob Newhart, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Cubs players celebrating after winning the 2016 National League pennant.
David J. Phillip/AP

News Local/State

Chicago Cubs Beat Los Angeles Dodgers To Enter World Series For First Time Since 1945

Cursed by a Billy Goat, bedeviled by Bartman and crushed by decades of disappointment, the Chicago Cubs are at long last headed back to the World Series.  Kyle Hendricks outpitched Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras homered early and the Cubs won their first pennant since 1945, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 Saturday night in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.

DC Water General Manager and CEO George Hawkins
Provided by George Hawkins

News Local/State

Head Of DC Water Speaking About Cooperation

Drinking water has been part of the national conversation since the discovery of lead in Flint, Michigan’s water supply last year. That’s one reason the Prairie Rivers Network has invited George Hawkins to speak at their annual dinner Friday in Champaign. Hawkins is the General Manager and CEO of DC Water, one of the largest municipal water companies in the country.

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Champaign County Circuit Clerk's Office

News Local/State

Expungement Summit To Help Champaign County Residents Remove Criminal Records From Public View

For the first time, Champaign County is holding a public meeting to help some people with criminal records remove those records from public access to help them move on with their lives.

Circuit Clerk Katie Blakeman says those with old convictions, particularly juvenile records, have trouble getting a job, and have few financial resources. 

Advertisement of sale of enslaved person in the Illinois Reporter, Dec. 12, 1826.
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Musucem

News Local/State

Illinois Issues:Slave State

Because Illinois is a northern state and the former home of Abraham Lincoln, it isn’t typically associated with slavery. But there was slavery in Illinois for more than 100 years.

Even after Illinois entered the Union, loopholes in its laws allowed the practice to continue, making the future Land of Lincoln a quasi-slave state. 

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