News Local/State
General Electric Lighting says it plans to close its Lamp Plant in Mattoon by the end of next August, eliminating 144 jobs. A company spokesperson says there's been "a major technology pivot away from traditional lighting products." But Angela Griffin with the economic development group Coles Together says the company has provided 60 days to seek out alternative ideas for saving the facility.
News Local/State
The city of Decatur has named Jim Getz as its new police chief.
News Local/State
Two local filmmakers explain to Illinois Public Media's Brian Moline what drew them to choose their screenplays from among 200 submissions from area students for this year's Pens to Lens event.
News Local/State
A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine estimates a large majority of those over age 50 who may benefit from hearing aids don't use them. Champaign County Health Care Consumers says the primary problem is affordability, since the devices cost thousands of dollars.
News Local/State
City officials in Champaign say they expect to spend at least $700,000 to remove the remaining ash trees from the city.
News Local/State
The Champaign County Board will decide August 18 if it will ask voters to support a 1/4-cent sales tax for expanding jail facilities, and other building projects. But opponents, including one Democratic board member, call the tax a 'blank check' with no binding language to commit funds. And a member of ‘Build Programs, Not Jails’ campaign says with a 12 year tax plan, future board members will be spending that money.
News Local/State
A judge has ordered Illinois’ Public Health Director to reconsider chronic post-operative pain as a qualifying condition for the state’s medical marijuana pilot program.
News Local/State
Could a campaign emphasis on "law and order" derail the emerging bipartisan consensus on crime and punishment?
News Local/State
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says he's working to dispel some of the myths that may explain why so few people of color are registered organ donors. White came to Urbana's Carle Foundation Hospital Tuesday to mark National Minority Donor Awareness Week, which was August 1-7. He says there are currently 5,000 people on the waiting list for transplants in Illinois.
News Local/State
A federal judge in Chicago has imposed the same 14-year prison term for Rod Blagojevich at the former Illinois governor’s resentencing hearing in his corruption case. He may again appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
