WILL-AM

News Local/State

Two days after withdrawing his nomination to the state Board of Higher Education, Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed John Bambenek to a similar panel. The governor on Friday named the University of Illinois cybersecurity lecturer to the Illinois Community College Board. Bambanek wouldn’t comment on Rauner’s earlier decision, but says he’s grateful for the chance to serve.

News Local/State

The military says a 22-year-old soldier from central Illinois has been killed in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense released a statement Friday saying Sgt. Josh Rodgers of Bloomington was among two soldiers killed this week as a result of small arms fire in Nangarhar Province. Rodgers' family pastor, Paul Thomasson, tells the Pantagraph newspaper the family was notified of his death Wednesday.

News Local/State

When the Champaign County Historical Museum was forced to temporarily close a little over a year ago due to financial struggles, President T.J. Blakeman said that something had to be done to keep it alive. “It just hadn’t been given its one last chance. It wasn’t fair to just let it dissolve into nothing,” he said.

News Local/State

The Tony-Award winning musical will be on stage at Krannert Center's Tryon Festival Theatre through Sunday. Illinois Public Media's Brian Moline spoke with performers and professors from Lyric Theatre @ Illinois.

News Local/State

A group of Republican lawmakers say Gov. Bruce Rauner has rescinded his decision to lay off 124 nurses at the Illinois Department of Corrections. Rauner was planning to move the jobs to a private contractor. The governor has not confirmed the announcement. The Illinois Nurses Association, the union representing the IDOC nurses, says it’s taking all this with some skepticism.

News Local/State

Rochelle Harden was sworn in Wednesday night as the first-ever African-American trustee at Parkland College in Champaign. But that milestone has been overshadowed by the fact that the new trustee is also a member of the community college’s faculty.

News Local/State

Bambenek's 2016 nomination was never confirmed by the Illinois State Senate and drew protests from University of Illinois faculty, who said he wasn't qualified to serve.

News Local/State

An Illinois retirement board is terminating former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s state pension. He’d been collecting about $28-thousand a year for his service in the state legislature. The General Assembly Retirement System's board of trustees voted 5 to 2 Wednesday to end the pension.

News Local/State

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton says he and his colleagues will take up a partial government spending bill passed by the House earlier this month.

News Local/State

As women rallied at the Illinois Capitol Tuesday, the House passed a measure that would allow abortion to be covered by Medicaid and state-employee health insurance. If it also passes the Senate, it would be the first abortion legislation sent to the governor’s desk in 17 years.