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Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro shares a laugh with Chaz Ebert and Festival Director Nate Kohn Wednesday night at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign.
Jeff Bossert/Illinois Public Media

News Local/State

‘Gothic Romance’ Opens 18th Ebertfest

The late film critic Roger Ebert once hailed filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro as the most challenging in fantasy films, because he invents from scratch.  Del Toro brought 2015's "Crimson Peak" which he calls a 'gothic romance', to Champaign's Virginia Theatre to open the 18th Annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival Wednesday.

Officer Matt Rush, who was fired for a second time Wednesday by the Champaign Police Department.
City of Champaign

News Local/State

Champaign Fires Officer Matt Rush A Second Time

The city of Champaign Wednesday released two letters citing internal investigations regarding Officer Matt Rush.  One cites Rush's 'disciplinary history and judgment in crisis situations', while the other documents the officer's alleged behavior in a local bar in late February.  He's been the subject of four excessive force lawsuits, three of them resulting in $320-thousand in settlements.

Bousfield Hall on the University of Illinois' Urbana campus.
U of I Housing

News Local/State

U Of I Student Charged With Murder In Infant’s Death

Prosecutors say after University of Illinois sophomore Lindsay Johnson initially tried to hide having given birth in a dorm room bathroom, she suffocated her newborn son.  Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz says the 20-year old sophmore faces counts of first-degree murder, child endangerment, and concealment of a homicidal death.  

In this March 5, 2015, file photo, Illinois' Amarah Coleman, left, drives to the basket as Nebraska's Chandler Smith guards during an NCAA college basketball game in Hoffman Estates, Ill
Nam Y. Huh, File/ Associated Press

News Local/State

U Of I Reaches Settlements With Former Women’s Basketball Players & Former Football Coach

The University of Illinois says seven former women’s basketball players who claimed in a lawsuit over an alleged “racially hostile environment” will share a $375,000 settlement. Meanwhile, a $250,000 negotiated settlement has been announced for former football coach Tim Beckman, who was fired by the university last year over the handling of athletes’ injuries.