WILL-AM

News Local/State

Rivian Automotive has completed the purchase of the former Mitsubishi plant in the McLean County city of Normal, where it plans to manufacture electric vehicles.

News Local/State

Starting next week, Norway will become the first country to switch off its nationwide FM radio network and convert completely to digital signals. The change was announced in 2015, and will take months to be fully implemented.

News Local/State

An overnight winter shelter for homeless men begins operations Friday in Champaign, and will function through the end of March. The collaboration between the faith-based community and a number of local agencies was due in part to the state budget impasse, and the result of months of planning. First Presbyterian Church downtown will host the shelter during the week, while Faith United Methodist will serve in that role Friday and Saturday nights.

News Local/State

President-elect Donald Trump will appoint former Indiana Senator Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence, according to anonymous sources cited by the Associated Press and the Washington Post. 

News Local/State

The Rantoul Park Board will discuss plans for its future at next meeting --- the first since a judge nullified a referendum vote to dissolve the park district.

News Local/State

Any day now, Governor Bruce Rauner's criminal justice reform commission is expected to release its final set of recommendations. It's trying to figure out how to safely reduce Illinois' prison population by 25 percent over the next decade.

News Local/State

Ameya Pawar, a two-term Chicago alderman, on Tuesday became the first Democrat to formally announce he will seek his party’s nomination to run against incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Pawar, who represents Chicago's 47th Ward, said he is running because he wants to tackle income inequality and criticized Rauner’s tenure.

News Local/State

Vermilion County Board Chair Mike Marron is appointing a bipartisan ad-hoc committee to investigate whether the county would function under a part-time chairman and professional administrator, the same leadership structure used in Peoria and McLean Counties. He says the county has expanded to where it may need someone with more experience in public administration.

News Local/State

Once again, an arbitrator acting under terms of the Champaign police union contract has ruled in favor of fired police officer Matt Rush, in one of the two charges cited for his 2016 dismissal.

Independent arbitrator Micheal Falvo determined that the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s refusal to use Rush as a courtroom witness was not valid grounds for firing Rush last April --- and that State’s Attorney Julia Rietz overstepped her bounds in doing so. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police announced the arbitrator’s ruling on Monday.

News Local/State

By the end of the year, 41 children younger than 14 were wounded or killed in shootings, according to a WBEZ review of police data.

That is nearly the same amount as 2013, 2014 and 2015 combined.