WILL-AM

News Local/State

A major energy package, automatic voter registration ---- and the state budget --- are all on the line … as state lawmakers return to the capitol this week. It’s the second half of the annual veto session.

News Local/State

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has died at age 90, according to Cuban state media, confirms NPR. Castro, who took power in the Cuban revolution in 1959, led his country for nearly 50 years. After undergoing intestinal surgery, Castro had ceded power in July 2006, to his younger brother Raul, who announced his death late Friday on Cuban state television.

News Local/State

News Local/State

One Illinois lawmaker is encouraged that Governor Bruce Rauner and his staff are part of the conversation on legislation to prevent two Illinois nuclear power plants from closing. 

News Local/State

Teenagers are texting while behind the wheel, despite the law prohibiting it. And that's not all they're doing. The survey from State Farm Insurancefound 80 percent of teens say they use their smartphones while driving. Along with sending text messages, they're using the phone for other purposes, including playing games.

News Local/State

Todd Gleason has some thoughts on food safety with Extension nutrition and wellness educator Mary Liz Wright for the Thanksgiving holiday.
 

News Local/State

The University of Illinois says it's suspending immediately all of the recent changes announced ahead of the new federal overtime rules. That includes salary increases and overtime eligibility related to the new changes under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The move comes after a federal judge in Texas blocked nationwide implementation of the new rules. 

News Local/State

Three of the public universities hardest hit by the state budget crisis will split $17 million in emergency funding, according to the Chicago Tribune. The paper reports that the Illinois Board of Higher Education voted unanimously Wednesday to send the lifeline funding to Chicago State, Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois universities.

News Local/State

There are now three candidates vying to win election as Mayor of Urbana next spring --- all Democrats, and all women.

The Reverend Evelyn Burnett Underwood is the latest to make her candidacy official, with an announcement on Wednesday.

News Local/State

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has been selected as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in President-elect Donald Trump's administration, according to Trump's transition team.

Sean Spicer, a senior transition official, tells NPR's Domenico Montanaro that Trump offered Haley the appointment and she accepted. The position requires Senate confirmation.