WILL-AM

News Local/State

A University of Michigan Economist is advocating for the elimination of the complicated Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

News Local/State

A group of University of Illinois students from Nepal spent the summer helping to rebuild their country after last spring's 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The series of quakes and aftershocks killed some 9,000 people and destroyed buildings and infrastructure. Engineering student Sital Uprety tested and rebuilt water sanitation systems and talked with us about the trip.

News Local/State

The City of Peoria is paying $125,000 to a man who created a parody Twitter account of the city’s mayor.  The payment settles a federal lawsuit involving free speech and social media.

News Local/State

U of I President Tim Killeen says the university is reviewing its administrative functions, looking at more centralized services and trying to avoid "duplicative work". His comments follow Gov. Bruce Rauner's renewal of a call for less spending on administration in higher education, and more spending on classroom functions.

News Local/State

James Aikman's plans for a wildlife park in Moultrie County were thwarted over the concerns of landowners.  But Aikman announced Tuesday that he's purchased the former Rockome Gardens family tourist site near Arcola with hopes of opening there by May 2016.

News Local/State

The "transition" auction revises a previous capacity auction for the generating year starting next June. But Exelon says the additional revenue will not help its money-losing Byron and Quad Cities nuclear plants.

News Local/State

Illinois football coach Tim Beckman was fired for allegedly pushing student-athletes to play while injured.  A reporter found that many athletic trainers feel pressure from coaches to get players back on the field before they're ready.

News Local/State

On a 6 to 2 vote Tuesday night, the Champaign City Council joined Tuscola, Monticello and the McLean County Board in approving an agreement meant to keep new hazardous waste out of the Clinton Landfill. But critics said the proposed consent decree lets the landfill off too easily.

News Local/State

State Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) said while Illinois' Public Health Department should have met its deadline to include 11 more qualifying conditions into the medical cannabis program, he said it could still be done quickly by emergency rule.

News Local/State

A former University of Illinois grad student is suing the school's board of trustees and others, seeking $6 million on the charge that administrators retaliated against her after she accused a visiting researcher of sexual harassment.