WILL-AM

News Local/State

A day after Governor Bruce Rauner proposed a 7-year time frame to bring Illinois' minimum wage to $10 an hour, the Illinois Senate approved a plan that would make that happen by 2017.

News Local/State

Rev. Malcolm Nygren of First Presbyterian Church in Champaign, who died last week, was a columnist for the News-Gazette for nearly 60 years.

News Local/State

NPR's Education team wants to know about your favorite teacher and how that person made a difference in your life. To get the conversation started, their own reporters and editors have shared stories of the teachers who most affected them. 

News Local/State

"Simply spending more doesn't drive those resources to the neediest districts in the state. That requires a change in the state aid formula," said Senator Andy Manar (D)

News Local/State

Speech comes as some state agencies and programs already are running out of money this year and with Illinois facing an even greater budget gap next year.

News Local/State

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner wasn't the only new face in the Capitol for Wednesday's State of the State speech. The Champaign-Urbana area has two freshman legislators and they weren't happy with the governor’s plans for the minimum wage. 

News Local/State

Gov. Rauner's plans include raising the state's $8.25 minimum wage to $10 an hour over the next seven years, and increased funding for K-12 education. 

News Local/State

Kendrick Nunn scored 21 points and Illinois shot 48 percent from the field.

News Local/State

A Department of Energy spokesman says it has concluded the project couldn't meet a September deadline to use its $1 billion in federal stimulus funding.

News Local/State

Illinois governor Bruce Rauner has been criticizing state workers' high salaries and benefits ahead of his State of the State address Wednesday. But the biggest payout the state makes has nothing to do with labor contracts.