Illinois Public Media News

The National Hockey League and NHL Players Association said Friday that they are financing a study on the feasibility of adding men’s and women’s ice hockey teams at the University of Illinois. The school's athletic director likes the idea, but says financial questions must be answered.

Across Illinois, social service providers are having to make cuts. The head of one shelter says without a state budget, its future is bleak.

On the 21st: Do you ever wonder if dirt really is good for kids? We speak about how our gut and other bacteria affect our health with an expert in microbial biology. Plus, a Supreme Court decision this week on free speech involves the Asian-American band The Slants. Bassist and founder Simon Tam joined us to share what his decade-long fight means for free speech and the Asian American community.

In a 50-minute conference call with alumni, University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen said the best thing alumni can do to help end the state's budget impasse is to call their legislators and the governor.

International students said at a forum Thursday on the search for missing University of Illinois scholar YingYing Zhang say they are frustrated with the pace of the case. And they say people in Zhang’s native China are increasingly uneasy, too.

The Illinois Capital Development Board has ordered construction stopped by June 30 on a number of projects around the state because of the lack of a state budget. You can add an agriculture lab at the University of Illinois to the list, and there are multiple costs possible over the delay, officials say.

On the 21st: How much is the state budget stalemate costing taxpayers? We'll also learn why Rockford lost 1.3 billion gallons of water last year and discuss a new book about abortion assistance before Roe vs. Wade.

A bill on Governor Bruce Rauner’s desk would require insurers to notify families of any death benefits they may be due from lapsed life insurance policies going back to the beginning of the century.

State Treasurer Mike Frerichs backed the bill (HB302), which won approval in the General Assembly in May--- and now he’s calling on Governor Bruce Rauner to sign it.

Illinois lawmakers met briefly on the first day of their special session to work on a state budget, quickly adjourning so that Democrats and Republicans could meet behind closed doors to strategize. 

Authorities now say that a 15-year-old Champaign boy who died after what was first reported as potential bullying actually died of a previously undiagnosed medical condition.