Illinois Public Media News

Workers at one of the world’s largest coffee chains are leading an unprecedented effort to unionize their workplace, and one of the most recent to vote to unionize is here in Illinois at the Peoria campustown location. The 21st was joined by two baristas from that location to talk about the unionization efforts, as well as a history professor to give some context about the labor movement at large. 

Illinois Public Media is committed to discussions about decreasing gun violence in Champaign-Urbana.On February 21, 2022, we'll talk with four educators about what students are telling them about the escalating violence and lack of safety.

Gov. JB Pritzker has mostly lifted Illinois' indoor mask mandate, and though Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot won’t commit to eliminating the mask and vaccine mandate for indoor spaces at the end of the month, people all over Illinois are worried about the increased risk to their health, especially who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

An Illinois state legislator and her staff have been receiving death threats over a profound misreading of legislation she introduced at the behest of her county health department. The representative joined us to talk about what the bill is actually intended to do and the response to her legislation.

Research shows that 40% of deer in parts of the country are testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies. Though there is no evidence for it yet, it’s possible that the virus, using deer as a reservoir, could be transmitted from deer back to humans. To talk about the research and the potential future implications, we were joined by an associate professor of epidemiology and Illinois' state biologist.