Illinois Public Media News

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.

Cash bail will end in Illinois beginning in January of next year, but advocates say much more needs to be done. The 21st was joined by the leader of a restorative justice organization, a project director from The Bail Project, and someone affected by the policy.

Congress allowed the expanded child tax credit to expire in January, and while parents can still get the remainder of that credit when they file their taxes, many middle and lower-income families are feeling a financial squeeze without the extra cash flow that came monthly. Researchers and early childhood education advocates in Illinois joined The 21st to talk about what the credit meant for families.

With Illinois set to lift the statewide indoor mask mandate on February 28, 2022, questions remain about what’s next in the case of schools. We were joined by two reporters following the story.