Illinois Public Media News

Illinois Senator has harsh words for the President; Chicago flyers forced to dump marijuana; and a new Midwest lead for the EPA.

This week, the California based company Impossible Foods announced it will be testing out a new plant based pork patty in select Burger King locations. Springfield is one of just five cities nationwide where the soy-based sausage will debut later this month. 

Last September, President Trump issued an executive order that would require local leaders to opt-in to refugee resettlement programs. Shortly before the deadline last month, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and several other local government leaders in Illinois wrote to Washington to reaffirm their willingness to resettle refugees from around the world.

If you’ve been living in Illinois for a while, you’ve probably seen the occasional headline about the so-called ‘Illinois exodus' -- our residents picking up and leaving the state for places like Indiana, or maybe warmer climates like Florida or Texas. According to the latest estimate from the Census Bureau, Illinois’ population decreased by more than 51,000 people in 2019. That’s the sixth consecutive year of decline.  The numbers might seem a little startling, but how concerned should we really be about our state’s population loss? 

On Today's 21st: Illinois lost more residents than any other state last decade. But how big of a problem is population loss, and what can communities do about it?  One way to counter the trend is accepting more refugees into Illinois. We heard from public and private groups trying to do just that. And, there’s a growing market for plant based meat that tastes and looks like the real thing. We talked about what the future might look like for soy based meats here in Illinois.