Illinois Public Media News

The focus of the last two weeks has been President Trump and the congressional impeachment inquiry. But Tuesday night, Democrats running for president will take center stage again.

Charlie Besher and his wife raise cattle in two southeast Missouri counties. They’re among a growing population of producers who say they are losing calves and mother cows to black vultures that target soft tissues, such as the eyeballs and anus, until an animal dies or must be put down. 

Some have blamed the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act for helping fuel America’s opioid epidemic, noting how states that expanded the federal-state health insurance program for low-income people have seen higher rates of opioid overdose deaths. But a new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago casts doubt on this theory.

The mayor of Danville lives near a Big Lots store, where a bus from East Peoria’s Par-A-Dice Casino regularly stops to pick up customers. Mayor Rickey Williams Junior says he hopes a casino planned for his eastern Illinois city will lead to other buses bringing out-of-towners to Danville instead.

Illinois approved six new casino licenses earlier this year and local leaders hope this will bring in more money for their communities. Today, what’s being planned in Rockford, Danville, and southern Illinois. Plus, the Illinois State Museum is part of a project to give Australian indigenous objects back to the first nations communities they came from. And, Anne and Ed Burke have had a lot of power in Illinois for a long time. We’ll talk about how the state Supreme Court justice and the Chicago alderman navigate possible conflicts of interest.