Illinois Public Media News

Audio and video recordings were played for a federal jury in the murder-kidnapping trial of Brendt Christensen on Friday --- including a recording of Christensen’s chilling account of how he kidnapped and murdered Yingying Zhang, a promising young environmental engineer from China in June 2017. Please note: the details that follow could be disturbing.

The signing of Illinois' new abortion rights bill was an important moment for Sharon, who underwent an illegal abortion nearly 40 years ago.

UPDATE: In an unexpected development Friday morning, public defenders representing Brendt Christensen asked the judge in his kidnapping-murder trial to disregard the notion that Christensen may have killed other victims.

Binge drinkers are twice as likely to misuse opioids compared to non-drinkers, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Looking at data from 2012 to 2014, researchers found alcohol was involved in 1 in 5 deaths involving prescription opioids. 

Last week marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day. We take a flight in one of the last B-17 bombers still in the air and talk to Illinois veterans about their memories of World War II. Plus, Marilyn Webb has been a writer, educator and professor, but she never got to finish her doctorate. Back in the sixties, her male professors sexually harassed her and she eventually left her program. 52 years later she’s finally getting her Ph.D. from UChicago.