Illinois Public Media News

Congress voted Thursday to approve a spending plan that would keep the government open. We sat down with Senator Tammy Duckworth just before the Senate vote in Washington D.C. 

Michael Hari, who's accused of leading an attack on a mosque in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul appeared in a Minneapolis federal courtroom Thursday. The 47-year-old former Ford County sheriff's deputy faces hate crime and explosives charges for the August 5th, 2017 bombing of the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

A $15-an-hour minimum wage is headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker after the Illinois House approved the six-year plan. Thursday's 69-47 vote in the House almost guarantees it will become law. The measure passed the Illinois Senate last week, on a vote of 39 to 18.

Representative Cheri Bustos is a Democrat representing Illinois’ 17th Congressional district, which includes parts of Peoria, Rockford and the Quad Cities. She spoke with Niala Boodhoo, host of The 21st, at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee offices in Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning.

On The 21st: Congresswoman Cheri Bustos is the fifth-ranking House Democrat and is in charge of making sure the party wins House elections across the country. We'll sit down with her at NPR headquarters in Washington D.C. And, we catch up with NPR host Scott Simon. Plus, around $300 million in funding from the National Science Foundation each year goes to academic researchers in Illinois. How did last month's shutdown affect not just operations but scientific research across the country?