Illinois Public Media News

About 40 percent of the corn grown in the United States gets turned into ethanol for gasoline, but the demand to reduce fossil-fuel emissions could bring pretty drastic changes to agriculture in the Corn Belt.

A class action lawsuit against the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus has been expanded to include the U of I’s campuses in Springfield and Chicago. The lawsuit includes multiple allegations of racial harassment against black U of I employees.

Termites will be the focus of celebration this weekend at the 36th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival in Urbana. The event kicks off at 6 pm on Saturday at Foellinger Auditorium in Urbana. It’s hosted by entomology researchers at the University of Illinois, including department head May Berenbaum.

On The 21st: Yesterday Governor Pritzker gave his first budget address in Springfield before a joint session of the General Assembly. It’s the beginning of the give and take between him and state legislators and it should lead to a final budget by the end of May. Today, reactions from lawmakers on what they liked, what they didn’t like, and where there’s room for some middle ground. Plus, we’ll speak with artist and photojournalist Chris Capozziello about his exhibition, The Distance Between Us. It tells the story of what it’s like to have a twin with cerebral palsy.

Lyric Theatre at Illinois’ production of the Benjamin Britten opera “The Rape of Lucretia” opens Thursday at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana.