Illinois Public Media News

On The 21st: A new development on the story of unpaid debt from parking tickets, which, it turns out, disproportionately affected communities of color in Chicago. After ProPublica investigated the issue, the city is now dismissing about 23,000 tickets. Plus, dozens of people have been injured in that town after it was hit by a tornado this past weekend. We’ll get an update from local officials on the ground. But first, a number of states are suing the federal government to keep the citizenship question off the 2020 census. We’ll talk about what’s at stake for Illinois in the next census.

Prairie politicians didn't let challenges, like rules, get in their way, historians say.

A survey of destruction in Taylorville shows a Saturday tornado left 100 homes destroyed or with severe damage.  The survey, which included the areas of the town that took less of a direct hit, determined another 400 homes damaged, but habitable.  

For the fourth time since Democrats won a majority on the Champaign County Board in 2002, one of those Democrats has become county board chair with Republican support. Giraldo Rosales was named the county board’s new chair at Monday night’s organization meeting.

On the 21st: On this day 200 years ago, Illinois became the 21st state to join the union (yes, that's where our show's name comes from). We're bringing you an hour of our favorite bicentennial conversations from this past year—everything from our first state constitution, to the best Illinois movies, to the little-known history of free black communities in southernmost Illinois. Plus, we'll check in with immigration advocates about the 'VOICES Act,' which will become law next year.