Illinois Public Media News

Dan Caulkins hopes to be one of at least 25 new members of the Illinois House next year. The Decatur businessman, Eastern Illinois University trustee and former Decatur City Councilman is one of three candidates on the March 20th primary ballot for the Republican nomination for the House seat in the 101st District.  That seat is one of several in the Illinois House where incumbents have announced their retirements, after a grueling two-year budget impasse.

The 35th annual Insect Fear Film Festival will feature ticks. The festival's founder, May Berenbaum, says even though ticks are arachnids and not insects, they chose to feature them because of their importance as disease vectors.

On the 21st: With Chief Illiniwek continuing to be a controversial matter at the University of Illinois, we talk to New York Times reporter Mitch Smith, as well as Champaign resident Breelyn Fay and University Student Body President Raneem Shamseldin about their takes on the issue. Also, we continue our governor candidate interviews with Chicago businessman Chris Kennedy.  

Nathan Gunn sings the lead role and directs the classic Mozart opera, opening Thursday night at Kranner Center for the Performing Arts.

The herbicide dicamba has been in the news a lot over the past year. One University of Missouri researcher says dicamba has been blamed for more than 3 million acres of damaged soybeans in 2017 alone.