Illinois Public Media News

Community and law enforcement leaders in Champaign-Urbana hope they’ve successfully appealed to 11 more young people to turn their lives around. The CU Fresh Start Program held its second quarterly "Call-In" Thursday night, with hopes of deterring gun violence. The panel of those with a history of gun-related behaviors came face to face with family members of gun violence victims, like community leader Seon Willams. "When you act in an inhumane way, the suffering is just beginning," he said.

Flying into town only a few hours before tipoff because of travel trouble a day earlier, and wearing yellow practice jerseys instead of the game uniforms that got stuck on their abandoned airplane, Michigan raced to an early double-digit lead and beat Illinois 75-55 to reach the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. Illinois could still play in the National Invitation Tournament.

On the 21st: A new report commissioned by the U.S. government accuses Peoria-based Caterpillar of tax fraud. What’s at stake for the company? We also talk about the Jewish holiday Purim, chat about a film that's sparking conversations about race across Illinois, and learn about what it takes to find an owl at night.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan is taking her case over state employee pay to the Illinois Supreme Court. On Wednesday she asked the justices to review a lower court order that’s kept state workers getting paid during the 20-month budget stalemate.

On the 21st: The U.S. announced they will be temporarily suspending expedited processing of H-1B visas. We discussed how this will affect healthcare in Illinois. Plus, we talked about the expansion of Lyft in small cities in Illinois and spoke with two Muslim bloggers based in Chicago about hijab fashion.