Illinois Public Media News

Shortly after the president concludes, Former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear will deliver the Democratic Response to President Trump’s address. Beshear was chosen by Democratic Party leaders for his record, expanding affordable health care. NPR will have a transcript of Beshear’s remarks and journalists across the NPR newsroom will also be annotating his remarks.

President Trump will address a joint session of Congress for the first time on Tuesday evening at the Capitol, around 8:00 PM Central Time. NPR will offer this live transcript of the remarks, and NPR journalists with expertise in politics, immigration, business, law and more will offer their analysis and annotations.

The Illinois Senate has moved forward on pieces of a budget compromise. But the tough votes are scheduled for Wednesday. The Senate approved non-contentious parts of what's called the "grand bargain'' on Tuesday. It's an effort to find a breakthrough on a two-year stalemate between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Legislature.

On the 21st: We spoke with a former white supremacist about his efforts to help people leave hate groups. We also discussed the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace - with a focus on the sciences - and spoke with an atmospheric scientists about severe weather in the forecase and the impact of the late Bill Paxton on the meteorology community.

150 years ago, on February 28, 1867, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation creating the Illinois Industrial University, or as we now know it, the University of Illinois. 

The university is celebrating the anniversary of that event on Tuesday, as it launches Sesquicentennial events that will go on for more than a year.

The celebrating begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the U of I’s Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana.