Illinois Public Media News

The Illinois House is set to return to Springfield this week. Policymakers are still puzzling through last week's budget proposal by Governor Bruce Rauner. That’s partly because the Rauner administration made a significant break with tradition.

Recent deportation raids targeting undocumented immigrants around the country have raised concerns in the Illinois River community of Beardstown, where a local meatpacking plant has attracted many immigrant workers. University of Illinois planning professor Faranak Miraftab has made a study of Beardstown, and the JBS meatpacking plant there that employs workers from Mexico, West Africa and other places.

Alison Krauss and Buddy Cannon go way back. Cannon, a veteran country songwriter and producer, remembers hiring Krauss to sing harmonies on one of hear after hearing on of her early demos on cassette in the early 90s. "I've been blown away ever since," Cannon says.

Malcolm Hill scored 21 points and hauled down eight rebounds and Illinois held on for a 70-66 win over Iowa on Saturday. The Illini took the lead in the final minutes on a Hill layup and fended off several Iowa chances late to win their second true road game of the season. 

Friday night, President Trump took to Twitter to deliver one of his favorite insults to journalists: "The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!" he wrote.