Illinois Public Media News

Democrat Mark Wicklund is challenging incumbent Republican Rodney Davis for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District seat.  Wicklund’s lone political experience is a three-year stint on the Macon County Board that ended in 2013. The Decatur resident currently serves as the president of the board of directors for the Decatur-Macon County Opportunities Corporation, a not-for-profit agency that provides services such as meals for seniors and energy assistance.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his allies are shoveling historic piles of cash into legislative races this year. A new federal super-PAC that goes by the acronym "LIFT" is seeking to counter that, by tying Rauner to Donald Trump.

Steve Shoemaker, pastor, poet and long-time host of WILL-AM's "Keepin' the Faith", died Monday night after a ten-month battle with pancreatic cancer. 

On the 21st: We talked with black voters about issues they're concerned about heading into the elections. Plus, Champaign rabbi Alan Cook stopped by to talk about the importance of Yom Kippur and an Illinois State University professor discussed a grant to research mosquitoes life cycle to combat Zika and West Nile viruses.

The company building the four-state Dakota Access pipeline says it will resume construction on private land near Lake Oahe in North Dakota, where protests supporting tribal rights have endured for months.