Illinois Public Media News

Actress Carrie Fisher, who found enduring fame as Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars,'' has died. She was 60. Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd, released a statement through her spokesman saying
Fisher died Tuesday just before 9 a.m PST. Lourd said her mother was "loved by the word and she will be missed profoundly.'' 

On this encore edition of The 21st: We spoke with the father of Gabby Galbo, who died of sepsis at age 5, and learned how a new law aims to prevent needless death. We also talked about why you should start making plans now for next year's total eclipse.

To get a glimpse of where Medicaid may be headed after Donald Trump moves into the White House, it may be wise to look to Indiana.

That's where Seema Verma, Trump's pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, comes from. And that's where she put her stamp on the state's health care program for the poor.

Marc Nelson's goal is to teach his students at Central Junior High School in Kewanee that there is more to art than paintings hanging from a gallery wall. The students are learning that lesson by creating images of the civil war and humanitarian crisis in Syria -- artwork that is shared on Twitter via the hashtag  #StandWithAleppo.

Feng Sheng Hu, the news dean of the University of Illinois' liberal arts college, says the future of federal funding for research into climate change is uncertain under the new Trump administration.