Illinois Public Media News

Exercising your right to vote on Election Day and campaigning for your preferred candidates are usually safe, low-risk endeavors. But in the first half of the 20th Century it wasn’t always peaceful.

The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to delay the implementation of a lower court ruling on hospital property taxes, while it considers whether it will hear an appeal from Carle. That means Carle and Presence Covenant hospitals in Urbana likely won’t have to pay more than 10-million dollars that the state says they owe this year.

Champaign County Clerk Gordy Hulten suspects interest in the presidential primaries - and not the expansion in voting sites, is driving voter interest for the Illinois primary Tuesday.  He expects close to 9,000 ballots to be cast before Tuesday, in 2012, that total was 3,600.  

Residents in the community of Arthur decide Tuesday whether to give up local control of their water system.  But Mayor Matt Bernius says the sale, and the interest from it, provides an immediate source for repairs in the village storm sewer, as well interest for other work, like street repairs.

Welcome to our first edition of The 21st show! On March 14, 2016, we talked about our country's political divide and the consequences of what that means for Illinois. We also spoke with two student entrepreneurs who have co-founded an Illinois company working to create a new generation of prosthetic hands for amputees around the world.