Illinois Public Media News

Jason Gonzales says that despite accepting campaign donations from Republicans, he's an independent Democrat who hopes to unseat long-time Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in Tuesday's Democratic Primary.

With the Illinois Primary coming up next week on March 15th, we’ve been speaking to candidates across the state. Fifteenth District State Senator Napoleon Harris (Democrat, Harvey) is among the three Democrats and two Republicans vying for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Mark Kirk.

With the Illinois Primary coming up next week on March 15th, we’ve been speaking to candidates across the state. Fifteenth District State Senator Napoleon Harris (Democrat, Harvey) is among the three Democrats and two Republicans vying for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Mark Kirk.

In the first of three open budgeting meetings, U of I Urbana campus Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Edward Feser laid out a series of proposals in the event state funding continues to fall short for the next eight to ten years.  "The amount of labor going into the planning and budgeting process has dramatically increased," he says.

The Illini coasted to an easy victory in Wednesday night's opening game of the tournament.  Champaign native Michael Finke finished with 17 points.  Illinois (14-18) moves on to play No. 5 seed Iowa Thursday.