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Democratic lawmakers in Illinois are again trying to have a hand in contract negotiations between Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and the largest state-employee union. New legislation, similar to a failed proposal last year, would prevent a lockout or strike and require mediation if the sides can't agree on a new contract.
In an address before the Illinois legislature Wednesday, President Barack Obama told lawmakers that people around the country are turned off by the current "poisonous political climate'' in the U.S. He also reminisced about his days in the Illinois legislature and his first lessons in politics.
In the State of the Union address last month, President Obama announced a “moonshot to cure cancer.” We still haven’t heard many details of what this will entail - other than Congressional budget requests of $755 million in the 2017 budget. Closer to home here in Illinois, Dr. Stephen Boppart is one of the many people who could help make that “moonshoot to cure cancer” a reality. Wednesday morning, the University of Illinois announced he will be the university director of the new GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging.
President Barack Obama is returning to Illinois' capital at the twilight of his political career. White House aides say Obama wanted to return to the place his career started to discuss how the U.S. can "build a better politics'' in which Americans aren't so starkly divided by race, religion or political party.
