Illinois Public Media News

"I think Dr. King was able to change the way that we think about ourselves and how others view us, and I'm talking about African Americans."

Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin says the country needs to wait until early March, after few caucuses and primaries, to get a true sense of who the Republican nominee will be for president.  He says early February's Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary aren't enough to gain a complete picture.

University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen says he and other university leaders have to remain stoic over the next month or two as the state's budget stalemate continues.  Killeen says he's particularly concerned about operational and reputational damage to the university.

A day after the release of a video of a shooting of a black Chicago teenager by a white police officer, the city released documents related to the 2013 incident. Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel addressed the city's ongoing police shooting scandal at an annual breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on Friday. 

A memo to parents from Superintendent Alicia Geddis calls closing the 100-year old Cannon Elementary School "a precautionary measure."  She says the long-term plan is to fix any problems to have it ready in time for the 2016-2017 school year.