Illinois Public Media News

A task force that Gov. Bruce Rauner appointed to find ways to shrink Illinois government is recommending several changes that mirror the Republican's anti-union agenda. 

Phoenix Farms expects to open its location, called Phoenix Botanicals, at 1704 S. Neil Street sometime in March.  It's also hired Medical Cannabis Research, which will conduct a series of free seminars in the area to help patients understand the medical marijuana program. They're scheduled for late January and early February.

Awais Vaid, Director of Research and Planning with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, says the county went from 24 mumps cases in early December to just four since.  But he says each case needs to go through two incubation periods before being sure the illness has left the area.

Gov. Rauner's staff would not disclose details about his travels after leaving the country the weekend before Christmas. But Monday, the governor confirmed that he had been to Spain and Morocco.  A day earlier, on a visit to survey flood damage in Douglas County, the governor some information, saying two of his children are currently living overseas.

Downton Abbey season six, the final season, premiered in the U.S. yesterday to great acclaim. It wouldn’t look the way it does or be so historically accurate, however, if it weren’t for Alastair Bruce. The cast and crew of Downton Abbey, Masterpiece’s smash hit about the Crawley family and their servants call Bruce, the show’s historical advisor, “The Oracle” because he knows everything about the customs and protocols of the time period.