Illinois Public Media News

All five starters from 2005's Illinois Final Four team are now immortalized as plastic figurines with jiggling heads. The University of Illinois faced a series of decisions about whether and how to pay the former players under NCAA rules.

The white-nose syndrome gets its name from a fungus that grows on affected bats' noses. Scientists say infected bats often show odd behavior - like taking daytime flights - when they're supposed to be hibernating. It's suspected that depletes their fat reserves, and causes the bats to become emaciated, and eventually die. 

Democrat Scott Bennett's bill passed a Senate committee Tuesday.  It's aimed a protecting residents in Central Illinois from contaminated drinking water.

Former lawmaker Bill Black served in the Illinois House from 1986 to 2010, and worked to ensure safety on the Stony Creek Bridge.