Illinois Public Media News

On today's 21st, we talk with educational psychologist Helen Neville about racism and revisit a conversation about scams during COVID-19.

Last week’s killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis made clear that policing needs to change. Just a few years earlier in 2015, the city had participated in a multi-million dollar, multi-year partnership between academics and law enforcement. It provided anti-bias training, better data collection and surveying of both police and community members.

The 21st speaks with Teresa Haley, president of the Illinois State Conference and the Springfield Branch of the NAACP, about the killing of George Floyd, the protests that followed, and her priorities for police accountability.

Today on The 21st: as protests continue over the police killing of George Floyd, a conversation about policing, protesting, and what comes next with Teresa Haley, the head of the Illinois NAACP. And we talk to the head of a police academy and a criminal justice expert about how and why law enforcement needs to change.

This May marked the third time in three years we’ve seen record rainfall in parts of Illinois. We check in with a farmer in Menard county and Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford about what they’ve been seeing.

Dental offices are reopening as coronavirus restrictions ease. But is it safe to go back? We’ll talk to a health reporter and the head of an association of dental hygienists.

Northwestern University professor Alvin Tillery talks about protests dismantling power structures, how political leaders are framing the protests this week, and how he has been handling his emotions regarding another police murder of a black man. 

Today on The 21st: we talk to a scholar about the long history of violent protest in America, we ask if it's safe to go to the dentist, and we dry out from another month of record rainfall.

Chicago-based astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz has filed a trademark lawsuit against toy-maker Mattel and American Girl, alleging that the company stole Walkowicz's likeness for their 2018 girl of the year doll, Luciana Vega.

Newsrooms around the country are closing up shop. In many places, it started with temporary pay cuts or furloughs to weather the economic impact of the pandemic, but now, many communities are facing a permanent void when it comes to local news coverage.