Governor Bruce Rauner has taken his turnaround agenda campaign to Bloomington, calling for workers comp reform to save Caterpillar jobs that are moving to Arizona. He also repeatedly avoided answering questions about him not endorsing apparent GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Democratic Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and 17th District Congressional Democrat Cheri Bustos were among those who traveled to Cuba with President Obama this week. Durbin says he witnessed a 'spirit of cooperation' that he hadn't seen before in the island countrry. The two are pushing for the end to the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba.
Ted Mottaz of the Illinois Corn Growers Association Board and Marcos Sallowicz, the director for Latin America with Caterpillar, are among those saying the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba should be lifted. Both have made recent visits to the country, and appeared as guests on WILL's The 21st on Monday.
Before the embargo - U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba were worth about $600 million a year - in today’s prices. Others estimate Cuba is a $1.2 billion market for agricultural exports if the embargo and other trade barriers are lifted. Today on The 21st we explored what an open Cuba would mean for Illinois. Also, how a team of Illinois State University researchers and a turtle are changing STEM education.
A new engineering research center was officially launched at the University of Illinois Thursday, with the goal of cramming more power into smaller spaces. The Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems - POETS for short - will take on the challenges of improving mobile electronics and vehicle design.
