The Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate cited his improving poll numbers, and believes a large voter turnout in Tuesday's Illinois primary will secure him a win.  About 3,600 filled the U of I's Activities and Recreation Center to hear Sanders, who reiterated a number of campaign pledges, including free tuition for college students and raising the minimum wage to $15.

The Democratic presidential candidate spoke Friday at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where the primarily student audience packed a 4,000-seat campus basketball arena.  Sanders touched on familiar campaign themes, calling for campaign finance reform, marijuana decriminalization and increased corporate taxes.

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.

Bill Maher brings his standup comedy to the Virginia Theatre on Sunday night, but it's his "politically incorrect" work on television that has kept him in the spotlight.

We may be just shy of 19 months out from Election Day 2016, when the nation will choose a new president. But as more and more politicians announce their entry to the contest, 2016 is already here