Champaign teachers ratify extended-day contract
CHAMPAIGN – Champaign Unit 4 School District teachers voted 76 percent to 24 percent on Tuesday to ratify their new contract, rather than go on strike. The contract would lengthen the school day, something the Unit 4 Board of Education has pushed but teachers say will burn them out. Champaign Federation of Teachers co-president Mike […]
Senate Democrats unveil legislation aimed at addressing carjackings
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Senate Democrats unveiled legislation Tuesday to address the increase in carjackings by protecting victims and providing additional resources to law enforcement in targeting and capturing offenders. House Bill 3699, sponsored by Sen. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago, would aim to provide additional resources to metropolitan law enforcement groups or other law enforcement cooperatives to […]
Paid COVID-19 leave for vaccinated educators signed into law
SPRINGFIELD – Public school, community college and public university employees who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are now entitled to paid administrative leave for any days they miss this school year due to coronavirus-related issues. Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed House Bill 1167 into law, which provides those employees as many days off as needed to […]
Democrats stand with law enforcement groups to tout ‘new way’ of addressing crime
SPRINGFIELD – Flanked by members of law enforcement advocacy groups, about a dozen Democrats from both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly called a news conference Monday to tout proposals that they say will help with the recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers. The lawmakers touted a proposal creating a Law Enforcement Recruitment and […]
EPA reverses course on herbicide ban in 10 Midwest and Plains states
Farmers in 132 counties in states across the Midwest and Great Plains are now free to use Corteva’s Enlist brand of herbicides, changing course on a regulatory agency’s earlier decision. In January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency restricted use of the herbicides in counties where the endangered American Burying Beetle is present. There was a […]
Food prices will see biggest increase in 14 years, according to Missouri researchers
The University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute is projecting a trip to the grocery store will cost 5% more in 2022 compared to last year. Food prices will be a lot higher this year, according to a new study of the agriculture and food industry. According to the Food and Agricultural Policy […]
Lyric Theatre Brings ‘Marriage of Figaro’ to the Krannert Center stage
URBANA — Lyric Theatre @ Illinois brings Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” to the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana for three shows, starting Tuesday at 7:30pm. Lyric Theatre co-director Nathan Gunn is the stage director for this production, with Andrew Megill as conductor. Illinois Newsroom’s Brian Moline spoke with three actors performing […]
217 Today: Listen to the voice of Langston Hughes recorded over 60 years ago
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 Today’s headlines: Democrats in Springfield are floating new ways to help Illinois police as part of an anti-crime push. As Champaign Unit 4 teachers and board members negotiate a new contract, parents are waiting to hear how the school day might change. Health officials report that the number of active COVID-19 […]
Unit 4 tentative teacher contract includes longer day of 35 minutes for elementary students, 5 minutes for teachers
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign Unit 4 School District teachers vote on their new contract on Tuesday, the day they had originally planned to go on strike. Illinois Newsroom obtained copies of the draft agreement and pay scale. Read those documents here and here. Unit 4 and the Champaign Federation of Teachers have tentatively agreed to lengthen […]