A Chicago private school defends LGBTQ sex ed after right-wing viral video
CHICAGO – An elite Chicago private school tightened security and disabled its Twitter and Facebook accounts after a video of its dean of students secretly recorded by a conservative group went viral on Wednesday. The video captures the dean talking last week about a visit to Francis W. Parker School by an LGBTQ health organization to […]
Pritzker signs plan to eliminate debt in unemployment fund
SPRINGFIELD — The governor of Illinois has signed into law a measure that officials say will eliminate a $1.8 billion debt in the pandemic-battered account that pays out unemployment benefits. Gov. J.B. Pritzker says that an unexpected surge in revenue fuels the plan. It was brokered by business and labor, as well as Democrats and […]
Urbana decide mantener las clases bilingües de español en las escuelas primarias Leal y Dr. Preston Williams
El consejo escolar de Urbana ha decidido no combinar sus dos programas bilingües de español en una sola escuela: Leal Elementary. El cambio hubiera movido a unos 170 estudiantes de las clases monolingües de inglés de la escuela primaria Leal a la escuela primaria Dr. Preston L. Williams Jr. y a otras escuelas cercanas. Aproximadamente […]
Champaign Co. Public Defender says SAFE-T Act will have little effect on jail population
URBANA — The new Champaign County Public Defender takes over an office with many challenges, but Elisabeth Pollock thinks she’s up to the task. The Urbana native spent the last decade in the U.S. Public Defender’s office before taking the oath for her new office on Monday. Listen to this story here. In a wide […]
End of Roe v. Wade increases out-of-state abortion patients in Illinois
CHAMPAIGN — December 24 will mark half a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortions. The June 24 decision to overturn Roe and the related 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, individual states could suddenly regulate abortion in their jurisdictions. Bans and restrictions spread throughout the country. […]
WNBA star Brittney Griner has been freed from a Russian prison
WASHINGTON — President Biden says WNBA star Brittney Griner has been freed from a Russian prison. “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he wrote on Twitter. Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the swap in a press release to agencies that Griner […]
The White House unveils a new system to track and better prevent opioid overdoses
WASHINGTON — For decades, the U.S. struggled to create a national system for tracking opioid overdoses. Critics including Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) say the lack of accurate, real-time data has made it harder for health officials to respond as black market pain pills, heroin and illicit fentanyl flooded communities. Listen to this story here. “It […]
217 Today: New Champaign County Public Defender discusses the end of cash bail and more
Thursday, December 8, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois ranks 26th in an annual study of U.S. states’ health successes and challenges. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is defending how long it’s taking to expand Illinois’ cannabis industry. The Urbana school board has decided against merging its two Spanish dual-language programs into one school. The Fighting Illini women’s […]
Urbana decides to keep Spanish dual language classes at both Leal, Dr. Preston Williams elementary schools
The Urbana school board has decided not to merge its two Spanish, dual language programs into one school – Leal Elementary. The change would have moved about 170 students in Leal Elementary School’s monolingual English classes to Dr. Preston L. Williams Jr. Elementary School and other nearby schools. About 160 dual language students from DPW […]
