At Community Vigil, A Peoria Wracked By Gun Violence And Trauma Urged Not To Give Up Hope For Healing
PEORIA — Michael Anthony Charles Johnson II was Peoria’s 16th homicide victim of 2021. Johnson, 21, was one of four people shot at a house on Haungs Avenue on the 4th of July. A youth also was critically injured in that shooting. And just days later, another youth suffered a life-threatening gunshot wound on the […]
Democrats Push Repeal Of Abortion Law Mandating Minors Notify Parents
SPRINGFIELD — Some Democratic lawmakers want to repeal an abortion law that requires girls under the age of 18 who are seeking an abortion to notify their parents at least 48 hours before the procedure, with some exceptions. Under the current law, the notice requirement doesn’t apply if a minor is accompanied by an adult […]
Federal Court Denies State Motion In Transgender Prisoner Case
SPRINGFIELD — A federal district court in Southern Illinois denied a request Thursday from the Illinois Department of Corrections to dismiss a class-action lawsuit against the department for its treatment of transgender prisoners. That case, Monroe v. Jeffreys, was originally filed in 2018 as Monroe v. Rauner by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf […]
Student Arrest Records A ‘Disturbing Mess’ At Illinois School Districts
Twenty-one Champaign Unit 4 students were arrested during the 2013-14 school year — 19 of them were Black — according to documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. During the 2015-16 school year, 17 students were arrested — of which 15 were Black. But the federal government thinks there were no arrests. That’s […]
News Around Illinois – Aug. 25, 2020
IDOT Accused by Former Employees Of Racial Discrimination BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A group of current and former employees of the Illinois Department of Transportation are accusing the agency of a history of systemic racism, particularly in its operations in southern Illinois. Lee Coleman, a former Transportation Department Equal Employment Opportunity officer, told the Belleville […]
Champaign Unit 4 Officials Propose Swapping Elementary School Campuses
To solve a host of problems the district faces, Champaign Unit 4 Schools officials recently proposed swapping two elementary school campuses. At a Unit 4 Board of Education meeting Monday night, the district’s superintendent, Susan Zola, suggested moving the International Prep Academy (IPA), a kindergarten through fifth grade bilingual program with majority Hispanic enrollment located on West […]