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House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, speaks to reporters at the Illinois Statehouse on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 after a ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Supreme Court rules House Republicans waited too long to challenge maps

Republicans argued recent election cycles show maps illegally gerrymandered

Central Illinois GOP lawmakers host online town hall to discuss the spring session

Illinois GOP lawmakers from Central Illinois held a townhall meeting this week following the end of the Spring session. The town hall took place online on Sen. Sally Turner’s Facebook page. Turner was accompanied by Rep. Bill Hauter and Rep. Regan Deering, who both represent parts of McLean County.

Midwest Food Bank CEO Eric Hodel poses next to the organization's new — and shiny — red truck. The food bank used part of a grant from the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints to buy the semi.

Food banks in central Illinois await SNAP court rulings and potential impacts

Food banks in central Illinois are waiting to see how a federal judge's ruling on SNAP benefits will impact their operations. The Trump administration has been ordered to fully restore food assistance while the government is shut down.

Christy Borders representing the University Professionals of Illinois at the Appropriations-Higher Education committee talked in support of a bill creating Evidence Based Funding formula for higher education at the capitol in Springfield on March 26, 2026.

Illinois State University president backs evidence-based funding formula that passes in House committee

Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule was one of eight university leaders who signed a letter in support of a measure that aims to overhaul how public universities in Illinois are funded. The measure that would create an evidence-based funding formula for higher education was approved in a House committee on Thursday.

Here's part of the damage done by a fire at apartments on School Street in Washington.

Washington responds to two major fires in less than 11 hours with 'bravery and heroism'

In the aftermath of two major fires over the weekend where lives were saved and pets were rescued, Washington officials praised first responders, community members and neighboring fire departments.

More than 1 million fewer students are in college. Here's how that impacts the economy

People are sitting out college in droves. During the pandemic, undergraduate enrollment has dropped nearly 7%. The long-term effects of this decline could have a dramatic impact on the economy.

It's no accident that neighborhood schools are battlegrounds for so many of the pitched battles over race and place in America.

What We Lose When A Neighborhood School Goes Away

The fight over a closure of a struggling public high school in Chicago raises questions about what's disrupted and upended when a community loses one of its central institutions.

"Hate on me," Jake Wesley Rogers sang on stage at the Love Rising benefit concert in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on March 20. "You might as well hate the sun."

Visibility, with the volume up loud, in Tennessee

A pop critic looks at two benefit shows in Nashville that put a rainbow-hued spotlight on the way a buzzword like "visibility" can become more than symbolic, especially in moments of crisis.

Michelle Trudeau

Michelle Trudeau began her radio career in 1981, filing stories for NPR from Beijing and Shanghai, China, where she and her husband lived for two years. She began working as a science reporter and producer for NPR's Science Desk since 1982. Trudeau's news reports and feature stories, which cover the areas of human behavior, child development, the brain sciences, and mental health, air on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

Sasha Ingber

Sasha Ingber is a reporter on NPR's breaking news desk, where she covers national and international affairs of the day.

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