WVIK-Rock Island

1 week ago | ipmnewsroom.org | Cesar Toscano |Eric Stock |WVIK-Rock Island

Over the last few years, environmental groups and others in Central Illinois have raised concerns about the region’s water potentially becoming contaminated by an emerging technology that’s intended to reduce the harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions. State senators responded to those concerns by voting unanimously, 55-0, on Thursday to ban carbon sequestration near the Mahomet Aquifer, the sole source of water for nearly 1 million people in the region, including much of McLean County.

2 weeks ago | ipmnewsroom.org | Lisa Philip |WVIK-Rock Island

EVANSTON, Ill. – The Trump administration has frozen about $790 million in funding for Northwestern University amid civil rights investigations. The administration has also frozen more than $1 billion earmarked for Cornell University in New York. The White House confirmed the funding pauses late Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. The New York Times was the first to report the news.

1 month ago | ipmnewsroom.org | Will Bauer |WVIK-Rock Island

A bill introduced in the Illinois General Assembly would prohibit public schools from using discriminatory references to disabilities as mascots — requiring Freeburg High School to phase out Midgetsby 2028. https://ipmnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0310mascotW.wavLittle people with dwarfism consider the term to be dehumanizing and derogatory.

2 months ago | ipmnewsroom.org | Jim Meadows |WVIK-Rock Island

https://ipmnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Budzinski-Rally-Audio-02182025.mp3CHAMPAIGN– Advocates are calling on Illinois Democratic Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski to push back against the Trump administration’s cuts to federal agencies. A crowd of around 40 people rallied Monday in frigid weather outside the entrance to the Lincoln Building, where Budzinski’s office is located in downtown Champaign.

2 months ago | ipmnewsroom.org | Grace Hauck |Janelle O'Dea |WVIK-Rock Island

Warning: The following article includes mentions of self-harm and suicide. This story is part of an ongoing series. EDWARDSVILLE – Samantha Slecka spent the better part of three days strapped down to a chair in Madison County Jail in the summer of 2022. It was the same jail where her fiancé had attempted suicide only months earlier. She had been arrested and detained for meth possession and a warrant for possession of a controlled substance—a charge that was later dropped.