AM-580 News Features

A federal grand jury has indicted Ryan on corruption charges. The jury accuses Ryan of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud, and lying to federal investigators. Illinois Public Radio's Carlos Hernandez Gomez has the details.

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IPR's Bill Wheelhouse reports on Illinois' sad history of corruption, with six of the state's 40 governors having faced criminal charges

Bishop Peter Beckwith says his church is an apostate church for allowing the consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as a bishop.  Beckwith voted against Robinson’s consecration at last summer’s General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA. Now, he’s one of 13 bishops who are launching a new group that hopes to reverse the church’s direction on homosexuality. Beckwith talked with AM 580’s Jim Meadows.

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In a Main Street storefront that once housed a ballet studio, University of Illinois students have opened a workshop for ideas.  Design students and faculty will make the new Civitas design center into a hub for their work on restoring and enhancing downtown areas and improving what they call “urbanism."  Graduate student Genevieve Borich (left) showed AM 580’s Tom Rogers through the site.

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UI's Department of Urban Planning 

The December 9 death of former Senator Paul Simon came as a shock to former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar. Edgar and Simon became good friends at the height of their respective political careers, despite belonging to different political parties. Edgar talked about Simon with AM 580’s Jim Meadows.

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The Champaign-Urbana Dialysis Center  passed a health inspection last week and will remain eligible for Medicare funding if federal officials accept the findings of state Public Health inspectors. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports on the center, which has been the subject of criticism from a patients' rights group.

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UI trustees tabled a resolution to retire the controversial symbol, which some consider a racist mascot.  The resolution's author decided to delay a vote until a meeting in July.  AM 580's Jim Meadows reports on the decision and the contentious atmosphere at the meeting.

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listen to AM 580's broadcast of the Board of Trustees' November 13th meeting

Explore AM 580's coverage of the Chief controversy over 13 years 

With the lack of a vote, many people are beginning to wonder if the status of Chief Illiniwek will ever be completely settled.  And now that the TV news crews from Chicago and St. Louis have left the U of I campus in Urbana…students, faculty and staff are now left to deal with an underlying rancor.  AM 580’s Tom Rogers reports.

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Chief Illiniwek Educational Foundation 

Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative 

Public universities in Illinois will be required to offer guaranteed tuition rates to students starting with next year’s freshman class.  Guaranteed rates let students better plan their financial arrangements without worrying about yearly tuition increases.  But they’re creating a more complex budget situation for universities.  AM 580’s Tom Rogers reports on how the University of Illinois is preparing for the new requirement. 

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UI vice president's website contains more on the proposal 

Critics of Exelon's request to the Illinois Legislature to help it speed up the acquisition of Illinois Power compare it to a similar push by SBC to increase what it charges local competitors.  But SBC Illinois president Carrie Hightman sees some big differences between the two bills.  She speaks with AM 580's Jim Meadows.

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The Modern Language Association says the number of students taking foreign language courses last year was up nearly 18 percent from 1998 -- nearly nine percent of all college students.   MLA executive director Rosemary Feal told AM 580's Jim Meadows that while schools often require foreign language courses, many students have their own reasons for studying a foreign tongue. 

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MLA website 

Illinois Power and ComEd Make Their Case for a Buyout

The leaders of IP and ComEd parent company Exelon came to Champaign to address the worries of local officials about the acquisition proposal -- including ongoing concerns about IP's quality of service.  AM 580's Jim Meadows reports.

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A Labyrinth Takes Shape in Urbana

Art can be more than just a draw to the senses – it can help people relax and even achieve spiritual awareness.  Such a work is taking shape at Urbana’s Crystal Lake Park.  AM 580's Tom Rogers went to the recent official groundbreaking for what will become the area’s first labyrinth.  (Left: organizers lay the first ceremonial bricks at the labyrinth site; people experience a "portable labyrinth" indoors)

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Learn what a labyrinth is all about 

Freedom Riders Reflect

Ben Cox (on the right, next to fellow Rider Ed Blankenheim) remembers growing up under segregation -- and making a statement against the practice in the 1960's by boarding a bus to Montgomery.  The trip was fraught with danger -- and some riders never made it to their destination.  Cox and two other Riders recollected before a weekend audience in Urbana.

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Project 500 -- A Prototype Affirmative Action Idea, 35 Years Later

Clarence Shelley (left) was hired by the University if Illinois to lead the 1968 project -- the goal was to recruit at least 500 new students from under-represented minorities.  Shelley, who's still with the UI, tells AM 580's Ali Kawa how far he thinks the school has come since then. 

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Project 500 commemoration activities 

An End to Smoke-filled Bars?

For smokers, lighting up at a bar or restaurant is second nature.  But it's illegal in California and New York, and smoking bans are starting to gain interest elsewhere -- including Champaign and Urbana.  AM 580's Tom Rogers looks into a local push to make more public places smoke-free, like Jupiter's in Champaign, where Johnny Fallon (left) plays pool.

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Volume #10,000,000 at the UIUC Library

University Librarian Paula Kaufman (left, with rare books librarian Alvan Bregman) talks with AM 580's Tom Rogers about the milestone book for the nation's largest state-university library -- a book that's a love-letter of sorts to the facility.

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UIUC Library gateway

Indiana's new governor has named former state budget director Kathy Davis as his choice for lieutenant governor.  AM 580's Ali Kawa speaks with Indiana University political analyst Brian Vargus about the differences between Kernan and the late governor Frank O'Bannon -- and whether a lieutenant governor choice may indicate Kernan's change of heart about seeking election in 2004. 

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