Best People

Chicago Detour

Dr. Samuel Wheeler

SAFE

Indivisible ChicagoBlue Beginning

Senator Dick DurbinChicago HEAL Initiative 

One Illinois' Diaper Divide coverageLoving Bottoms Diaper BankDaughters of Destiny Ministry The National Diaper Bank NetworkStanford Social Innovation Review

Last week, Cher and the One Illinois team headed down to Springfield for the Illinois State Fair, where they ate delicious food, petted livestock, and saw both GOP and Democratic candidates start the final push for November's midterms. But Cher found some other interesting spots while there. Illinois State FairLincoln's Hearse ReplicaThe Sangamon Valley Radio Club

In this episode, Cher answers a listener question on Janus v AFSCME, and how it will affect Illinois. ILEPIEPIAfter Janus case study

Late this spring, the Southern Illinois Universities campuses were at a crossroads. Their main campus at Carbondale had been in death spiral of low enrollment, losing many of its prospective students to their counterpart in Edwardsville. A year after the fallout of the Illinois budget impasse, Carbondale is at junction of reinvention, with some help from its president Randy Dunn, and its mayor, John "Mike" Henry. Chicago TribuneOne Illinois's coverageIllinois Economic Policy Institute Study

In May, the Trump administration announced several updates to the Title X Family Planning Program, drastically challenging reproductive rights. In this episode, we meet patient Grecia Magdaleno and Planned Parenthood's Amy Whitaker, as they take us through Title X has helped their lives, and the lives of so many others, for the better. Planned Parenthood IllinoisNPR

Dylan Parker is an alderman of Rock Island, part of the Quad Cities. He's a husband, father of three, under 30, and happens to be a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. In this episode, can a radical idea like a citywide ISP change a town?Chicago TribuneTed Cox's story on One Illinois

Chris Lain ran for mayor of Savanna, IL in April 2017. With three other opponents, all of whom were born and raised in the Western Illinois town, Lain was the outlier, only living in the town since 2013. In this episode, we hear the story of a gay liberal from Chicago and how he swung a town that voted for Trump in 2016. This episode's Show Notes: Chris Lain's campaign websiteTIF FundingMapping the Future: Savanna in MotionWilliam Nemac's Op-EdSavanna, IL's 2017 Election ResultsMusic by Poddington Bear. 

The Savanna-Sabula Bridge was built in 1932 and demolished this past March. Why did this bridge have to go, and can we get some others to go too? This week, we take a look at Illinois' infrastructure policies, and how we can keep the foundation of our state from crumbling.This episode's Show Notes: The Savanna-Sabula BridgeCapital Budget BillRauner opposed to any increase in gas tax for infrastructure projectsThe Demolition of the Savanna-Sabula BridgeMusic by Poddington Bear. 

From One Illinois, this is Best People, a show about Illinois and the stories that make this state great. Coming soon!