WCBU Reports

The Dirksen Congressional Center's newly commissioned book Disruption? The Senate During the Trump Era attempts to take an academic look at how Trump changed the U.S. Senate during his four years in office.

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The book Nature's Best Hope is this year's selection for the Peoria Reads citywide literacy program. This year's theme is climate and conservation.

Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware, says America's 44 million acres of grassy lawns are actively harmful.

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A new program in Peoria is training the next generation of practitioners in a medical field facing incredibly high demand: anesthesiology.

The partnership between OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria welcomes its first sixteen residents this July. Those residents will spend four years in the program. Over the next four years, Sparrow says he believes additional classes will bring the number up to 32.

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A bill to strengthen protection for employees of Illinois libraries is heading to the House floor.

House Bill 4567 would amend the criminal code outlining the consequences of threatening public officials, like school employees and elected officials. If the bill passes, the law would also cover library employees and threats made through electronic means, like social media.

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The Peoria Zoo is up for re-accreditation this year. The process provides a way to monitor the quality and care at zoos around the country, while also opening up opportunities.

Peoria Zoo Director Yvonne Strode said three inspectors will spend a day or two in late May or early June taking a close look at everything, including the zoo’s enclosures, animals, buildings, food, employees and more.

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Greater Peoria has become a hotbed for the growing sport of disc golf in recent years, and one mark of validation comes later this month with the arrival of a major professional disc golf tournament.

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Peoria wasn't in the path of totality of the solar eclipse, but that didn't stop many from taking time out to view the rare astronomical event on Monday.

The Peoria Riverfront Museum hosted hundreds of guests for a free viewing party. Guests brought their own lawn chairs and picnic blankets and set up outside the museum to view the path of the moon as it eclipsed the sun. The eclipse began locally at 12:47 p.m. with the sun maximally eclipsed at 2:03 p.m. at about 94%.

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The Peoria Park District is making progress on determining what will replace the July 3 fireworks at Glen Oak Park this year.

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The demand for more workers in the information technology sector is growing rapidly everywhere, including Greater Peoria.

A grant-funded partnership between Illinois Central College, Bradley University and Eureka College is helping people get the IT skills they need for these jobs, and the two-year-old program is already exceeding goals.

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U.S. military funding for Israel isn't something Peorians have any direct control over — but they may be asked to weigh in on foreign policy this November at the ballot box.

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