Christine Hatfield
ReporterChristine Hatfield, a graduate student in University of Illinois Springfield's Public Affairs Reporting program, is WGLT and WCBU's PAR intern for the first half of 2021.
Previously, she graduated from Ball State University with a degree in journalism and telecommunications in May 2020, and during her undergraduate experience, she reported for WNIJ in DeKalb and Ball State's own Indiana Public Radio.
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The new redistricting maps for state House and Senate seats in Illinois make some significant changes to the boundaries of some legislative districts. Bloomington-Normal and Peoria have not been spared. -
Most states don't allow transgender people to correct their names on marriage certificates, even after going through a legal name change. Legislators and advocates hope to make Illinois the second state to permit marriage certificate name changes. -
Gov. JB Pritzker has signed off on new redistricting boundaries for state legislators. Those maps mean some Bloomington-Normal and Peoria residents will see changes in who represents them in state government. -
McLean County area lawmakers addressed the concerns of local business owners on topics from clean energy to unemployment benefits at a State of the State event Tuesday morning. -
As Illinois emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson for Illinois State University said the institution is "grateful that there were no reductions" to state funding in the new state budget. -
A bill to limit where Illinois pet stores source their cats and dogs from passed the State Senate in the final hours of the General Assembly's session. Supporters of the bill want to close what they call a puppy mill pipeline. -
A bill to allow special education students who turn 22 to continue with their classwork until the end of the school year has passed unanimously through the State Senate. -
A bill to place restrictions on e-cigarettes in Illinois has passed both houses of the General Assembly. -
Peoria Mayor Rita Ali said Wednesday she's Bloomington-Normal and Peoria being drawn into the same State Senate district in the Illinois redistricting maps proposed by Democrats would be good for both areas. -
Teachers and other school workers would receive 30 days of paid sick leave after becoming parents under legislation that passed the Illinois Senate on Wednesday. The bill follows an Illinois Supreme Court ruling last year that limited how new mothers can use maternal leave.
