Illinois elected officials have strong feelings about former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's early release from prison. He served eight years of his 14 year sentence because President Donald Trump commuted his sentence earlier this week. Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara doesn't agree with the president's move. "I really think it was a horrible decision and sends a really bad signal, not just to politicians, but to all citizens across the state." McNamara elaborated. "Look back at what he did. He literally tried to do one of the worst things you can do in politics, which is to enrich himself while selling a public seat." Rockford's Democratic mayor said Blagojevich bypassed the trust of the citizens. McNamara emphasized that this is not a partisan issue. "Republican, Democrat, Green Party, Independent -- what he did is despicable and I think he should serve his full sentence." John Beck identifies as a moderate Republican and is the alderman for Rockford's 12th ward. He said the

Despite coronavirus-related shutdowns across Illinois, primary campaigns remain in full swing. The Illinois Primary election takes place Tuesday. Campaigners for democratic presidential frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders say they’re still optimistic about turnout. Retired Senator John Kerry is a Biden campaign surrogate and praised Sunday night’s debate performance. “Joe really came out sounding like a president -- sounding like a guy who really had a plan for coronavirus as well as for other things. I think the key is just to stay steady and keep going straight ahead and not take anything for granted,” Kerry said. Ari Rabin-Havt is Deputy Campaign Manager for Bernie Sanders. He emphasized the importance of science and expertise, both in Sanders’ platform and on public health. “People and government officials should talk to public health experts in their state, speak to the CDC, and issue the guidance necessary for people to vote and not get sick," he said. Tulsi Gabbard will

Coronavirus concerns cast a shadow over the primaries on election day in Illinois. Ohio canceled their polling locations. Election judges in DeKalb and Aurora were both pleasantly surprised with the turnout. In Chicago, midday voter totals were around half of what they were during the 2016 primary. Jacob Chan is an NIU student voting in DeKalb. He said he saw the difference at his polling location. "I was gonna come out because it's important, but the biggest impact is that it's empty," said Chan. Election judges said they have seen some voters in masks or gloves, and that many came with their own pens and sanitizers. In DeKalb, two registration sites closed due to election judges not able to come in. In Cook County, 10% of judges didn't come in because of concerns. That news drove Will Sitton to sign up to be a judge. “I actually volunteered last minute to come out because I read online that a bunch of people canceled, a bunch of election volunteers didn't want to come in because they

THE message from our medical experts leading the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic has been crystal clear in recent days: we have come too far together to drop our guard now.

In this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with political analysts Chris Larimer of University of Northern Iowa and Sara Mitchell of University of Iowa about Gov. Kim Reynolds' trip to meet with White House officials about Iowa's response to COVID-19. They also discuss Vice President Mike Pence's upcoming trip to meet with Iowa religious leaders, and get a snapshot of Iowa congressional and senate races heading into the June 2 primary. Guests: Chis Larimer, professor of political science at University of Northern Iowa Sara Mitchell, F. Wendell Miller professor of political science at University of Iowa

Although nearly two weeks have passed since Georgia Governor Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to reopen dining room seating, owners are reticent to resume business as usual. 

Parents are forced to give up custody to get their children medical and psychological treatments. Also, a Trump administration practice forces parents to risk deportation in order to claim their kids from government shelters.

Don’t miss out on the next big story. Get the Weekly Reveal newsletter today.

The New Yorker’s Eric Lach is in Iowa for the month leading up to the Democratic caucuses. Next week’s debate, in Des Moines, was likely going to focus on health care and other domestic issues core to the Democratic platform, but the agenda may instead be dominated by a discussion of the Trump Administration’s killing of the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and the United States’ fraught history of war in the Middle East. Polls show that Joe Biden is trusted on foreign-policy issues, but Lach suggests that Bernie Sanders’s history of opposing wars—and his quick and confident articulation of his position on Iran—may sway voters seeking a clear message. Nearly a year into the campaign, votes will finally be cast, and in Iowa the deciding factor may involve personal contact more than ideological positions. Iowa voters tend to say, “ ‘I’ve shaken this person’s hand, and I’ve shaken this person’s hand, and I’m going to make my decision after I’ve shaken this other person’s hand.’ That counts for a lot, I think,” Lach says.

Friday on Political Rewind , mayors from across the state discuss how they are handling the coronavirus pandemic. How are municipal leaders responding to Gov. Brian Kemp’s latest move and how do they think their constituency will respond?

A white police officer fired through the window of a black woman's home early Saturday and killed her after responding to a call that a neighbor placed about an open front door, authorities in Fort Worth, Texas, say. Around 2:25 a.m., officers responded to an "open structure call" made by a neighbor to the police department's nonemergency number. Inside the home, Atatiana Jefferson, 28, and her 8-year-old nephew were playing video games. Body camera footage released by the police shows the officer outside the home, looking into Jefferson's bedroom window and shouting, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" before firing a single bullet that killed Jefferson. Kyev Tatum, a pastor and community activist who was on the scene shortly after the shooting, told NPR that the neighbor who called the police was worried about the welfare of Jefferson. He said Jefferson may have had her front door open for a reason. "This was probably one of the first days that we had cool weather in Fort Worth.

Die richtige Poolreinigung ist wichtig, damit Schwimmen und Planschen auch wirklich Spaß machen. Hier erfahren Sie, worauf Sie achten sollten und welche Produkte Ihnen die Arbeit erleichtern. 

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Amid all the disappointments and cancellations for high school seniors this year because of COVID-19, many schools around the nation are scrambling to salvage at least some sort of graduation for the class of 2020. Many are considering holding ceremonies online or staging some sort of drive-by celebration. "To not have [graduation] just doesn't seem right to us," says Ken Freeston, schools superintendent in North Salem, N.Y. North Salem High School Principal Vince DiGrandi agrees. "Absolutely, they've earned it," he says. Along with the school's senior class advisers, they started brainstorming last month for ways to get seniors some pomp, despite the circumstance. But the idea of standing 6 feet apart on a football field, or parading graduates past the school for a social-distanced salute didn't cut it. Eventually, they came up with another, more novel idea — to hold graduation at a venue about an hour north of the school. Within a day, they drove up to visit, fell in love with the

The Georgia Department of Public Health reached its goal of testing 100,000 individuals in 10 days, but the state is still behind on mass testing.

For many lucky enough to still have a job, getting dressed and made-up is a vestige of normalcy in a world that feels upended. For others, gray roots, shaggy beards and chipped nails are the last thing to worry about. But what has this unprecedented period behind closed doors revealed about our self-care and priorities? And what will happen to the beauty market when it’s all over? On Second Thought e xplores these questions, which are particularly pertinent now that Gov. Brian Kemp has given the green light for barbershops and hair and nail salons to re-open. The closure of schools, restaurants and hotels has wreaked havoc on the nation’s food culture, from one end of the supply chain to the other. Jon Jackson, founder of Comfort Farms in Milledgeville, joined On Second Thought to share what they’re dealing with, as well as how he got into farming in the first place. We also learn about StagVets , of which he’s executive director, and how it helps veterans dealing with PTSD.

Karen and Bradley discuss RMS' essay on FSF's website, Ubuntu SpyWare: What To Do, and Shuttleworth's Slashdot interview that responds somewhat to RMS' comments.

Show Notes:

Segment 0 (00:36)

• Karen and Bradley discuss RMS' essay on FSF's website, Ubuntu SpyWare: What To Do (08:50)
• Bradley mentioned how Fab discovered (and discussed on Linux Outlaws 280) how a search for “ter” in efforts to find a terminal window in Ubuntu yields [slightly NSFW] gives results for Rachel Ter Horst DVDs. (09:44)
• Bradley mentioned his blog post about Nokia's problems interfacing with Free Software communities. (14:50)
• Bradley and Karen discuss Shuttleworth's Slashdot interview (18:25).
• Bradley and Karen also briefly mentioned Jono Bacon's comments about RMS's essay and Jono's apology. (19:30)
• Bradley mentioned Shuttleworth's comments during his LinuxCon 2011 keynote. (20:14)
• Bradley mentioned Douglas Rushkoff's article, Teach U.S. kids to write computer code (29:30)

Send feedback and comments on the cast to <oggcast@faif.us>. You can keep in touch with Free as in Freedom on our IRC channel, #faif on irc.freenode.net, and by following Conservancy on on Twitter and and FaiF on Twitter.

Free as in Freedom is produced by Dan Lynch of danlynch.org. Theme music written and performed by Mike Tarantino with Charlie Paxson on drums.

The content of this audcast, and the accompanying show notes and music are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The allegations suggest personal clashes influenced how the administration responded to the pandemic.

I recently finished Margaret Renkl's Late Migrations. It was the perfect book for right now, accommodating my fractured attention span, frequent insomnia, and deep grief and despair at the state of the world. Almost every chapter was less than 3 pages, and most involve nature intertwined with family memories. What other books are like this?

I try to keep a bedside book I can read before I fall asleep or when I'm dealing with insomnia. Not only do I really like the format of chapters that are less than a few pages long, it helps if the chapters don't have a lot of continuity so that if I read one at 3 AM and forget it the next day, I can pick up at the next chapter without having to go back and reread.

I love the voice of women nature writers like Terry Tempest Williams, Rachel Carson, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Rebecca Solnit (her earlier works) but most of their books seem to have chapters longer than what my brain can handle right now.

Recommendations don't have to be light - explorations into grief and pain are okay. I prefer something with more modern language (for example, while I love Moby Dick and am rereading it right now as my non-bedside book, the language is a little too antiquated and "extra" for what I need in a bedside book).

Other books I've found which scratch this itch are things like a compilation of thirty years of a naturalists column from a local newspaper.

Pedro Vacca, director de la Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa, dijo que esas “listas negras”, pueden generar consecuencias fatales.

It's considered to be a historically deep receiver draft class this year, but the 6-foot-4 receiver hopes to stand out with his size.

NEW YORK (AP) — They stood, they cheered, they booed and they boozed. Turns out, esports fans in New York aren’t much different from their traditional sports counterparts. Packing a nearly 2,000-seat venue across the street from Madison Square Garden, those supporters validated the theory behind the Overwatch League’s ambitious global vision. “This event is […]

The emergency-spending package is expected to get a council vote on May 12.

It's considered to be a historically deep receiver draft class this year, but the 6-foot-4 receiver hopes to stand out with his size.

Marshawn Lynch opened the door wide Monday for a potential return in 2020 when he talked tantalizingly about what his agent has been up to.

Last month’s emergency shutdown of the West Seattle Bridge has prompted Seattle City Council member Alex Pedersen to request an audit of the city’s 124 bridges, he said Thursday. Pedersen, who chairs the council’s Transportation and Utilities Committee, said City Auditor David G. Jones will compile data about maintenance spending and comparisons to peer cities. […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican-controlled legislatures are increasingly trying to strip Democratic governors of their executive authority to close businesses and schools, a power grab by lawmakers that channels frustration over the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic but could come with long-term consequences for how their states fight disease. The efforts to undermine Democratic […]

A few nights after one of their players was injured by a dirty hit, the Johnstown Jets plotted to exact some revenge on Buffalo’s Greg Neeld. An all-out brawl broke out during warmups and the North American Hockey League game was postponed, much to the dismay of ownership and presumably the fans at a sold-out […]

Tribes operate their facilities on their lands, where they retain decision-making authority -- despite Gov. Jay Inslee's stay-home order, in place until the end of May.

According to the police department, the officers who arrived at about 11 p.m. at the complex in the 1100 block of Sunset Boulevard Northeast were confronted by a man with a knife.

The emergency-spending package is expected to get a council vote on May 12.

The communication and collaboration among businesses and local government leaders who don’t always see eye-to-eye has helped smooth the response to the region’s coronavirus crisis.

Some cafes close to hospitals or health care sites will remain open, according to the statement, as part of the company’s “efforts to serve first responders and health care workers.” And Starbucks will continue to pay all employees for 30 days, whether they come to work or stay home.

A satirical look back at some of the quirkiest, most eyebrow-raising things that happened in the sports world this week.

Still facing a backlash over saying she wouldn't visit the White House if the United States wins the World Cup, soccer star Megan Rapinoe said Wednesday that she considers herself a proud American.

Hanauer, whose club won the 2019 MLS Cup, said all ideas are being considered by MLS owners in order to resume play.

As virus fears grew, public officials and sports execs debated health risks — and PR messages — but let 33,000 into a March 7 Sounders match. At what cost?

The emergency-spending package is expected to get a council vote on May 12.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican-controlled legislatures are increasingly trying to strip Democratic governors of their executive authority to close businesses and schools, a power grab by lawmakers that channels frustration over the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic but could come with long-term consequences for how their states fight disease. The efforts to undermine Democratic […]

THERE ARE FAMILY HOMES … and then there is Mark and Gayle’s beautifully remodeled home in Tacoma’s Proctor District — which could have turned out much, much differently, if not for the way several unrelated family connections came into play: — Right up until the couple bought it, this was Gloria’s house — designed and […]

A few nights after one of their players was injured by a dirty hit, the Johnstown Jets plotted to exact some revenge on Buffalo’s Greg Neeld. An all-out brawl broke out during warmups and the North American Hockey League game was postponed, much to the dismay of ownership and presumably the fans at a sold-out […]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas venue is promoting a concert drawing more than 200 people next week despite limits the state has placed on large gatherings because of the coronavirus. Singer Travis McCready is scheduled to play at TempleLive in Fort Smith on May 15, three days before theaters, arenas and other indoor […]

Microsoft's chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, spoke with The Associated Press about the pandemic's effects on his day-to-day responsibilities.

Whaddya know? No one has yet proved to Ron Judd that Bigfoot exists.

The public back-and-forth about a controversial, high-profile topic is unusual for a company that has lately enforced policies limiting what employees can say publicly without authorization, and for the seniority of those involved.

GARDENING IS A restorative act grounded in natural rhythms and constancy. Thank goodness! I’m not a doctor or a mental health expert. I’m a gardener. But I know from years of plotting and planting the many ways my garden tends me as I care for it. So, I thought I’d share a little unsolicited but […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican-controlled legislatures are increasingly trying to strip Democratic governors of their executive authority to close businesses and schools, a power grab by lawmakers that channels frustration over the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic but could come with long-term consequences for how their states fight disease. The efforts to undermine Democratic […]

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett doesn’t know how or when the economy will recover from the coronavirus outbreak shutdown, but he remains optimistic in the long-term future of the United States. Buffett said Saturday at Berkshire Hathaway’s online annual meeting that there’s no way to predict the economic future right now because […]

A federal investigation into where the U.S. failed to prepare for the current pandemic is a good idea.

It's considered to be a historically deep receiver draft class this year, but the 6-foot-4 receiver hopes to stand out with his size.