WSIU InFocus

WSIU's Brad Palmer talks with Natalie Fry, the principal and curriculum coordinator at Harrisburg East Side Intermediate School, about distance learning and the uncertainty for schools in the fall.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with Carbondale Mayor Mike Henry after a peaceful vigil in Carbondale calling for an end to racism and police brutality, along with burglaries of several businesses.

The Great Midwestern Flood of 2019 cost Alexander County millions of dollars in damages and the hope of a future for its farmers along the Mississippi River. 

Months-long flooding and a breached levee now leave farmers, whose fields are filled with sand, debris, runaway barges, scoured several feet deep, or inaccesible because of high water covering the road, unsure of what to do next. 

Since public gatherings in Illinois are still limited to 10 or fewer people, the Campbell Hill Fire Department has not been able to have its usual public chicken dinners and other fundraisers.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with SIU President Dan Mahony, as he guides the system in its plans for Fall 2020 amid the COVID-19 crisis.

An Iowa  Writer and Producer is in the planning stages of making a movie about General John A. Logan, with shooting scheduled to begin in the Summer of 2021.

As the U.S. struggles with shortages of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers have jumped into action. Around the country people are sewing masks, for healthcare workers and community members at risk for contracting COVID-19. But sewing for a cause fits into a much bigger history.

On this edition of WSIU InFocus, we hear from Jean Rendleman Miner, Academic Advisor in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts at SIUC  and Rita Medina, Coordinator for Recruitment and Retention at the College, about the anxiety and uncertainty many college students are going through.

Even the way a farmers market operates has changed since the pandemic started as social-distancing practices become more critical for maintaining public health.

In Carbondale, Illinois the farmers market switched to a drive-thru allowing some local producers to sell their goods in a physically-distant manner with masks and gloves. 

The spread of COVID-19 has forced park districts around the state to make some changes.

Many people consider Memorial Day the official beginning of summer, marking the start of youth ball leagues, summer camps, and the opening of community pools.

For park districts in the region the summer of 2020 is becoming one of uncertainty and revamping form the spread of COVID-19.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, some of the biggest outbreaks have been concentrated in urban areas, like New York City and Chicago. But rural America isn’t immune to the virus — and many rural areas are already dealing with a scarcity of health care.

Ferrell Hospital, in Eldorado, is bracing for coronavirus. While most of Illinois’ cases have concentrated in the Chicago area, Dr. Joseph Jackson, a physician at Ferrell, said the virus spreading to rural areas like the ones his hospital serves is inevitable.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with Interim SIUC Chancellor John Dunn about COVID-19's effects on university commencement, along with plans for Fall 2020.

On this month's feature, written and narrated by Ornithologist Dr. Mike Baltz, we hear about a book, published nearly 60 years ago, that has concepts still relevant today.

Southern Illinois University's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute has launched a new series, with virtual lectures featuring prominent speakers from across the country. In its inaugural  event, Institute Director John Shaw talked with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Kennedy.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs about the state's Bridge Loan program for businesses, and Charitable Trust program for non-profits.

Two Carbondale restaurants, New Kahala and Cristaudo's, are organizing the Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen, in an effort to team up with other restaurants to provide food during this time.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with Linda Renee Baker of SIU's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. Baker has worked with the Simon Institute and SIU School of Medicine to address disparities in healthcare that fall along racial and socioeconomic lines.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with SIU President Dan Mahony.

The Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen is a group of Carbondale restaurants, devastated by the COVID-19 shutdown, who are partnering  to help those in the community who are hungry, and, to help fellow restaurants.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with Solarize Southern Illinois' Beau Henson and Straight Up Solar's Brent Ritzel about their new group buy project.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Director John Shaw about his recent essay, "How Would a World-Class Statesman in the White House Respond to COVID-19?"

The Illinois stay-at-home order has now entered its fifth week.  And recently Governor Pritzker said that all public and private  schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year.

Students across Illinois are adjusting to remote learning because of the state wide school closure from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schools across the country go on spring break during March and April and then come back to their normal routines.

However, in 2020 things are a little different.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with SIUC Interim Chancellor John Dunn about the effects of COVID-19 on the university.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller introduces new Morning Edition Host Leah Lerner.