Bill Wheelhouse
Bill is a former general manager, economy reporter, Harvest correspondent and Statehouse Bureau Chief for NPR Illinois. He has won several awards including the Associated Press Best Investigative Reporter.
Bill traveled to Cuba in 1999 with then-Governor George Ryan and provided coverage of that trip from Havana. He has reported on national political conventions in 1988, 1996 and 2000. He has also contributed reports to NPR and other syndicated radio programs.
Bill moderated the weekly public radio talk show State Week after Rich Bradley retired. He served as an adjunct professor in the Public Affairs Reporting graduate program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Prior to arriving at NPR Illinois, he worked as a news director at the public radio station in Macomb and worked in both commercial radio and television.
Bill served two terms as President of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association and is a past president of the Illinois Associated Press Broadcast Advisory Board. He was a member of the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association and Public Radio News Directors Incorporated.
He is a 1981 graduate of Rushville High School and a 1985 graduate of Western Illinois University. In 1999 he earned a Masters Degree in Political Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield.
Having retired in 2016, Bill has rejoined the NPR illinois News Department to temporarily help cover the pandemic and its aftermath.
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Tim Landis talks about the re-location plans for Barney's Furniture and the possibility of free wi-fi in downtown Springfield.
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Illinois' budget crisis won't be resolved this year. Governor Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders are sticking to their respective positions, and this…
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Wednesday is the first day on the job for the new Director of Downtown Springfield Incorporated. Stott sat down with Bill Wheelhouse and talked about her…
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Bill and Tim discuss the spring opening of Sky Zone in Springfield. Also ridership down on Amtrak and update on a couple of construction projects on this…
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During a speech in Chicago this week, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was asked about the prospects for new taxes, while Governor Bruce Rauner said…
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On this week's business report, Tim Landis talks with Bill Wheelhouse about some renovated apartments coming on the market in downtown Springfield.
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After more than six months, Illinois' governor met with the four top legislative leaders to discuss the state's budget impasse. No progress was made, but…
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Tim and Bill chat about an old concept coming to Springfield... Starting a small business in an incubator.
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The release of a police video documenting the fatal shooting of a black teen by a white Chicago police officer – more than a year after the incident – has…
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This week, Governor Bruce Rauner said he wants to prevent Syrian refugees from entering Illinois, the state Supreme Court heard arguments concerning a…