Charles N. Wheeler III
State Week AnalystThe former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Wheeler covered state government and politics for the Sun-Times since 1970, when he covered the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention. For the last 19 years of his Sun-Times tenure, Wheeler was assigned to the newspaper’s Statehouse bureau. During that time, he was elected to 16 consecutive one-year terms as president of the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association and served for many years on the PAR program and admissions committees.
Since 1984, he has written a monthly column for Illinois Issues magazine, which has won five Capitolbeat awards for magazine commentary/analysis. In 2006, the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association inducted him into The Lincoln League of Journalists, which honors men and women who have provided exemplary service to other journalists and to daily newspapers published in Illinois. In 2013, he was chosen as the Journalist of the Year by the Journalism Department at Eastern Illinois University. He is also a regular on the panel for State Week, WUIS' weekly political analysis program that airs on public radio stations across Illinois.
Before joining the Sun-Times in 1969, Wheeler served more than three years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of Panama. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s University, Winona, MN, majoring in English, and received a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Wheeler draws on the talents of many UIS faculty with expertise in such fields as public budgeting, political science, and communication, as well as professional journalists and state officials, to present students with a well-rounded program to bridge the academic and professional areas.
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Illinois lawmakers passed a budget and a flurry of other legislation in the final session days. But the Chicago Bears request for help with a new stadium was left on the table. -
The Illinois General Assembly is scheduled to end its spring session Sunday. But there are a lot of issues left to consider.
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With about a week left before adjournment, legislation is advancing at the Illinois statehouse. -
The legislature is scheduled to adjourn the spring session at the end of May.
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Lawmakers are scheduled to wrap up their session by May 31.
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The Illinois Accountability Commission issued its final report into Operation Midway Blitz.
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A major piece of legislation made it through the Illinois House this week. But more changes are expected as the state tries to prevent the NFL team from building a new stadium in Indiana.
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The decision comes nearly three years after their convictions on charges that involved what prosecutors called a bribery scheme involving ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
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While there always complaints over property taxes, legislators have rarely tried to tackle the issue.
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The centers are considered the backbone of the internet, providing processing power for technology like AI and cloud computing. But they are also controversial.
