Charles N. Wheeler III
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.
-
The state became the first in the nation to make the change. We discuss how things went in the first few days.
-
Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois is "open for business." We look at the state's efforts to be a leader in the growing electric vehicle industry.
-
State leaders say landing the plant in Manteno boosts Illinois' role in the electric vehicle ecosystem.
-
On this episode, we talk about the governor giving a thumbs down to a measure that would have lifted the state's ban on nuclear power plant construction. We also discuss Chicago's efforts to deal with a growing migrant population.
-
Tim Mapes, who was Chief of Staff to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, faces several years in prison. Listen to our panel discussion.
-
Both Democrats and Republicans held their annual rallies. The differences in the parties was on display.
-
The state's highest court handed down a decision Friday that keeps the state's ban on the sale of assault weapons and large capacity magazines in place. But a federal challenge remains. Also, the trial for the one-time Chief of Staff to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan began this week.
-
The governor, who has touted the president and put his own ambitions on hold, held a fundraiser for Biden during his visit to Chicago. Biden heaped praise on Pritzker saying he "helped me more than anybody in America get elected last time."
-
The Pritzker Administration is limiting enrollment as a way to hold down costs. But is there a political price?
-
A law signed this week is believed to be the first in the nation prohibiting book bans at school and public libraries.