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State Week: Changing Face Of Gambling, Cost Of Saying #MeToo, Fun With Numbers (State Fair Edition)

State Week 23 logo (capitol dome)
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois

A new report raises questions about the future profitability of casino gambling, one of the first people to say #MeToo in the context of Illinois politics is still looking for work, and the Illinois State Fair's claim of record revenue is not the whole story.

A new report shows changes underfoot in Illinois’ gambling industry. Video gambling is still doing well, but is it coming at the expense of casinos and racetracks?

Meanwhile, Alaina Hampton says coming forward with a #MeToo allegation against a top aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan has cost her not only the opportunity to work on political campaigns, but also her sense of professional identity.

Finally, the Illinois State Fair claims it made more revenue this year than any year in its history. But that's only true if one doesn't adjust past numbers for inflation, and it also elides the fact that the fair has lost money every year for decades.

Sean Crawford hosts with regular panelists Charlie Wheeler and Brian Mackey, and guests Maureen McKinney and Sam Dunklau of NPR Illinois.

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
Maureen Foertsch McKinney is news editor and equity and justice beat reporter for NPR Illinois, where she has been on the staff since 2014 after Illinois Issues magazine’s merger with the station. She joined the magazine’s staff in 1998 as projects editor and became managing editor in 2003. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois Springfield, she was an education reporter and copy editor at three local newspapers, including the suburban Chicago Daily Herald, She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s degree in English from UIS.
The 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.
Sam is a Public Affairs Reporting intern for spring 2018, working out the NPR Illinois Statehouse bureau.
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