Sean Crawford
Chatham
Sean has led the NPR Illinois news operations since the fall of 2009. He replaced the only other person to do so in the station's history, Rich Bradley. Prior to taking over the News Department, Sean worked as Statehouse Bureau Chief for NPR Illinois and other Illinois Public Radio stations. He spent more than a dozen years on the capitol beat.
Sean began his broadcasting career at his hometown station in Herrin, Illinois while still in high school. It was there he learned to cover local government, courts and anything else that made the news. He spent time in the Joliet area as News Director and Operations Manager for a radio station and worked for a chain of weekly newspapers for two years. Along with news coverage, he reported heavily on sports and did on-air play by play.
Sean holds a Master's Degree in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield.
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The letter was mailed to the home of the congressman who is one of two Republicans on the Jan. 6 committee.
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County fair 4-H junior poultry shows started the season with a virtual format and will continue throughout the entire county fair season.
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The Illinois Department of Public Health says it is working with other health agencies to investigate suspected cases of the monkeypox virus. As of Thursday, IDPH reported a total of ten Illinois. Eight of those have been confirmed by the CDC. All are in the Chicago area.
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This month marks the 100th anniversary of one of the deadliest labor disputes in the country. Striking coal miners in the town of Herrin clashed with men brought in to operate a local mine. The situation escalated and soon turned violent. In the end, nearly two dozen people were killed, most of them strikebreakers. We look back on a dark chapter in the history of organized labor and southern Illinois.
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The state is attempting to bring more availability of healthy foods to underserved areas. A new law allows for retailers to receive grants, loans and other assistance.
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In June 1919, Illinois was the first state that voted on ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. While a paperwork typo forced a separate vote several days later, it doesn't take away from the state's importance in women's suffrage. That story and more reports and conversations on Statewide.
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Illinois is expanding when workers are allowed time off. Supporters say people need time to mourn and heal.
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There are allegations that staff purposefully housed prisoners with people they knew would be violent, and subjected them to painful restraints for hours or sometimes days.
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The first case this year of monkeypox has shown up in Illinois. Health authorities said it involves a Chicago adult male with a recent travel history to Europe.
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After the deadly elementary school shooting in Texas, a fifth grade teacher in Illinois said a student asked her "Would that happen here?” “You are in a building of adults who will do whatever it takes to keep you safe,” she told them. We talk with teacher Rebecca Gamboa about the discussion in the aftermath of the tragedy. That story and more on this episode of Statewide.