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Statewide: Violence at the end of the school day

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Sean Crawford

Published February 16, 2023 at 12:19 PM CST

Fatal shootings of students near a school as they make their way home have been rare. But in Chicago in the last year there was a spike.

Last year, nine children 17 years old or younger were killed on a weekday in the hours that students head home — between 2 p.m. and 4:49 p.m. That's according to a WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times analysis of shooting records and media accounts of killings over the last decade.

Also this week:

* Charlie Schlenker talks with Ajay Samant, dean of the Illinois State University College of Business, about inflation and a possible recession.

* Peter Medlin of WNIJ has more school investments in mental health.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives his annual state of the state speech and budget address on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at the Illinois capitol in Springfield.

* Tim Shelley speaks with Heather Miller, the first Director of Tribal Relations at the Illinois State Museum, about her role.

* From Minnesota, the story of a teenager who has quite the streak going: He's slept outside for over 1000 consecutive nights.

* Eric Schmid reports on the challenges for development along the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

* Alex Degman recaps Gov. JB Pritzker's budget proposal for the next fiscal year.