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Today (October 23rd), our LaSalle broadcast signal will be undergoing tower work and will be off the air. Thanks for your patience as we complete this work, and while our 91.3 FM signal is off the air. You can always listen here on our website or on our WNIJ mobile app.
Reporting from in and around Illinois.Listen to Statewide on WNIJ Saturdays 6-7 a.m. and Sundays 6-7 p.m.

Statewide: The War of the Worlds

The panic made the front page of the Chicago Herald and Examiner. (Records of the Federal Communications Commission, RG 173)
FCC/National Archives
The panic made the front page of the Chicago Herald and Examiner. (Records of the Federal Communications Commission, RG 173)

Today, it seems unbelievable that a radio show could terrorize listeners. In 1938, when “War of the Worlds” aired, radio was a new broadcast medium. The only other was film, which was more sanitized and far less lifelike than now. Welles, a Midwest native, and his company played with the airwaves’ potential by making this show as realistic as possible. They were far more successful than they dreamed.

This week:

* Immigration enforcement has caused so much anxiety in Chicago's Mexican community that some are considering returning to Mexico voluntarily. But it's not as easy as you might think.

Joe Adkins in front of his home in 2019 with one of the giant pumpkins he grew and then carved. Adkins' love of pumpkin-carving eventually led him to grow the giant gourds.
Mark Mourlas
Joe Adkins in front of his home in 2019 with one of the giant pumpkins he grew and then carved. Adkins' love of pumpkin-carving eventually led him to grow the giant gourds.

* Peter Medlin takes us to a pumpkin contest that's not for your average jack-o-lantern. It's for monster-sized gourds.

* We talk with the Better Business Bureau of Central Illinois about scams targeting older individuals.

* Jane Carlson reports on drugs and violence causing problems at an Illinois prison.

* Ben Howell tells us about a bio-technology company in Bloomington that uses fermentation to eliminate food waste.

* Charlie Schlenker introduces us to a typewriter poet.