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CHAMPAIGN— Congress is expected to pass another unemployment extension this week that will allow the nation’s unemployed to claim up to a maximum 99 weeks of benefits through November.

This is good news for about 115,000 unemployed Illinois residents, who faced a loss of their unemployment benefits if Congress did not act.

As it is now, more than 36,500 residents have exhausted their unemployment benefits since January, according to data obtained from the Illinois Department of Economic Security.

Illinois topped the national unemployment rate in June with 10.4 percent of the state’s residents unemployed.  The unemployment rate nationwide was 9.5 percent in June.

By Dusty Rhodes—The next time you drive past a construction site, take a close look at the workers. Besides the hard hats and the steel-toed boots, you might notice that they have something else in common: Virtually all are white males.

Every Saturday, for 20 weeks, 46 men and women reported to the Physical Plant Service Building on the University of Illinois campus at 7:30 a.m. and worked until 3:30 p.m.

CHAMPAGIN -- The construction industry’s history of racial segregation in Central Illinois isn’t a legend or an excuse; among workers themselves, it’s a well-known fact.

CHAMPAIGN -- Illinois’ legislative effort to level the playing field for minority- and female-owned businesses comes down to a single sentence, and a simple one at that: “Those who submit bids or proposals for State contracts shall not be given a period after the bid or proposal is submitted to cure deficiencies . . . . ”

All it takes is a hard hat, some work boots and a GED. So why aren't more minorities employed in the construction industry?

All it takes is a hard hat, work boots and a GED. So why aren't more minorities employed in the construction industry?

All it takes is a hard hat, work boots and a GED. So why aren't more minorities employed in the construction industry?