Society

Illinois' dropping unemployment rate will trigger the end of a federal program for the state’s long-term jobless. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says the Extended Benefit program ends May 12th. The program pays 20 weeks of benefits to anyone unemployed beyond 79 weeks. Department spokesman Greg Rivara says the program started paying benefits in Illinois in 2009 because of high unemployment, but the recent fall below 9 percent triggered its end. Officials urge anyone without a job to visit the Illinois JobLink website. It has postings for more than 90,000 job openings.

Former Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Chesteen passed away yesterday at the age of 72. The Union City native was a candidate for governor in 1994, and was a longtime political science professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Chesteen was an Obion County commissioner from 1982 to 1994, and taught at UT-Martin from 1969 until retiring in December 2007. He’s survived by his wife and two children. 

A new poll shows Kentuckians are becoming increasingly aware of the commonwealth's health issues and willing to act on them.

The Kentucky Health Issues Poll is conducted annually by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. The latest poll for last year was just released this week and found many Kentuckians worry about childhood obesity and depression.

The only super-maximum security prison in Illinois may not close after all. An Illinois panel voted Tuesday against closing the Tamms Correctional Center and other prisons.

The Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability voted 7 to 3 against the closure. Republican Representative Mike Tryon was among those who voted no. He said he couldn’t support closing prisons without a plan for what to do with the structures.