Government

Illinois Will Help Local Communities Plan for Broadband

WVIK, Quad Cities NPR | By Herb Trix

Published February 24, 2022 at 1:04 PM CST

Three western and northwestern Illinois counties will get help from the state preparing for broadband. Thursday the governor announced the first group of participants in the Accelerate Illinois Broadband Infrastructure Planning Program.

The six participants include Knox, Mercer, and Whiteside counties.

The program will provide training for community leaders to develop broadband plans based on their local needs. And it's starting this week with the participants launching community surveys.

The state of Illinois will help local leaders identify goals for broadband in their communities, and how to pay for available local service.

Government

Herb Trix

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois. While a graduate student in the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield (then known as Sangamon State University), he got his first taste of public radio, covering Illinois state government for WUIS. Here in the Quad Cities, Herb worked for WHBF Radio before coming to WVIK in 1987. Herb also produces the weekly public affairs feature Midwest Week – covering the news behind the news by interviewing reporters about the stories they cover.

See stories by Herb Trix