Illinois quick hits: Minority-only scholarship programs suspended

DOJ: Minority-only scholarship programs suspendedThe Department of Justice says the State of Illinois and several universities have suspended a minority-only scholarship program after a lawsuit threat from the department.The program was administered by the Illinois Board of Higher Education before being suspended until it can review it with the Illinois General Assembly during the current legislative session.The universities named in a DOJ press release are Northwestern University, Loyola University of Chicago and the University of Chicago.Illinois man dies in NYC copter crashThe pilot killed in a New York City tourist helicopter crash Thursday was from Illinois.The chopper fell into the Hudson River just over 15 minutes after it departed a heliport. According to ABC7, the pilot, Sean Johnson, was from Chicago. A family of five Spanish tourists celebrating their mother’s birthday were also killed in the crash.Chronic wasting disease spreadsChronic wasting disease, or CWD, is spreading in Illinois. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resource, the disease has been detected in Putnam, Marshall, Adams, and Peoria counties, expanding the geographic presence of the disease in free-ranging deer populations in northern Illinois.CWD is an always-fatal neurological disease that affects the long-term health of white-tailed deer in Illinois. First documented in the state in 2002 near Roscoe, CWD has been detected in 25 counties across northern Illinois and now as far south as Adams County in west-central Illinois.