Checking In With The Shield Team: How’s The U Of I Doing Handling COVID-19?
URBANA – Since Aug. 16, when twice-a-week COVID-19 testing was made mandatory for students arriving back to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 679 positive COVID-19 cases have been identified among students, faculty and staff, according to the U of I’s public database. Most of these are among students who arrived back to campus already […]
New Mobile Market Aims To Alleviate Hunger In Champaign-Urbana
CHAMPAIGN – Nearly 16% of Champaign County residents struggle to afford food, according to a 2020 Feeding America study. A new bus on the streets of Champaign-Urbana is aiming to alleviate that. The new Mobile Market is the product of a partnership between Carle Health and the newly formed Champaign-Urbana City Farms. The pay-what-you-can food […]
Bayer’s Rejection Of Quick COVID-19 Testing Resulted In Delayed Isolation For Migrant Workers, Officials Say
RANTOUL – At least eight migrant workers who were infected with COVID-19 waited several days before isolating because the company they worked for, Bayer, declined to pay for expedited tests, Champaign County health officials said. The company’s rejection came after its occupational health team had agreed to pay about $5,000 in quick testing for about […]
News Around Illinois — Sept. 1, 2020
Advocate Warns Of Moving Foster Children To Managed Care Beginning Sept. 1, an estimated 18,000 foster children will be transferred from the child welfare system into a health care coverage plan. YouthCare is a “managed care” insurance program. Under managed care, a private, for-profit insurance company is paid a flat monthly per-person rate to manage […]
U Of I Athletes Lead Black Lives Matter March Through Champaign
University of Illinois athletes led a Black Lives Matter march through Champaign on Monday, culminating with five minutes of silence outside Champaign Police Headquarters. Listen to this story here. Chants of “No justice, no peace! Prosecute the police!” rang out as the group estimated at about 500 people marched from Memorial Stadium up First Street […]
More Demand, Fewer Volunteers Leave Food Pantries Scrambling During Pandemic
Before the pandemic, the food pantry at St. Patrick Church in Urbana, Ill. served meals to more than 100 families per week. They operated with the help…
To Curb COVID-19 Spread, Vote-By-Mail To Play A Bigger Role In Illinois Voting
As of last August 28, election officials in Illinois had received more than a million applications for vote-by-mail ballots for the November 3rd election. The high number was hoped for, as a new state law expands the use of mail voting as a way to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Illinois State Board of […]
