University of Illinois workers grapple with maskless guests and COVID-positive students
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University of Illinois workers grapple with maskless guests and COVID-positive students

CHAMPAIGN – Cooks and custodians at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana say the univeristy rejected their proposal this week for stricter safety measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  Dena Gary is a head cook at the University of Illinois and the president of the Champaign-Urbana chapter of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. She and other…

Billions are at stake in how the government defines a place as rural
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Billions are at stake in how the government defines a place as rural

HOUSTON, Mo. — A town of 1,000 people feels like a rural place to someone from Chicago. To a person living in a town of 200 people, that population of 1,000 feels almost urban. But what the government defines as rural determines tens of billions of dollars a year in spending aimed at propping up…

217 Today: Definitions of ‘rural’ stop many small towns from getting grant money

217 Today: Definitions of ‘rural’ stop many small towns from getting grant money

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022 Today’s headlines: Most school districts in Illinois say they don’t have enough teachers, according to a new survey. A Department of Children and Family Services supervisor said employees need more training on how to deal with difficult situations after a case worker was killed last month during a home visit near Springfield. Environmental…