217 Today: Thursday, August 12, 2021

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Today’s headlines:

  • The vast majority of Illinois state legislators say they are vaccinated against COVID-19, but several Republicans would not respond to WBEZ’s survey of all 177 lawmakers asking for their vaccination status.

  • The Illinois State Board of Education Wednesday dealt major consequences to a private Christian school in Elmhurst that’s not planning to comply with Governor J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate.

  • State health officials reported more than 3,900 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday. That’s the highest number of cases in one day in Illinois since April 9.

In today’s deep dive, even before new congressional district maps are drawn, Central Illinois Democrat David Palmer says he’s running for Congress. 

Reporting today contributed by Tony Arnold and Hannah Meisel.

Carolina Garibay

Carolina Garibay is a senior journalism student at the University of Illinois. She’s a senior producer for the Illinois Student Newsroom and regularly covers arts and culture, education, and social justice issues affecting local communities. Along with her work for WILL, she was also the buzz Editor at The Daily Illini and hosts an arts and culture radio talkshow on WPGU 107.1 F.M.