Chicago To Join State In Reopening Museums, Zoos On Friday CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago will join the rest of Illinois in the next reopening phase starting Friday, allowing museums, gyms and zoos to open for business with restrictions in place. Public health officials said Monday that COVID-19 metrics required for reopening under state and city…
Researchers estimate there are more than 200,000 students with temporary legal protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against an effort by the Trump administration to end the program, but the court left open the possibility that the program could still be rescinded. …
CHAMPAIGN – The United Way of Champaign County, a local funder, is stepping up its efforts to provide grant funding and support to organizations across the community, as needs have grown due to job layoffs and other hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The group has raised more than a million dollars, together with the…
CHICAGO – Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced official guidelines for the state to enter Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan this week. The governor says all four regions of the state are on track to meet the requirements needed to enter Phase 4, which is being called “Revitalization.” In this phase, gatherings of 50 people…
CHAMPAIGN – Champaign-Urbana residents celebrated Juneteenth on Friday afternoon with a peaceful march and a small festival in Beardsley Park. Juneteenth is celebrated every year on June 19th, and commemorates the day in 1865 when some of the last enslaved people in the Confederacy were emancipated. HV Neighborhood Transformation (HVNT) organized the inaugural Juneteenth event,…
The Illinois Newsroom team is answering questions from listeners to navigate this unprecedented time. Have a question you want answered? Ask here. In today’s edition of “Ask the Newsroom,” we’ve answered questions on COVID-19, SNAP benefits and living alone. Please note, the information is accurate as of June 19, 2020. COVID-19 Testing Q: I am…
At Some CPS Schools, Conversations And Peace Circles Will Replace Traditional Punishment When Iysha Jones and her team took over Doolittle Elementary School last year, it was a place where students had trouble talking about how they felt because they expected bad behavior to result in harsh discipline, like suspensions. So Jones was elated when…
With large gatherings still not allowed because of COVID-19, Allerton Park and Retreat Center and WILL Classical are teaming up to bring listeners a virtual concert experience this weekend. The Summer Solstice Concert Cruise will feature Champaign native Viktor Krauss and his band, with a performance specifically recorded with Allerton in mind. You can hear…
There will be food, music, dancing and a serving of history, Danville’s Juneteenth Celebration, which runs from 5 to 8 PM on Friday, June 19, at Lincoln Park (1000 N. Logan Ave.). A Facebook page for the event is linked here. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when word of the Emancipation Proclamation formally came to…
URBANA – The University of Illinois system, including its campuses in Urbana, Springfield and Chicago, will welcome back tens of thousands of students this fall. In an announcement Thursday, university officials laid out plans to offer a mix of in-person and online instruction. The announcement comes days after staff at the U of I’s Urbana…
Democrat Mitchell Esslinger announced his bid for the Illinois House Wednesday, with a campaign announcement that targeted his opponent, Republican incumbent Brad Halbrook. At a stop in St. Joseph, the 26-year-old Esslinger accused Halbrook of supporting divisiveness and the status quo, and not caring about the needs of ordinary people. “This district has seen its…
Pritzker Announces Rent Support And Business Relief Fund CHICAGO (AP) — Illinoisans struggling to pay mortgages and rent and small businesses, all impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, will have access to $900 million in grants, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday. According to state officials, $150 million of the funds, to be administered by the Illinois…
A list of health and safety guidelines for getting students back in classrooms is scheduled to be released before the end of the month. It will provide…
URBANA – Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created a saliva-based COVID-19 test. During a webinar hosted Tuesday by U of I Chancellor Robert Jones and other university staff, Martin Burke, a U of I chemistry professor, announced that they had the capacity to test up to 10,000 people per day. He…
ComEd Quadruples Payments To Powerhouse Law Firm Amidst Corruption Probe Amid a sprawling federal corruption probe, Commonwealth Edison quadrupled its payments last year to a powerhouse Chicago-based law firm that’s representing the utility giant in the investigation of its Springfield lobbying practices. Federal regulatory documents show ComEd paid Jenner & Block nearly $2.4 million in…