Friday, July 22, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois members of Congress were vocal supporters of the Right to Contraception Act, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. The Peoria-to-Chicago passenger rail route now has an initial price tag: $2.5 billion. The Champaign County Association of Realtors says home sales declined by nearly…
DANVILLE — On a sunny morning in Kennekuk County Park, researchers and veterinary students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scoured the area for Eastern box turtles – a species known for high-domed shells and colorful spots. The University of Illinois Wildlife Epidemiology Lab oversees the largest health study of box turtles in the world….
Billions of dollars a year flow to U.S. hospitals through the federal prescription drug discount program known as 340B. A Supreme Court case this summer briefly thrust the little known but highly controversial program into the spotlight. In 2018, the federal government cut payments to hospitals in the program, and a group of hospitals and…
Thursday, July 21, 2022 Today’s headlines: Three Republicans from the Illinois Congressional Delegation voted against a measure to codify same-sex and interracial marriages. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said it’s time for a nationwide ban on assault-style weapons. The University of Illinois leads the largest health study of box turtles in the world. The Champaign…
For the Urbana and Champaign fire departments, extinguishing fires in multi-story buildings will be a breeze after the departments completed their joint high-rise training last week at Sherman Hall in Champaign. The bi-annual training took place from July 14 to 16. During it, the departments split into smaller crews and rotated through three stations…
PEORIA — OSF HealthCare’s insurance policy bars its LGBTQ employees from fertility treatment coverage. That’s according to a new report by Bloomberg Law. Reporter Shira Stein told WCBU that while most health plans use the CDC’s definition of infertility, OSF’s stated policy covers fertility treatments only for married, opposite-sex couples. Stein said while neither federal…
Wednesday, July 20, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has tested positive for COVID-19. Another county resident – a man in his 70s – has died from COVID-19. This is the fifth COVID-19-related death in July and brings the countywide death toll to 301. Governor JB Pritzker ended COVID-19 vaccine mandates for higher education…
SPRINGFIELD — While COVID may not be top of mind for people anymore, the pandemic isn’t over. And for some who have had COVID, neither is their illness. Many patients with long COVID experience symptoms for weeks or months after their initial infection has passed. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/07/20220719-secovid2wayweb-edit.mp3 Listen to this story here. Nationwide, 1 in 5…
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home, his office announced Tuesday, three days after he spoke at a gathering of Democrats in Tampa, Florida. Pritzker’s press office said he is experiencing mild symptoms and has received the anti-viral medication Paxlovid, a drug that received Emergency Use Authorization…
URBANA — Cars whoosh past the KEDPLASMA center on Lincoln Avenue. Brandon Olison has spent hours in the building, donating his plasma in exchange for a card pre-loaded with cash. Olison hasn’t had any side effects in the two months since he started donating. “I’ve never had a side effect or anything. No bad experiences….
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Beginning July 16, the Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988. CHICAGO — After a bad breakup, 19-year-old…
Tuesday, July 19, 2022 Today’s headlines: Illinois State Police will start keeping clear and present danger reports to prevent some people from obtaining a Firearm Owners’ ID. The Catholic healthcare provider OSF HealthCare will only cover fertility treatments for its married, opposite-sex workers. The Urbana City Council is considering whether to allow a second plasma…
ST. LOUIS — Rabbis Karen and Daniel Bogard, the husband and wife duo at Central Reform Congregation, believe the Jewish position on life has been clear for thousands of years. “There is life and there is potential life. What is currently alive takes precedence over basically everything else. You can break Shabbat (the Jewish day…
URBANA – At the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana campus, there’s a bike rack within 150 feet of nearly every campus building. Altogether, these bike racks can accommodate at least 11,635 bicycles, as of October 2019. However, nearly 1,000 bikes that are parked at these campus bike racks this summer haven’t been moved in weeks,…
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Police announced Monday they will start using a broader definition of what constitutes a “clear and present danger” when reviewing a person’s Firearm Owners Identification card. That’s a factor ISP considers when deciding whether to grant someone a FOID card or to revoke or suspend a card that has already…