Governor Vows To Increase Testing As COVID-19 Cases Surge CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois will soon more than double the number of COVID-19 tests it can administer each day as the number of cases in the state surged. Public health officials announced 1,105 new cases, including 18 deaths on Sunday. Overall, Illinois has…
The Illinois State Board of Education announced late last week that remote learning days will start for students across the state Tuesday, March 31 and will continue until in-person classes resume. These days are counted as school days and do not need to be made up at the end of year. Districts are instructed to…
CHAMPAIGN – Champaign Unit 4 school officials plan to distribute Chromebooks to students whose families do not have a device at home. In a message sent to families last week, Unit 4 Superintendent Susan Zola says the initial distribution of Chromebooks will be to families who do not have any additional devices in their home….
Updated: Sunday 3:20 p.m. Tornado Damages Homes, Uproots Trees In Northern Illinois OREGON — Weather officials have confirmed a tornado touched down in northern Illinois damaging homes and uprooting trees. The tornado touched down in Ogle County just outside Oregon around 9 p.m. on Saturday. National Weather Service meteorologist Gino Izzi says it was on…
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has ordered the closing of every school in the state until March 30 amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus. Statewide, nearly 2 million students will not be returning to the classroom for two weeks. Here is an updated blog on what Illinois districts are doing to keep education and school…
As the price of gasoline plummeted amid COVID-19 restrictions, so has the price of ethanol. And Midwestern corn farmers are beginning to feel the…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced this week that Illinois prisons would be closed to new inmates in response to growing concern about the COVID-19 pandemic spreading within Illinois’ correctional facilities. As of Sunday, at least eight incarcerated men at Stateville Correctional Center have tested positive for the virus, along with multiple staff members at the prison….
President Trump indicated there would be an announcement about deals to make more ventilators, masks and other equipment. The news conference is scheduled to begin shortly. Watch it live.
Illinois Coronavirus Cases Tops 2,500; Death Toll Now 26 CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Public Health says there are now 2,538 cases of COVID-19, a growth of 673 cases from Wednesday. The death toll is now stands at 26. The newest deaths include a man in his 50’s, two men and two women in…
The Broadway Diner is empty. The ‘50s style restaurant has been a fixture of downtown Columbia, for decades and gets a lot of customers from the…
As the U.S. economy has slowed due to the coronavirus threat, 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment only weeks after an especially robust job…
A pilot program launched by Danville school district 118 is sending students to the drive-through window to get meals, while classes are suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak. Families in District 118 received cards for each of their school-age children last week, qualifying each child for two free meals this week, on Wednesday through Friday…
Illinois Delays Income Tax Deadline As Virus Cases Climb CHICAGO — Illinois taxpayers will have until July 15 to file and pay their state income taxes because of the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the three-month delay Wednesday as officials reported an elderly resident has died at a suburban Chicago nursing home where dozens…
Emergency physicians across Illinois are bracing for an onslaught of patients sick with the coronavirus disease COVID-19. Dr. Ernest Wang, president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians, says hospitals across the state are preparing, and right now feels like the calm before the storm: “The way I describe this to my friends and family:…
Last-minute objections are holding up a massive aid package that President Trump was expected to sign. The White House has scheduled its now-regular news conference for 5:30 p.m. ET. Watch it live.