State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) says he will continue his court battle against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s use of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A transcript of an interview with Bailey is at the end of this article. Audio of the interview is here. Last week, a Sangamon County judge denied the governor’s request to…
En las afueras de Rantoul, en el centro-este de Illinois, unos 100 trabajadores agrícolas migrantes están viviendo en un viejo hotel localizado en una…
CHAMPAIGN — The long-delayed Big Ten football season kicks off tonight in Madison, Wisconsin. The 14th-ranked Badgers take on Lovie Smith’s fifth Illini squad, which enters the contest as a three-touchdown underdog. Brian Moline previews the Illini football opener at Wisconsin with Robert Rosenthal from IlliniBoard.com. Coach Smith said he wasn’t offended by the oddsmakers’…
DECATUR – Half all Illinois counties are now considered at a warning level for the coronavirus, according to the state’s public health department. Macon County, in central Illinois, is among them. In the county of just over 100,000 people, 52 residents have died from the virus, and there are now more than a thousand active…
URBANA – As a freshman member of the University of Illinois’ marching band, Matthew Kostbade was looking forward to performing on the field. “I can see Memorial Stadium from this window right now and it pains me to look at it especially on Saturday’s when I know we could be out there with my drum…
Carle Foundation Hospital is routinely treating people in beds in the hallways of the emergency room at its Urbana facility on University Avenue, although the practice has come under criticism by health experts. The experts said the practice raises issues about confidentiality and safety, and could expose those patients and others to other health problems…
CHAMPAIGN – Champaign Unit 4 elementary school students will have the option to return to some in-person instruction at the end of this month. Unit 4 officials unveiled plans this week to bring students back into classrooms for shortened school days. The first day of in-person instruction is scheduled for Oct. 27. Parents can still…
SPRINGFIELD – Opioid overdoses are on the rise in Illinois, according to state health officials. The year 2019 saw a 22% increase in opioid-related emergency room visits compared to the prior year — and a 3% increase in overdose deaths, from 2,167 in 2018 to 2,233 in 2019. Preliminary data for the first half of…
MONTICELLO — Students and employees of school districts in Piatt County now have access to free, rapid COVID-19 testing through Kirby Medical Center — a rural hospital based in Monticello. Monticello school officials hope access to rapid COVID-19 testing will decrease the number of student and teacher absences in the district. Illinois Department of Public…
On the outskirts of Rantoul, in east-central Illinois, about 100 migrant farmworkers are living at an old hotel in a sleepy part of town. Every day at…
URBANA – Most Urbana District 116 students will continue to learn remotely — at least until January when the third quarter of the school year is scheduled to begin. The district initially recommended elementary school students move toward a hybrid schedule, which included in-person instruction in the morning hours four days per week, and remote…
URBANA – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s saliva-based COVID-19 test has never operated under emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, despite prior claims that it did, an FDA spokesperson tells Illinois Newsroom. Since July, the U of I has used a COVID-19 test it developed to test all students and…
URBANA – When choosing a mask or face covering to wear during the pandemic, research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign suggests that a well-fitted mask made of two layers of a breathable material can be nearly as effective as a surgical mask at blocking respiratory droplets, which are released when people cough, sneeze…
URBANA – Graduate student workers, facilities and maintenance employees, professors and students at the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus criticized the institution’s response to COVID-19 during a virtual town hall Tuesday afternoon. The forum was hosted by the Campus Labor Coalition, a group of unions representing workers on campus. Those who spoke expressed a wide…
URBANA – Marisa Hardwick isn’t surprised there are now more than twice as many cases of COVID-19 on the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus than previously predicted by university researchers. Hardwick is a senior at the U of I studying kinesiology. She’s also a resident advisor in a campus dormitory. “The type of school this…