Springfield Restaurants Adapt, Anxiously Await Help
In the third week since Illinois’ governor banned going out to bars and dining out, restaurants are in limbo as they scramble to get by on takeout and…
U Of I Team Designs Emergency Ventilator In Days
Hospitals treating patients with COVID-19 face a growing need for ventilators to help them breathe. Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have come up with a design for a ventilator … and they’re offering it for free. The Illinois RapidVent, looking at first sight like a few pieces of plastic plus some screws,…
‘It’s Extremely Frustrating’: More Illinois Hospitals Testing On Site, But Tests Still Limited
URBANA – Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana has joined a growing number of Illinois hospitals doing on-site testing for COVID-19. But testing at Carle, like many other hospitals, will remain limited to patients who qualify based on criteria set by state health officials. In mid-March, those criteria were broadened to include hospitalized patients with severe…
COVID-19 Effects On Arts Community ‘Unprecedented’
The arts community has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. Illinois Newsroom’s Brian Moline recently spoke with Kelly White, Executive Director of 40 North, the Champaign County Arts Council. Brian Moline discusses COVID-19’s impact on the Champaign County arts community with Kelly White. White described just how the arts community in Champaign County…
Illinois School Closures Spotlight Opportunity Gap For Poor Students
About half of Gladys Marquez’s students can’t access the internet at home. Marquez teaches English language learners at Dwight Eisenhower High School in Blue Island on Chicago’s south side. The school serves predominantly students of color from low-income backgrounds. Marquez says her students are fortunate to attend a school district that provides an iPad to…
YMCA, Other Child Care Providers Re-Open For Health Staff, ‘Essential Workers’
UPDATE on April 8, 2020: Child care at the Stephens Family YMCA will be expanded to all essential workers identified by the state. To register and for a complete list of occupations that qualify, contact Cody Flowers at cody@ccymca.net. Include your occupation and place of employment in your initial email to Cody. CHAMPAIGN – The Stephens…
Illinois State Board Of Education Orders Schools To Begin Remote Learning
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 Unit 4 To Distribute Chromebooks To Families In Need
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….
‘A Lot Of These Older Guys Are Gonna Die’: COVID-19 Hits Illinois Prisons
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….
Missouri Governor Resists Calls For Stay-At-Home Order
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…
3.3 Million Americans File Unemployment; Coronavirus News, Thursday March 26
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…
Danville Schools Partner With McDonald’s For Meals During Closure
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…
‘We Have To Be Ready At Any Time’: Illinois ER Doctors Brace For Onslaught Of COVID-19
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:…
Coronavirus Is Big Problem For People Facing Homelessness
The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on nearly every aspect of life. And people who lack stable housing or food supplies are among the most vulnerable.
C-U Businesses Adjust To Stay Open During ‘Stay-At-Home’
One of the first things Rogards did in response to the coronavirus outbreak was to suspend its trial chair program. Rogards president and CEO Tonya Horn says the program is popular among customers of the Champaign office supply business, which traces its beginnings to 1906. Customers could take an office chair back to their own…