Staff shortage keeps Urbana Middle School to remote learning on Monday
Urbana Middle School students studied remotely on Monday. Families were told by email on Sunday that too many staff members were suddenly out, and too few substitutes were available to hold school in person safely. After-school sports are continued as scheduled. A spokesperson for the district told IPM that said school will happen in person on Tuesday, and the district will notify families if anything changes. – Emily Hays, IPM News
Former Dolphins, Colts, Fighting Illini player Vontae Davis found dead in his South Florida home at age 35
SOUTHWEST RANCHES, Fla. — Former NFL cornerback Vontae Davis has been found dead in his South Florida home. Police in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Davie say the body of the 35-year-old Davis was found Monday morning, but no foul play is suspected. No cause of death has been released pending an autopsy. Davis played for 10 seasons in the NFL after being drafted 25th overall by the Dolphins in 2009 out of Illinois. He played three seasons for Miami before being traded to Indianapolis just before the 2012 season. He played six seasons with the Colts. He signed with the Buffalo Bills for 2018 but retired after the season’s second game, saying injuries no longer allowed him to play. – Associated Press
Governor says Prisoner Review Board will get more training
Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker says the state’s Prisoner Review Board needs to change how it approaches some cases. Two members of the board, including its chair, resigned last month after a man who was released from prison allegedly killed an 11-year-old boy, Jayden Perkins, and seriously injured his pregnant mother, Laterria Smith. Pritzker says board members will get more domestic violence training. Crosetti Brand was on mandatory supervised release when he was accused of threatening Smith. He went back to prison, but the prisoner review board said they didn’t have enough to keep him detained. – Alex Degman, WBEZ
Flash Index rises slightly in March
The University of Illinois Flash Index rose two-tenths of a point in March, measuring the Illinois economy with a reading of 102-point-8. Any number above 100 shows economic growth. This is the second straight month that the Flash Index has shown a slight increase. U of I economist Fred Giertz says the recent increases reflect the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb inflation without triggering a recession. The Flash Index is based on Illinois tax receipts. Individual income tax receipts for March were up from a year ago, while sales and corporate tax receipts were down. – Jim Meadows, IPM News
