* Not long after commanding his followers to “Bring this state to its knees,” covid-rights attorney and Republican appellate court candidate Tom DeVore apparently shut down his Facebook page…
* Ryan Steele offered up more in a video yesterday…
Facebook did not take down his page. Tom took down his page. People were constantly harassing him and haranguing him. After a while it gets to a person. He just needs to take some time. So he has put it on the do not disturb status for a while. So all those people that are blowing me up, there’s your answer, so please don’t blow me up either. He is still out there fighting the cause he just needs a break from Facebook because he was getting thousands upon thousands of messages a day, and he needed a breather. So he wasn’t Zuckerberged there’s no conspiracy theory here. Tom decided to take down his own page for sanity’s sake, so please give him a break. He has been fighting this fight non-stop for 18 months now, and it’s only gotten worse, that people were harassing, I wouldn’t say harassing, just constantly reaching out to him non stop. The messages every day, the text messages, the Facebook messages, the calling the office the staff in the office are just overwhelmed with phone calls. He’s going to keep up the good fight, and we’ll still, you know, have updates from him.
He did a video the other night, it was last night he did a live video, and he had so many questions from that video that were publicly posted, let alone how many private messages he got. So I know he’s out there fighting the good fight and still wanting to educate people as to the law.
* Meanwhile, from WGEM…
The preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Friday between the parents of three Quincy Public School students and the school district over school’s quarantine policy has been canceled, according to court records.
Attorney Thomas DeVore of Greenville, Illinois, who represents the parents, said after Adams County Circuit Judge Debra Wellborn granted a Temporary Restraining Order to allow the students back in class on September 2, he felt the school was abiding by the law.
DeVore said he met with the school’s attorney, David Penn, and they made the decision jointly to cancel the hearing. DeVore said the court agreed. […]
Adams County State’s Attorney Gary Farha told WGEM News that his office would only seek a court order for quarantine if a person was living in a household where someone had tested positive for COVID-19.
* Kadence Koen is a math and science teacher at Southeast High School in Springfield…
It is with a heavy heart that I go to school today. I have been a high school teacher for most of my adult life. I LOVE my students and really like teaching. Today will be my last day with my students for the foreseeable future. I have been placed on unpaid leave for refusing to produce a vaccination card and refusing to be tested. (I am following Illinois law 745 ILCS 70 Health Care Right of Conscience Act). I did not arrive at this decision lightly! I will miss my students. (My kids will miss my pay check) Hopefully this gets through the court system sooner than later!! Liberty and privacy are key components to a free country.
These test refusals have the potential to eventually crash the whole system.
* Sun-Times…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced a new citywide COVID-19 vaccine initiative.
The Protect Chicago 77 community engagement campaign aims to get at least 77% of Chicago residents 12 and older at least partially vaccinated by year’s end. […]
But vaccination rates across the 77 community areas vary. While places like Lincoln Square and Lake View are nearing 80%, others like Austin or Chatham are below 60%.
* Axios Chicago…
COVID hot spots have moved all over Chicago in the past 18 months, but in recent weeks, the highest rates have emerged in two ZIP codes on the far Southwest and Northwest Sides, according to city data.
• 60655 covers parts of Beverly, Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood.
• 60656 covers parts of Jefferson Park and Norwood Park.
The intrigue: These two ZIP codes carry two more distinctions:
• They house the city’s highest concentrations of municipal workers.
• And they were the only two Chicago ZIP codes to post strong showings for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, per a Tribune analysis.
Why it matters: Chicago taxpayers help pay health care bills for most city workers. And it costs about $20,000 to treat the average unvaccinated COVID patient in the hospital, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
• Vaccination rates in the two ZIP codes are relatively low at 53% (60655) and 54% (60656) — compared to more than 90% in four downtown ZIP codes.
Lots of current and former first responders live in those neighborhoods…
* I hate people sometimes…
Some expressed sympathy to her family after her death. Some sent profanity-laced messages on social media that she deserved to die. Some said her relatives were terrible people.
In the two weeks since Candace Ayers’ family used her obituary to vent frustration about their fully vaccinated mother’s death from COVID-19, millions of people around the world have learned of the Springfield woman’s plight.
Hundreds of them have sent messages on the internet — most of them negative and insulting — to her loved ones, though about a dozen told her family they were so moved by the 66-year-old grandmother’s Sept. 3 death at HSHS St. John’s Hospital that they got COVID-19 shots.
* IDPH…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 21,787 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 239 additional deaths since reporting last Friday, September 17, 2021. More than 80% of Illinois adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and more than 63%% of Illinois adults are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of Illinois’ total population, almost 68% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 53% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,612,129 cases, including 24,783 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since reporting on Friday, September 17, 2021, laboratories have reported 797,018 specimens for a total of 31,192,769. Yesterday, 150,245 COVID-19 tests were reported; the highest one-day total of COVID-19 tests since the beginning of the pandemic. As of last night, 1,926 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 474 patients were in the ICU and 252 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from September 17-23, 2021 is 2.7%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from September 17-23, 2021 is 3.7%.
A total of 14,419,886 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 19,371 doses. Since reporting on Friday, September 17, 2021, 135,598 doses were reported administered in Illinois.
*All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at http://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.
Hospitalizations have so far plateaued and are even slightly declining. This is far more of a regional problem right now. Too many people in southern and western Illinois are deliberately injuring themselves and others.
* More…
* CDC approval will get boosters going for 65+, high-risk, including those with risky jobs
* Chicago Blackhawks say the team is fully vaccinated as training camp opens. ‘It’s just a sign of the players’ commitment to try to be safe,’ Stan Bowman says.
* Add pharmacists to the list of burned-out health care workers
* Illinois wedding turns to funeral as unvaccinated bride-to-be dies of COVID-19
* Where Rockford employers stand on mandatory COVID vaccines, religious waivers and more
* Liberty Counsel calls on Southern Illinois Healthcare to accept employees’ religious exemption
* The Conservatives Who’d Rather Die Than Not Own the Libs
- TheSouthern - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:28 pm:
Rich, knowing the crisis in Southern Illinois, how/why is IDNR continuing to host the Fort Massac Encampment in Metropolis in October?
- New Day - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:35 pm:
Some people really suck.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:37 pm:
Shut down his Facebook?
DeVore using cancel culture in himself.
Epic.
- Give Me A Break - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:38 pm:
So great to see a teacher putting her own “liberty and privacy” before the health of her students and co-workers.
Did she throw a fit when she was required to have a teacher’s certificate, or have district ID or be background checked? Spare me your moral tirade lady, the district is better off without you.
- Cubs in '16 - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:39 pm:
===Tom took down his page. People were constantly harassing him and haranguing him. After a while it gets to a person.===
Excuse me while I locate my tiny violin. The old adage ‘Be careful what you wish for’ comes to mind here.
===Hopefully this gets through the court system sooner than later!!===
If Kadence Koen is gambling her teaching career on the courts bailing her out she’d better start working on a resume. And she’s a science teacher no less. It’s unbelievable to me that so many are willing to die on this hill.
- Jibba - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:39 pm:
===I am following Illinois law 745 ILCS 70 Health Care Right of Conscience Act===
Didn’t know that spitting into a tube was against anyone’s religious beliefs. Noted.
- JoanP - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:42 pm:
= Didn’t know that spitting into a tube was against anyone’s religious beliefs. =
Doesn’t have to be for the Right of Conscience Act to be invoked. The Act does NOT require that refusal be based on religious beliefs, merely “conscience”.
Still ridiculous, though.
- Norseman - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:42 pm:
As the parent of two former Southeast High School students I say good riddance. The students have a hard enough time without having to deal with an irresponsible teacher.
- cermak_rd - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:44 pm:
19371 vaccines every day? That’s amazing. That’s almost the population of Charleston, IL. Every single day. Granted it was higher in the beginning as you had a huge population of willing arms, but still.
- Lefty Lefty - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:45 pm:
Ah Mt. Greenwood. You never let me down.
- Amalia - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:45 pm:
“He. needs his time.” Well people need not to die. Participate in discouraging healthy choices and your “time” is of no concern to me.
- Tommydanger - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:47 pm:
In re Tom DeVore; Mr. Smith Goes to Wshington was a better movie for fighting against the system than DeVore’s ‘I’m exhausted and need a break’ rage against the machine.
- Just Me 2 - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:48 pm:
I understand (but not agree) with the refusal to get vaccinated. I do not understand the refusal to be tested.
- Cheap Seats - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:50 pm:
Ms. Koen sounds like someone that will be selling essential oils next week.
- H-W - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:50 pm:
=More than 63%% of Illinois adults are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)=
And here in McDonough County, only 42% of adults are vaccinated, only 48% of WIU students are vaccinated, and we have a higher death rate than the nation average (ours is 1 per 406 people, versus the national average of 1 per 500 people).
As to the teacher story, why should I feel sorry for someone who chooses not to work over protecting herself and others from death?
- Proud Papa Bear - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 12:59 pm:
Hearing that this teacher left the profession has made my Friday even better.
- Cubs in '16 - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:01 pm:
===I understand (but not agree) with the refusal to get vaccinated. I do not understand the refusal to be tested.===
Same here. Just goes to show the “concern” these folks claim to have about the vaccine isn’t the real issue.
- MZ - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:02 pm:
This may have been addressed already but is anyone else having trouble with IDPH’s Vax Portal? It’s showing vaccinations I had years ago but both my Pfizer COVID shots aren’t on the list. Got both of them last month…
- Pundent - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:05 pm:
=I do not understand the refusal to be tested.=
I guess you slept through that part of science class where they covered owning the libs. Don’t feel bad, I did too.
- Hannibal Lecter - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:14 pm:
I wonder if he contracted COVID and is trying to hide it from the public to avoid humiliation.
- Wensicia - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:14 pm:
I’m sure this teacher received a TB test, required by the state for all public school employees, when she was hired, so I’m not buying the refusal to test for COVID excuse.
- OneMan - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:16 pm:
Not a lawyer and don’t play one on the internet but you would think there would be some established case law on Health Care Right of Conscience Act and medical testing at this point.
That someone would have tried to use it to either
- Get out of a pre-employment drug test
- Get out of a government-required drug test
- Get out of a pre-employment TB test
- Get a blood test for DUI tossed.
- Get a breathalyzer test result tossed.
- Get out of a pre-insurance medical test.
Heck, the last one alone you figure some class-action lawyer would have tried by now?
- TheInvisibleMan - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:22 pm:
== having trouble with IDPH’s Vax Portal ==
Yes. The login works, but doesn’t show any vaccinations for me.
I had to call the local health department directly to verify they had the records. They did. For whatever reason it isn’t showing up on the state portal though.
- wildcat12 - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:24 pm:
I agree that the school is better off without that teacher, since she poses a clear threat, but we can’t ignore the fact that if enough teachers quit, we’ll have a big problem on our hands. I don’t know what the answer is, because I fully agree with the mandate, but it is a concern.
- MZ - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:25 pm:
@TheInvisibleMan
Thank you for your response! I’ll try reaching out to my local health department directly. Here’s to hoping IDPH gets it to work here in the near future. It’d be a great tool if it starts to work properly.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:26 pm:
Yes they may be filling up hospitals and ICU’s and suffering at a higher rate, but at least they’re free and didn’t let the government tell them what to do. /s
Wish there was no need for snide remarks, but what can one do when the tools for ending the pandemic are before us but many refuse to use them because of delusional and infantile, not to mention privileged, notions of freedom (rules and laws for thee but not for me)?
- Don't Bloc Me In - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:27 pm:
Tom Devore. Man who shoots from the hip gets return fire, heads for cover.
Friend mentions Tom’s ’sanity’ more than once. Ya’ think?
- Manchester - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:27 pm:
Spare me the BS Kandace Koen. By not vaccinating Ms. Koen places the lives of her fellow teachers and her students at jeopardy. Don’t tell me how much you love your students when you fail to protect by taking a simple and safe vaccine. Ms. Koen is full of horsehockey.
- Bruce( no not him) - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:29 pm:
I’ll give folks a pass (Barely) on not wanting the vaccine. It is their right to do that.
But I don’t get the refusal of testing.
Please, if anyone does believe it is against your conscience, explain it to me.
- Dotnonymous - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:39 pm:
T.G. DeVore needs his “time” says his spokeswoman…who will speak for the dead victims?
- Demoralized - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:43 pm:
==or refusing to produce a vaccination card and refusing to be tested==
I’m really not understanding this refusal to be tested. I have no sympathy whatsoever for this teacher losing their job. None. Nor do I have any sympathy for anyone losing their job over their refusal to be vaccinated or tested. Good riddance.
- Ron Burgundy - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:43 pm:
-if enough teachers quit, we’ll have a big problem on our hands.-
Yeah, we’ll need to review our hiring practices because we hired a bunch of so-called “educators” that should never have been hired in the first place.
- H-W - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:43 pm:
A couple posts here suggest acceptance for those who refuse to vaccinate. I do not, at least, not in the generic sense. I am of the mind that those who refuse to vaccinate should be self-isolating from public gatherings and places of employment. Choices that endanger others should include explicit consequences that protect the others.
- Demoralized - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:44 pm:
==anyone else having trouble with IDPH’s Vax Portal==
I’ve never been able to access it because of the frozen credit report issue. I’m not unfreezing it just so I can access my vax records there. It’s an asinine set up anyway requiring that sort of verification.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:46 pm:
===if enough teachers quit===
Meh. Who is going to hire “all” these teachers?
Vaccinate, test, or move on.
- Give Me A Break - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 1:52 pm:
Let them quit, I’m sure they will have great success finding employment after they tell their perspective employer they refused to protect the health of children and their co-workers. I’m sure companies will be beating their doors down to hire them.
- Marc Ayers - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:00 pm:
Tom Devore deleting his Facebook because of hostile messages? Too many people bombarding his account with hateful rhetoric? He should see my inbox. It’s pretty full with explicit messages of people shaming me and laughing at my mom’s death. Many of the comments are likely from Devore’s followers. My Facebook page stands and my determination to speak up for vaccines and masks will only continue. Mr. Devore needs to do some soul searching (if he has one) in this time and reflect on the damage and death his message has caused. Thanks for posting the SJR article Rich.
- Frank talks - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:01 pm:
As private employers start to see increases in their premiums due to the cost of an unvaccinated person vs a vaccinated person getting Covid, I’m guessing you’ll start to see more private companies with this requirement. Then where do the objectors go?
Any chance her students could have gotten out of taking exams because they have a true conscience belief that testing is an inaccurate assessment of the learning process and doesn’t really quantify the true depth of what was learned?
- JS Mill - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:03 pm:
=After a while it gets to a person.=
Are you bleeping kidding me???? All of the anger and rage this dimwit has created/nurtured/fueled that has been taken out on people that are just making an honest attempt at protecting kids and now he cannot take what is coming home to roost?
Here is a tip “Tom”, maybe think about knocking it off. You have hurt a lot of people that have never wronged anyone and you will never be held to account for it because you will hide behind the law.
I was called hitler and the nut reading the screed cited Tommy boy as her primary source.I still have to go to work and take it every day or my family goes hungry and homeless. At least until I can retire.
What a cowardly wimp.
- H-W - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:07 pm:
@ Marc Ayers. Sorry for your family’s unnecessary and untimely loss.
- Dysfunction Junction - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:08 pm:
Marc, let me be the first to thank you in this thread. I’ve shared your story with a relative who is vaccine hesitant, with the hopes that she will better understand why I won’t see her or her family until they get vaccinated. All the best to you and your family - stay strong.
- Froganon - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:09 pm:
Let every teacher/public employee/ front line worker quit. Positions at vax-free organizations open up regularly. Insurance is pricey when available but owning the libs is priceless. Those who refuse to get the vaccine and refuse testing must isolate from the rest of us.
- Anonish - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:12 pm:
Re Vax Portal, my records weren’t showing up but after messaging the support email they changed my name to match what it is on my medical records and then it showed up.
- thisjustinagain - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:30 pm:
While personal attacks (swear words, threats, etc.) against DeVore are totally out of bounds, daring to challenge him based on science and facts is not. He made himself a lightening rod for the anti-vax/anti-science/anti-facts crowd, and now like the snake-oil salesman being run out of one town, he’s caving under the pressure of reality. Hopefully his supporters/followers finally start waking up.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:33 pm:
DeVore is a victim of his own success…
As others get sick or worse with his legal leadership, heavy is the head that refuses to wear the mask… as others get sick listening to you.
DeVore is a coward, the worst element of the legal profession, making ambulance chasers seem honorable to those looking for relief, as DeVore seeks relief from the media mess of his own device.
Even Harold Hill left “Gary, Indiana” and never stayed anywhere once the ruse was shown.
- Al - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:34 pm:
The number on ventilators is down, so that seems like a positive.
- thoughts matter - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:37 pm:
Comments on the Springfield Leaks Facebook imply she’s actually been vaccinated, but is refusing to show her vaccination card. How silly can you get? Comments also imply that she is the parent who put together the unofficial high school prom that had 100 people test positive afterwards.
She doesn’t want to follow her employers’ or the states’ mandates. Then by all means, resign or get fired. Her employer ( or the state that issued her teaching certificate) doesn’t have to employ her if she won’t follow the rules.
It is your choice. Choices do have consequences.
Ironic that people want to support laws and rules, drug tests, etc for others, but when told to follow rules themselves…refuse to do so.
- denile - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:40 pm:
Ms. Koen is also famous for throwing an unofficial homecoming party last year for Auburn HS students. This super spreader event caused the school to delay in-person learning.
http://springfield-leaks.com/after-an-unofficial-homecoming-party-auburn-high-school-delays-in-person-learning-due-to-students-testing-positive-for-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR0Yr8BluQxrZMRxYv-UEfhvnhF3i4rqgbxKSniGEVZ9BLmnkhSC-VnHiok
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 2:45 pm:
===While personal attacks (swear words, threats, etc.) against DeVore are totally out of bounds===
He dishes that out all day every day.
- Pundent - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 3:22 pm:
=Ms. Koen is also famous for throwing an unofficial homecoming party last year for Auburn HS students.=
The more I hear about Ms. Koen the more apparent it is that the teaching profession won’t be suffering a great loss here.
And to those that question whether or not the profession can afford to lose teachers who oppose proof of vaccination or testing, the bigger question is can they afford to keep them? Teachers have a great deal of influence over their students. I wouldn’t want someone exhibiting this level of judgment anywhere near my kid.
- blue line - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 3:24 pm:
ryan steele could have done that post for devore in about 10 words, rather than one rambling ridiculous paragraph.
- JS Mill - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 3:37 pm:
=While personal attacks (swear words, threats, etc.) against DeVore are totally out of bounds,=
That is a laugh riot. If they are out of bounds why does he use them so much? Why is it ok for his acolytes to use them?
Goose meet gander.
- Amalia - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 3:47 pm:
the corners of the city are also first responder residence heavy. ironic.
- ??? - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 3:48 pm:
Hannibal, I wondered the same thing.
- Mama - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 3:49 pm:
Karma is good at giving a person a taste of their own medicine.
- Mama - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 3:51 pm:
How can a science teacher teach science when they don’t believe in scientific facts?
- Henry Francis - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 4:03 pm:
Who knew that bringing the state to its knees would exact such a toll on one’s mental and emotional condition?
I guess we are stuck wearing our masks until Attorney DeVore feels better. /s
- Wildcat12 - Friday, Sep 24, 21 @ 4:18 pm:
Let me be clear that I would much rather lose an unvaccinated teacher than have one in the classroom. My hope is that there is some thought being given on how to prevent major disruption for students if the existing teacher shortage is made worse by mass resignations or firings. But yes, if it comes down to it, I would have them all quit or be fired rather than continue to teach unvaccinated.