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Illinois Supreme Court finally issues face mask order

Thursday, Aug 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois Supreme Court order

In the exercise of the general administrative and supervisory authority over the courts of Illinois conferred on this Court pursuant to article VI, section 16, of the Illinois Constitution of 1970 (Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, sec. 16); in view of the state of emergency that has been declared by the Governor of the State of Illinois in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus; and in the interests of the health and safety of all court users, staff, and judicial officers during these extraordinary circumstances, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that subpart F of the Court’s March 17, 2020 order is rescinded and reserved, and this order is adopted as follows:

F. Individuals, including judges, court staff, parties, attorneys, jurors and witnesses, should not enter any courthouse if they

    1. are not wearing a mask or face covering;
    2. have new flu-like symptoms including fever, cough, or shortness of breath (excluding such symptoms caused by chronic conditions);
    3. currently have been directed to quarantine or isolate at home by any medical provider or public health official; or
    4. reside or have regular close contact with a person currently subject to a quarantine or isolation direction issued by a medical provider or public health official.

Masks or face coverings should be worn at all times while in the courthouse unless the person is (1) otherwise instructed by court personnel; (2) under the age of 2; or (3) incapacitated, having trouble breathing, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance. If available, masks should be provided to individuals who do not have them.

If a touchless/contactless thermometer is available, a temperature check as individuals enter the courthouse should be considered. Individuals with a temperature that is 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher should not enter any courthouse.

All courts should implement procedures for when an individual is denied entry based on the above.

The earlier order did not mention face masks.

Woulda been nice to have that order in place during those insane and mostly maskless Clay County hearings. Just sayin…

…Adding… From comments…

Kinda tips their hand on whether the Governor has the authority to issue successive emergency declarations when the Supremes cite to the declaration in an administrative order.

  18 Comments      


CPS official charged with lying to the FBI

Thursday, Aug 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Sun-Times

A key Chicago Public Schools official with close ties to the CEO has been charged with lying to the FBI about a controversial private custodial contract worth at least $1 billion, federal court records show.

Pedro Soto, the onetime chief of staff to CPS CEO Janice Jackson, allegedly made a false statement Dec. 17 about whether he had given out “nonpublic information” to an unnamed individual during a bidding process. He allegedly told the FBI, “he would want to get information but I don’t think I gave him anything.”

CPS had been soliciting bids in April 2016 for “custodial services, engineering operations and other trade services” worth up to $1 billion, with Soto on the committee evaluating the proposals. The company the FBI was asking about wasn’t named.

* Tribune

Defendants charged in an information as opposed to an indictment typically intend to plead guilty. Soto could not immediately be reached for comment, and no lawyer was listed for him on the criminal case docket. […]

At the time of the contract bid, Soto was chief of school operations, responsible for coordinating and implementing policy across all educational departments. His salary at the time was $161,000 a year, according to public databases.

So, reading between the lines, he’s going to plead guilty to this one count and potentially blow the lid off of insider dealing on that huge and controversial janitorial contract.

…Adding… Hmm…


…Adding… Sen. Rob Martwick…

Rich,

In reading the comments from readers in your blog post about the latest CPS corruption scandal, you replied to Kyle Hillman that “plenty of elected people have been convicted of corruption.” Very true. In fact, this is a line I use often when I talk about an elected school board. Nothing about an elected school board will stop someone from breaking the law. However, that’s not really the point. The point is that in addition to these brazen acts of corruption, there have been a ton of questionable decisions that have had a huge impact on the system of public education in Chicago. In fact, while this story is about corruption related to a contract for janitorial services, the actual move to privatize these services under the Emanuel administration was hugely unpopular, and in the end, a horrible decision. The shameful scandal involving special education services under Forest Claypool resulted in his complete withdrawal from public and political life in Chicago. The decision to close 50 neighborhood schools in the most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods was horrible, but not illegal. Finally (reaching way back to the beginning of this debacle), the appointed board skipped pension payments for a DECADE, leading a once overfunded pension system into near insolvency and putting the burden of fixing that incredibly stupid mistake on the back of every taxpayer in the City of Chicago for at least the next 2 generations. None of those mistakes are anything that result in a prison sentence. However, at the risk of repeating myself, that’s not the point. The point of the movement for an ERSB is that the system of democracy in this country guarantees accountability over the actions of the people who raise taxes, spend money, and make decisions. Given that you could almost set your watch according to the regular and persistent scandals at CPS, including both those worthy of prosecution and those that are not, it is high time that the residents, taxpayers, students and teachers had access to the elected accountability they deserve.

Regards,

Rob Martwick

  33 Comments      


*** UPDATED x1 *** 1,707 new cases, 24 additional deaths, 1,631 people in hospitals, 4.1 percent positivity rate

Thursday, Aug 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,707 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 24 additional confirmed deaths.

    - Cook County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 4 males 80s, 1 female 90s
    - DuPage County: 1 male 70s
    - Hancock County: 1 female 80s
    - Jefferson County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
    - Lake County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
    - LaSalle County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 100+
    - Madison County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
    - St. Clair County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s
    - Whiteside County: 1 female 70s
    - Will County: 1 male 60s
    - Winnebago County: 1 male 70s

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 227,334 cases, including 7,977 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 44,510 specimens for a total of 3,875,922. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 20 – August 26 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,631 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 390 patients were in the ICU and 151 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.

*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.

* Some context for yesterday’s numbers

COVID-19 has killed 37 more Illinoisans, public health officials announced Wednesday, marking the state’s highest number of deaths attributed to the virus in a single day in seven weeks.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also said 2,157 more coronavirus cases have been confirmed, the seventh time the state has crossed the 2,000-case threshold so far this month.

Cases have trended upward in Illinois since early July, and experts have warned that a spike in deaths would follow.

Wednesday’s toll marked only the fifth time the state has tallied 30 or more deaths since July 7, when 37 lives were also lost.

*** UPDATE *** Daily Herald

Hospitals throughout Illinois are reporting the highest number of COVID-19 patients since July 1.

According to Illinois Department of Public Health figures, 1,631 patients were hospitalized with the respiratory disease at the start of the day Thursday. Over the past four days alone, hospitals statewide have added 182 new patients, an average of 46 new hospitalizations each day.

  13 Comments      


*** UPDATED x2 *** Here we go again

Thursday, Aug 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Maybe they should should just sell the plants and let somebody else try to make some money off of them

Exelon Generation announced today that it intends to retire its Byron Generating Station and Dresden Generating Station in fall 2021, resulting in the loss of four nuclear generation units that together supply clean, zero-emissions energy to more than four million homes and businesses in northern Illinois. Byron, located just outside Byron, Ill., will close in September 2021, and Dresden, located in Morris, Ill., will close in November 2021.

Dresden is licensed to operate for another decade and Byron for another 20 years. Together, they employ more than 1,500 full-time employees and 2,000 supplemental workers during refueling outages, most from local union halls. The plants pay nearly $63 million in taxes annually to support local schools, fire, police and other services. The two plants supply 30 percent of Illinois’ carbon-free energy and are essential to meeting the state’s goal to achieve 100 percent clean energy.

“Although we know in our heads that shutting down the uneconomic Illinois plants is necessary to preserve even more jobs elsewhere, our hearts ache today for the thousands of talented women and men that have served Illinois families for more than a generation and will lose their jobs because of poorly conceived energy policies,” said Christopher Crane, president and CEO of Exelon. “But we are only about a year away from shutdown and we need to give our people, the host communities, and regulators time to prepare.”

“We recognize this comes as many of our communities are still recovering from the economic and public health impacts of the pandemic, and we will continue our dialogue with policymakers on ways to prevent these closures,” said Crane. “To that end, we have opened our books to policymakers and will continue to do so for any lawmaker who wishes to judge the plants’ profitability.”

“We agree with Governor Pritzker that policy reform is urgently needed to address the climate crisis and advance Illinois’ clean energy economy, and we support the objectives of the Governor’s recent energy principles,” added Crane. “That’s separate from today’s announcement to retire these two zero-carbon nuclear plants, which was not a decision made lightly and is one that has been in the works for some time.”

Despite being among the most efficient and reliable units in the nation’s nuclear fleet, Dresden and Byron face revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars because of declining energy prices and market rules that allow fossil fuel plants to underbid clean resources in the PJM capacity auction, even though there is broad public support for sustaining and expanding clean energy resources to address the climate crisis. The plants’ economic challenges are further exacerbated by a recent FERC ruling that undermines longstanding state clean energy programs and gives an additional competitive advantage to polluting energy sources in the auction. As a result of these market rules, Exelon Generation’s LaSalle and Braidwood nuclear stations in Illinois, each of which house two nuclear units and together employ more than 1,500 skilled workers, are also at high risk for premature closure.

Studies have shown that when nuclear plants close, plants that burn fossil fuels operate much more often, increasing harmful carbon and air pollution, especially in disadvantaged communities. In January 2019, Illinois committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the targets set in the Paris climate agreement. While the state is currently at roughly 85 percent progress towards the 2025 goal, if the four economically challenged nuclear plants (Dresden, Byron, Braidwood and LaSalle) prematurely retire, Illinois will drop to only 20 percent of the way toward the goal. Electric sector emissions in Illinois will increase by 70 percent.

Despite these consequences, Exelon Generation must act now to prevent further shortfalls and give its employees, contractors and community partners time to prepare for the loss of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in taxes, donations and local purchasing. The notification also is necessary to give PJM enough time to conduct an analysis confirming that retiring Byron and Dresden will not cause a shortage of generating capacity in northern Illinois during times of peak demand.

In the days and weeks ahead, Exelon Generation will file a deactivation notice with PJM and inform key stakeholders and regulatory agencies of the retirements. In addition, the company will:

    Make official shutdown notifications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 30 days;
    Terminate capital investment projects required for long term operation of Dresden and Byron; and
    Scale back the refueling outages scheduled for this fall at Dresden and Byron. The move will result in spending reductions of $50 million and the elimination of up to 1,400 of the more than 2,000 mostly union jobs typically associated with the two refueling outages.

While retirement preparations are underway, employees will continue to operate the plants at world-class levels of safety and operational excellence until they are decommissioned. Exelon Generation will work to place affected plant employees at other Exelon facilities or help them transition to positions outside the company, wherever possible.

…Adding… Press release…

In response to Exelon’s decision that it is closing two nuclear power plants, State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Frankfort), who chairs the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee, released the following statement:

“It’s truly unfortunate that Exelon has announced two plant closures during the middle of a pandemic. The negative economic impact of these closures cannot be understated. The Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee has been committed to working on legislation and consumer assistance since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and we remain committed to working with the men and women of organized labor and all stakeholders to find solutions to secure the future of clean energy in Illinois.”

…Adding… Press release…

Illinois PIRG director Abe Scarr made the following statement in response:

“The era of Exelon holding Illinois’ energy policy hostage must end.

“Exelon’s threats underline the importance of Gov. Pritzker’s call for Exelon to provide certified costs in an independent financial report before securing new subsidies.

“Any additional support for Exelon’s aging, expensive power plants must come within a comprehensive plan to transition Illinois to 100 percent renewable energy, including firm closure dates for nuclear power plants.”

* Related…

* CEJA pushed to back burner by COVID

*** UPDATE 1 *** Illinois Senate President Don Harmon agrees with me, apparently…

Independent market monitors believe these plants can be profitable. I intend to look into legislative options including requiring these plants be put up for sale before they can be shuttered. We owe it to these workers and communities to see if someone else can successfully run these assets.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Jordan Abudayyeh…

First, let’s remember that Exelon already receives a ratepayer-funded subsidy of $235 million dollars per year to run nuclear plants in Illinois. While they couch their messaging in their desire for a clean energy future, their primary purpose is to dramatically increase those subsidies on behalf of their shareholders. Like the Governor said earlier this year, transitioning to a clean renewable energy economy is a top priority for his administration, but the utility companies will not write the legislation to get the state there. The Governor has been clear that establishing a program to reward clean energy sources and phase out dirty energy is a critical part of any comprehensive energy framework, but that framework needs to be developed based on a transparent understanding of the economics involved with the nuclear plants. Any financial benefit to the nuclear plants must be right-sized and protect Illinois ratepayers.

We have seen these threats before, and this time Exelon’s threats will need to be backed up by a thorough and transparent review of their finances – including why the profits of the company as a whole cannot cover alleged operating losses at a few plants. The administration looks forward to working with lawmakers and stakeholders to pass legislation centered on consumers and the climate that creates and retains good paying, union jobs in communities across the state.

…Adding… Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition…

We have said it before and we will say it again. We can and must combat climate change in a way that puts thousands of people back to work statewide, especially in communities of color, without raising electric rates, hiking taxes or giving a bailout to Exelon and fossil fuels.

…Adding… Illinois Chamber…

“The Illinois Chamber was disappointed to learn that Exelon has once again threatened to close two of their nuclear facilities next year — plants that it has acknowledged continue to be profitable — unless they receive another bailout funded by ratepayers,” said Illinois Chamber President and CEO Todd Maisch. “Exelon is demanding a bailout without completely opening its books to a truly independent third party. PJM’s Independent Market Monitor should conduct a thorough audit.

“The Chamber does understand, however, that the closure of power plants can have a significant economic impact on employees and the communities where those facilities are located, and that’s why we support Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Cunningham’s Senate Bill 3837, which includes a number of tools to mitigate these impacts. For instance, SB 3837 would create the Community Impact Mitigation Fund to mitigate the impacts of lost property taxes and jobs, and decreased economic development as a result of closures.

“The Chamber will continue to work with policy makers and energy stakeholders to craft a balanced energy policy that ensures reliable and affordable electricity.”

…Adding… US Sen. Richard Durbin…

“The closure of Byron and Dresden Generating Stations will have significant impacts on the local economy and Illinois workers. In the days and months ahead, I am committed to fighting for these jobs and helping to create additional good paying jobs in these communities, and creating a clean energy economy with policies like my America’s Clean Future Fund Act.

“Unfortunately, for the past three and a half years, President Trump and Congressional Republicans have pursued policies that hurt nuclear energy and the thousands of good paying jobs that they support. The Trump Administration passed a rule to nullify Illinois’ clean energy program that supported nuclear power plants like Byron and Dresden. And Congressional Republicans supported the Trump Administration’s efforts to overturn the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which helped support nuclear energy.

“I encourage Congressman Kinzinger and the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation to work with me to undo the disastrous policies put into place by the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans, which have hurt these plants and employees, and work to pass smart legislation that supports clean energy jobs.”

…Adding… Illinois AFL-CIO…

The Illinois AFL-CIO, representing the thousands of working men and women and their families and communities who would be directly affected, is deeply disappointed and concerned about today’s announcement by Exelon of planned closures of the Byron and Dresden nuclear plants in northern Illinois.

Our state has many economic challenges today. The coronavirus pandemic has only made those challenges more real, and working families are struggling across Illinois.

Energy is an important part of our lives. When we turn the lights on, we expect them to come on and stay on at a reasonable price. The nuclear energy at these and other Illinois plants is critical to the safe, reliable and affordable power supply we all enjoy today. Not only would these plant closures devastate the communities and families employed there directly, we all will pay a steep price from losing access to the high-quality, affordable power the plants produce.

We cannot afford to let these nuclear plants close. We stand ready to work on a clean energy policy for Illinois that preserves these critical jobs, and supports the affordable and reliable energy we have today and need for a successful tomorrow.”

…Adding… Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Facebook

This right here is what happens when Illinois corruption is allowed to run wild.

This morning’s announcement that the Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants will be closed is absolutely devastating to our communities, and yet another casualty of Mike Madigan’s ComEd bribery scandal. When an industry is told it has to pay-up to exist, the corrupt win and the rest of us lose. It didn’t even end up being Pay-to-Play, this was Pay-to-Die.

I have fought tirelessly for many years at the federal level to save and preserve our nuclear fleet, which offers affordable, safe, and clean energy and thousands of fantastic jobs here at home. But at the same time, on the state level, Mike Madigan’s Machine cared more about draining the industry through bribes than saving these anchors of our communities — not to mention their goal of a zero carbon future is impossible without nuclear energy.

This is an absolute disgrace, and my first step will be demanding that the $200 million in fines collected by the DOJ from the scandal be directed to the communities and families who are the casualties of this disgusting corruption. After that, it’s time, once and for all, to take out Madigan and the Cronies who screwed us while enriching themselves.

  55 Comments      


*** LIVE COVERAGE ***

Thursday, Aug 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Follow along with ScribbleLive


  Comments Off      


*** UPDATED x1 *** A quick look around at the situation on university campuses

Wednesday, Aug 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Charlie Schlenker at WGLT

Illinois State University President Larry Dietz said Monday he’s closely monitoring the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases among students.

The current tally is 273 ISU student cases in just over a week of classes. Dietz said several things in addition to the raw case count affect any potential decision whether to close the campus.

“It will have to do with isolation capacity. It will have to do with how many folks are hospitalized, and thankfully at this point I’m not aware of any. It’s a moving target we’re monitoring, so I don’t have any specific date or time,” said Dietz.

Dietz said there are 24 students in isolation through on-campus housing, and the campus has plenty of space left for more isolation cases.

Dietz said he believes on-campus behavior by students and staff is in good compliance with mask and social distancing policy. He said he’s aware that off campus and on the weekends, that behavior has not been as consistently safe. He urged students to observe safety protocols and avoid large gatherings.

* Wall St. Journal

(A)t the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, between 35,000 and 40,000 students returned to campus to begin a mix of online and in-person classes that started Monday. The university has said it believes it can contain the virus, partly by testing students twice a week and processing 10,000 tests a day on campus.

The university expected that between 200 and 300 students would arrive on campus already infected with Covid-19 and that total new cases among students, faculty and staff would reach about 500 this semester. Two university professors, Nigel Goldenfeld, a professor of physics, and Sergei Maslov, a professor of bioengineering and physics, estimated that without the school’s program of frequent testing, contact tracing and isolation, the virus would spread to 20,000 students within a month.

The university’s modeling predicts that most transmission of the virus will occur at restaurants, bars and parties and in classrooms. Its saliva-based test received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month.

* News-Gazette

According to UI campus testing data, there were 263 positive cases in the five days from Wednesday through Sunday, with the average rolling positivity rate for the most recent five days being 0.74 percent.

New cases from campus testing for the five days included 30 cases Wednesday, 59 cases Thursday, 65 cases Friday, 50 cases Saturday and 59 cases Sunday.

* Illinois Radio Network

The mayors of both Champaign and Urbana, the home of the University of Illinois, have issued orders requiring bar and restaurant patrons to to stay seated most of the time. In Champaign, Mayor Deb Feinen issued an order limiting customer seating at Campustown restaurants and bars to outdoors areas only now through Labor Day. Emergency orders from the two mayors also set crowd limits and require face masks and social distancing at private parties on and near the U of I campus.

The University of Illinois requires all students and staff to be tested for COVID-19 twice a week. A study from Harvard and Yale suggests that is the minimum threshold to safely open.

* DeKalb Daily Chronicle

DeKalb Mayor Jerry Smith said Monday that ’several large gatherings’ were held around Northern Illinois University campus over the weekend, and said he met Monday with NIU President Lisa Freeman and other leaders to talk COVID-19 virus prevention.

“I think everybody is concerned about Northern,” Smith said. “And the fact that there may be not only some positivity but over the weekend there were several large gatherings.” […]

For students, they can pay a $7.90 per credit hour health fee to utilize nasal swab testing services at Northwestern Medicine Student Health Center in the Health Services Building on campus. Testing for students living off campus or in Greek housing is not required, the website states.

“Those who do not should seek out testing from their local providers,” she said.

* WNIU

Rockford University is a much smaller private school but have had to take their own precautions. Randy Worden is the university’s VP for Student Life. They have 350 students living on-campus, which is what they expected. Over the summer, he says they thought it could be much fewer because of safety restrictions.

“The actual reality has been kind of the opposite of that,” he said. “It seems like people were so ready to have a different experience than what they were having, maybe at home. Students were willing to say, ‘Okay, I understand it’s not going to be 100% of normal kind of collegiate experience, but if it’s 70 or 75, that’s good enough.”

RU removed around half of the furniture in common areas. Buildings cut occupancy in half or capped them at 50 people.

In classes, available seats have signs taped to them to try and ensure distancing. RU has installed yards of plexiglass around campus, especially in buildings and offices where hundreds of students have to interact with one person.

* Tribune

Northwestern University’s campus in Evanston is going to feel less crowded this fall, with residence hall capacity reduced to about 70% and more than half of all employees still working from home, school officials said Tuesday.

But those estimates didn’t fully assuage concerns from residents that students will instead move into neighborhood apartments and throw raucous parties, potentially accelerating the spread of COVID-19 in a suburb that has so far avoided an uncontrollable outbreak.

Residents raised the issue Tuesday evening during a 90-minute Zoom meeting, billed as a “community town hall,” to discuss NU’s plan for repopulating its suburban campus when classes begin next month.

* Block Club Chicago

In Chicago, Loyola University has closed its dorms and plans to host most classes online. DePaul University plans to offer classes in-person and online.

* Peoria Journal Star

Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington reported 40 total COVID cases among its student population. They have returned home to isolate or are doing so in off-campus housing of their own or in university-provided housing.

* Daily Eastern News

Two Eastern unions are urging Eastern to “put the safety of students, employees and the community first” as the university opens this semester.

The two unions, AFSCME Local 981, which represents building service, clerical, technical and food service workers, and University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100’s Eastern chapter which represents faculty and academic support professionals, are contacting Eastern after the university’s administration ordered clerical and technical employees back to campus after months of successful work from home. […]

“We’ve tried to work with the EIU administration to protect employees, students and the community, but the answer to our proposals has consistently been ‘No’,” AFSCME Council 31 staff representative Natalie Nagel said. “EIU claims it treats employees like family. So why aren’t they enacting common-sense health and safety protocols?”

* WJBC

Officials at Illinois Wesleyan University announced 11 additional students have tested positive for coronavirus.

“We determined that all 11 new cases are connected to the outbreak announced last week, stemming from off-campus social gatherings in the week before classes began, where the consistent use of masks and physical distancing did not occur,” according to a news release Monday.

The outbreak now consists of 30 students.

* Daily Egyptian editorial

Originally, SIU was not going to inform the public of COVID-19 outbreaks on campus. It cited privacy concerns as the reason and refused to even release general numbers.

Although SIU eventually reversed its decision, the university will only provide one weekly generic update.

These weekly updates provide a false sense of security. The statistics published do not show every positive case on or off campus, as it is optional for students, faculty and staff who test positive for COVID to report that they work at or attend the university. Currently, the updates do not disclose any locations or the number of students in quarantine.

Additionally, anyone not living in Jackson County will not be included in the SIU count if they test positive for the virus and inform the university.

*** UPDATE *** WILL reporter…


  32 Comments      


Trouble brewing in Effingham County?

Wednesday, Aug 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Wall St. Journal

As new coronavirus cases continue to decline nationally, health officials and business leaders in rural parts of Illinois are raising alarms about rising infection rates that are fueling a steady increase in positive cases statewide.

In the past two weeks, eight of the 10 counties in Illinois with the fastest rates of new Covid-19 cases per capita were in smaller nonmetropolitan counties across the state, compared with two metro counties, according to an analysis of data tracked by Johns Hopkins University.

This is a reversal from an earlier trend, which saw Cook County, which includes Chicago, leading the state in coronavirus infections. Since March, Cook County has accounted for about 55% of the state’s Covid-19 cases. But its contribution has slowed as cases have spread to other corners of the state. In the week prior to Aug. 17, Cook County accounted for 38% of the state’s new cases.

In rural Effingham County, with a population of 34,000, cases recently surged from a few dozen in mid-July to 427 as of Sunday. That increase gave the county the highest rate of cases by population for the week ended Aug. 17, with more than 400 cases per 100,000 residents. By contrast, Cook County had a rate of about 100 cases per 100,000 residents for that week.

Effingham County had a 7.7 percent test positivity rate last week, according to IDPH data. Chicago’s rate was 5 percent. Effingham County reported 251 new cases per 100k population, while Chicago reported 84.

…Adding… 97.9 FM

There will be a local Republican gathering on the final night of the Republican National Convention.

The event is planned for 7 pm Thursday at the [Effingham] Holiday Inn.

State Representatives Blaine Wilhour, Darren Bailey, and Brad Halbrook are scheduled to attend, along with Congressional candidate Mary Miller and Judge David Overstreet.

The public is invited.

  28 Comments      


*** LIVE COVERAGE ***

Wednesday, Aug 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Follow along with ScribbleLive


  Comments Off      


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