Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois’ plan for COVID-19 vaccine distribution puts front-line health care workers first, but many details still up in air
The state of Illinois’ plan for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available puts front-line health care workers first in line to be inoculated, but shifting projections on how many initial doses the state is likely to receive, the various temperature storage requirements for different vaccines and changing federal recommendations make it uncertain exactly how that plan will roll out.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this week the state will “be ready to go, we believe, as soon as those vaccines hit the ground,“ as promising developments about coronavirus vaccine effectiveness continue to trickle out from studies by drugmakers. But he made clear the many challenges of distributing a long-awaited vaccine that could put an end to restrictions that have upended life and commerce in the state.
The Center Square: Places of indoor recreation impacted by Pritzker’s orders say their operations are crucial for mental, physical wellbeing this winter
Operators of places for indoor activity impacted by the governor’s COVID-19 regulations say their operations are essential for the physical and mental well being of the public.
Craig Rhodes, a managing partner for Kingpin Lanes in Springfield, said they were closed during the lockdown this spring, allowed to open for a few months and then closed down again.
NPR Illinois: Rural Hospitals In Illinois Face Staffing, Transfer Problems As COVID-19 Surges
As hospitalizations due to COVID-19 remain at record levels, hospitals that serve small towns and rural areas in Illinois are facing unique challenges.
When patients in rural hospitals need more intensive care to treat COVID-19, physicians often move them to larger hospitals, which may be better equipped to care for them.
The Center Square: Pritzker administration evaluating use of COVID-19 tracking smartphone apps
The director of the Illinois Department of Public Health says there’s more to come on the possibility of implementing a phone app to help track the spread of COVID-19.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has some reservations, but he said the state is evaluating the options, despite it being nearly nine months of the pandemic.
Block Club Chicago: Chicago Could Reopen Schools In January. Here’s What They’re Telling Parents So Far
With a tentative reopening date in place, Chicago has given parents two weeks to respond to a survey on whether they’d consider sending their children back to school buildings.
This isn’t the first time parents have been asked to weigh in on in-person schooling, but in recent weeks, Chicago school officials have released more concrete plans and argued with increasing seriousness for a return to school.
Northwest Herald: Work on merger of Lake County recorder of deeds, clerk offices to begin in January
Lake County residents voted overwhelmingly this month to eliminate the recorder of deeds’ office and merge it with the county clerk’s office, leaving the two women who run those offices to figure out how best to do that.
Recorder Mary Ellen Vanderventer, a Waukegan Democrat who’s held the post since 1996 and was reelected on Nov. 3, said she does not anticipate the public will notice any dramatic change after her elected office ends.
Northwest Herald: Woodstock School District 200 considering $61.2 million 2020 property tax levy, marking 2.7% increase from previous year
Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 earlier this month gave initial approval to a $61.2 million property tax levy, which would represent a 2.7% increase over last year’s levy of $59.6 million, according to a district news release.
While the total amount the district plans to tax with its 2020 extension would likely rise if the district board next month votes to finalize the $61.2 million levy, the tax burden on homes within the district would fall compared with last year, according to the release.