BREAKING NEWS: Vaccines could be available to schoolchildren ages 5-11 throughout Illinois as soon as later this year, according to reports out of Frankfurt, Germany. The company behind the vaccines, BioNTech will be requesting approval for its covid-19 vaccine use in kids 5-11 across the globe over the next few weeks and preparations for a launch are on track, the biotech firm’s two top executives told German newspaper Der Spiegel. “Already over the next few weeks we will file the results of our trial in five to 11 year olds with regulators across the world and will request approval... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has ripped into President Joe Biden’s new covid-19 mitigation plan, calling it “dangerous” and saying “enough is enough!” Biden’s new vaccine requirement was announced yesterday, requiring all government employees to be vaccinated and companies with 100 employees or more to require workers to get vaccinated or tested for the virus every week. Companies violating the policy could be hit with heavy fines. There’s no timetable yet on when the mandates will come into effect. “It’s about protecting yourself and... Read More

After nearly two years away from in person events, today the American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, announced the 2021 Quad Cities Go Red for Women® Event will return to our community. This signature event, which will be held beginning at 5:00 p.m. on October 28 at Waterfront Convention Center, will feature a keynote by Denee Brown with Cardiovascular Medicine, P.C., inspiring local survivors, important heart health information for women and more. “The fight to end heart disease and stroke in women is relentless, and... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: As covid numbers continue to spike higher, and officials dread numbers after the bustling Labor Day weekend celebrations, Illinois Gov. JB Pritkzer has warned the state could be hit with “significantly greater mitigations” if the state’s covid metrics continue to slide downward. New covid-19 cases statewide jumped 18.3 percent over the past week, with nearly 6,000 reported today so far alone, according to statistics from Covid-19 Illinois. Nearly every county is now at a ‘warning level’ for Covid-19, and the entirety of Southern Illinois has only one ICU bed... Read More

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed an Executive Order that requires all Illinois higher education employees and students, as well as K-12 employees, receive the COVID-19 vaccine. For employees and students who cannot, or will not, get vaccinated, the governor has also mandated weekly COVID testing, which is already in place at WIU. Those individuals who are unvaccinated and who attend classes and/or work on either of our WIU campuses (Macomb and Quad Cities) must comply with the required weekly testing to avoid disciplinary action. Test clinics (saliva-based tests) are held on both the... Read More

The first Gather for the Cure Event on Saturday, Oct. 2 will help lower the financial barrier leading to essential breast imaging. The first-ever Gather for the Cure event at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds on Oct. 2 will celebrate survivorship, provide education and resources and support the Genesis Voucher Program. “Cost should not be a barrier to accessing what may be life-saving breast imaging,’’ said Diane Koster, Genesis Women’s Health Grant Program Specialist. “Our goal with this event is to bring the Quad-Cities communities back together, to celebrate those who have survived... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Some Illinois High Schools in western Illinois have put their sports seasons on pause due to the virulent outbreak of the covid-19 delta variant in their districts. Mercer County School District 404 in western Illinois sent out a letter to parents today saying they were pausing all practices and competitions for high school sports “while we implement outbreak protocols” regarding the massive spread of the delta variant within their schools and districts. “Due to the number of positive cases at Mercer County High School, our football, volleyball, and cheer squads... Read More

Will Iowa residents, schools and businesses be forced by the federal government to comply with mask mandates and other covid-19 restrictions? This is the big question as a battle royale shapes up between Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Biden administration’s Education Department, and the Iowa Supreme Court, headed up by a Republican judge who was appointed by Reynolds in 2018. This week, Iowa was nailed with a civil rights investigation by the Biden administration’s Education Department over Gov. Kim Reynolds’ move to ban mask mandates. The federal government investigation levels the charge... Read More

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed an Executive Order that requires all Illinois higher education employees and students, as well as K-12 employees, receive the COVID-19 vaccine. For employees and students who cannot, or will not, get vaccinated, the governor has also mandated weekly COVID testing, which is already in place at WIU. Those individuals who are unvaccinated and who attend classes and/or work on either of our WIU campuses (Macomb and Quad Cities) must comply with the required weekly testing to avoid disciplinary action. Test clinics (saliva-based tests) are held on both the... Read More

BREAKING NEWS (UPDATED): Iowa has been slammed with a civil rights investigation by the Biden administration’s Education Department over Gov. Kim Reynolds’ move to ban mask mandates. The federal government investigation levels the charge that Iowa, and Gov. Reynolds’ actions, “create an unsafe learning environment for students with disabilities who are at heightened risk of severe illness from covid-19.” Iowa is one of five states to get hit with the investigations, the other four being Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. “We’re advocating for... Read More