Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) announced that her office delivered more than 300 valentines across Northwest and Central Illinois as part of her ninth annual “Valentines for Veterans” drive. Bustos, who organized this effort to thank our Veterans for their service and sacrifice, spearheaded the effort to collect valentines from Illinois families and then deliver them to the VA hospitals that serve her constituents. “I’m so grateful to everyone who took the time to participate in this year’s Valentines for Veterans program to show support and express appreciation for those who... Read More

BREAKING: Illinois employers could very soon be allowed to fire employees who refuse to get vaccinated or comply with other covid-19 regulations. The Health Care Right of Conscience Act amendment bans employees from using their moral beliefs as a reason to refuse to comply with a workplace’s covid mandates, which could include mandatory vaccinations. The Illinois Senate voted 31-24 to approve the proposal late Thursday night. This measure passed out of the House on a 64-52-2 vote Wednesday. The new amendment now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker to be signed into the law, and it certainly looks... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: At long last, after the pandemic has kept the state under lockdown for most of the past year-plus, Illinois is looking to reopen (mostly) on Friday. “After a tremendously challenging year, Illinois has now reached a defining moment in our efforts to defeat COVID-19,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said. “Thanks to the hard work of residents across the state, Illinois will soon resume life as we knew it before – returning to events, gatherings, and a fully reopened economy, with some of the safety guidelines we’ve adopted still in place.” According to the Illinois Department... Read More

The Illinois Quad-Cities will open up more today and leave many covid restrictions behind as the state moves into a “Bridge Phase,” dropping many covid restrictions on businesses and the public. Governor JB Pritzker announced the lifting of the restrictions this week, and said that he foresees a full state reopening by June 11, given the increasing numbers of people in Illinois being vaccinated. Under the Bridge Phase: Bars and restaurants: Can now operate within their regular liquor license hours and reopen standing areas at 25 percent capacity. Social events: Indoor events can have... Read More

There’s finally some momentum in a good direction in regard to covid-19 in the Illinois Quad-Cities, Region 2 and the state in general. Positivity rates for coronavirus cases were the lowest they’ve been since March, at 3.3 percent. Statewide, over the past week an average of 72,613 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered daily, bringing the total number of people vaccinated statewide to 9,450,418, according to the Illinois Department of Health. At this point, 4,145,711, or 32.54% of the total population of the state, has been fully vaccinated. Over half of Illinois residents... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: While covid-19 numbers across Illinois have been getting worse, particularly in the Quad-Cities’ Region 2, that may not automatically trigger shutdowns and mitigations, Illinois Department of Health officials said today. “The resurgence mitigation plan was designed before we had vaccines,” Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said in a statement. All 11 of Illinois’ regions are in Phase 4, where they’ve been since emerging from mitigations in February. Previously, mitigations would automatically kick in, triggering more restrictions,... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Rock Island County covid-19 numbers have remained steady over the past week, but the numbers in and around Peoria continue to look ominous for Illinois Region 2, which includes the Illinois Quad-Cities. If Peoria’s numbers continue to drag the region down, it could lead to the entire region, including the Quad-Cities, going back into a shutdown or other mitigations for covid. Based on the latest numbers released over the weekend by the Illinois Department of Health, Rock Island County has held pretty constant around a 5 percent positivity rate for covid, safely below the 8... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: With covid-19 numbers beginning to soar nationwide, a consortium of researchers has recommended that some states — including Illinois — should again issue stay-home orders to stop the momentum of the outbreaks. As of yet, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has remained optimistic about the state’s ability to turn the numbers around, however, he has acknowledged the negative trend. Covid numbers have been on the rise in Illinois over the past few weeks, particularly surging around Chicago and Central Illinois, most notably Peoria, which could drive Region 2, which includes... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: In the wake of huge celebrations on and around St. Patrick’s Day, covid numbers in Rock Island County are spiking again, causing the  Illinois Department of Public Health to put a warning status on Rock Island County. The Rock Island County Health Department reported 41 new cases today, making today the highest single day amount since early February. Prior to today, the new case reports were over 20 a day, which represented an increase over the previous week, although not as drastic a spike. “We are very worried about the rapidly rising cases this week,” said Nita Ludwig,... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: A Rock Island person is the first to be infected with the new, more deadly strain of the South African COVID-19 variant Thursday, Illinois Department of Public Health officials announced tonight. The variant B.1.351, was found in a Rock Island resident, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. It’s not yet known how the person contracted the disease. “We expected to see more cases of variants detected in Illinois, including the B.1.351 strain,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike in a release. “These variants seem to spread more rapidly, which can lead... Read More