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

Teams were on the court of TaxSlayer Center warming up for the opening game of the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Championship basketball tournament last March 12. Within hours, our world changed. The following hours and days were globally historic. The balls stopped bouncing in the TaxSlayer Center because of a virus the world was only beginning to comprehend. Change and disruption continued in blurred days to follow. Scott Mullen, executive director of the TaxSlayer Center, said the arena was ready to host the Missouri Valley Women’s Championship a year ago when the virus rapidly... Read More