Day: August 9, 2021

First Lawsuit Filed Over School Mask Mandate – NPR Illinois

Prolific anti-COVID mitigation attorney Tom DeVore filed the suit Monday on behalf of a father of a student in Breese School District 12 in Clinton County, about 40 miles east of St. Louis. The 11-page complaint alleges Pritzker overstepped his authority in signing an executive order last week mandating masks in all preschools, elementary and secondary schools in Illinois.

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Illinois Takes Tough Stand Against Illegal Animal Trade – NPR Illinois

The legislation expands on a 2018 ban on sales of ivory from elephants and rhinoceros. The law now Includes the sale of products made from bone, skin, scales or other body parts of: cheetahs, giraffes, great ape, hippopotami, jaguars, leopards, lions, monk seals, narwhals, pangolins. rays or sharks, sea turtles, tigers, walruses and whales.

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Hoping to stave off evictions, state to offer $60 million as ‘additional safety net, another layer’ to keep people in their homes – Chicago Sun-Times*

“There is, we know, a certain group of individuals who will have not applied through the streams that are available right now” for a lot of different reasons, Deputy Gov. Sol Flores said. “So, we wanted to ensure there was an additional safety net, another layer that says ‘OK, even if you didn’t apply, there’s still a way to avoid eviction, there’s still a way to enter mediation.’”

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Illinois lawmakers receive COVID-19 update, status of vaccination efforts – Center Square

“When I look at all of these data and when I have these conversations and I see the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidance as ‘recommended,’ and I see the IDPH having guidance as ‘recommended,’ that local control is universally what’s being recommended here, it is greatly concerning to me that the governor can edict to the entire state a universal mask mandate,” State Rep. Adam Niemerg said.

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Column: State educators quash Mayfield’s school consolidation bill – Lake County News-Sun*

“Mayfield’s bill would have created the School District Efficiency Commission that would force about 25% of school districts in Illinois to hold referendums to consolidate, with the aim of cutting bureaucracy…That, even though Illinois has the most taxing districts of any state while we continue to lose population…It was estimated the measure could have saved Illinois taxpayers $716 million in bureaucratic costs, according to the conservative Illinois Policy Institute.”

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Hard-Hit Conventions Hope Delta Fades Soon as Shows Cancel Again – Bloomberg

Chicago’s McCormick Place, dubbed North America’s biggest convention hall, hasn’t had any recent cancellations, spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty said, although the number of shows overall is down. McCormick Place scheduled 43 meetings and conventions from July 1 through year-end. While a direct comparison wasn’t available, the center had 289 meetings, sporting events and concerts in the full year 2019.

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