The Illinois Department of Public health reported more than 21,000 new and confirmed probable COVID cases statewide just for December 24, the largest one-day increase on record. Hospitalizations are quickly following suit. “If it was just cases and no one was ending up in the hospital, then let the cases be,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. “But we saw just in the last 24 hours, the number of COVID patients in the last 24 hours increase by a net of 330.”

“I hope that people across the state will take an example and look at what will work in their community, because just saying that you are going to look at vaccine cards may not work in one place or another, so you got to know your community and get it right in your community,” Pritzker said during a COVID-19 update Monday.

Pritzker didn’t spell out how he and the General Assembly would reach a balanced budget.

The dorm and its twin, “Lincoln Hall,” were originally named to commemorate the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate at the university’s location in Charleston, Illinois.

“Illinois has long been run by powerful Democrats in service of government unions. According to a recent Wirepoints study, the burden of the state’s pension debt alone is four times more than the national average and the second highest in the nation after Connecticut… Illinois, much like California, should be a cautionary tale for growing states such as Nevada.”

Mayor Jim Langfelder says people can make their own choice when it comes to being vaccinated. The mayor gives the city an “A” grade for how it has handled the pandemic thus far.

A letter to Amazon was written by both Illinois senators and 13 members of congress.

The governor did not announce any new mitigations; last week, Chicago and Cook County officials said they’ll require some businesses to check patrons’ vaccination status come Jan. 3. Pritzker lauded those moves and called on other local governments to take safety steps that match what their communities need.

Said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, “This will trigger a likely jump in gas prices in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky very soon.”

Firearm Owner Identification card (FOID) and Conceal Carry licenses (CCL) will be combined into one card under an Illinois law that starts in the new year.

Welch in January promised better legislative oversight of the executive branch amid Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s unilateral executive orders during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the governor continued to be allowed to issue mandates – including requiring the wearing of masks indoors and coronavirus vaccinations for large segments of the population – without legislative action.

“UIC has imposed a reeducation and supervision program to publicly humiliate and demean a professor that would make the Maoist Red Guards blush. It is psychologically torturing a professor just because it thinks it can.”