As Illinois public health officials on Thursday reported yet another record-high of 7,380 hospitalized COVID patients and the second-worst daily death toll in a year at 142, Cook County Health expert Dr. Mark Loafman urged residents not to buy into the ill-founded sentiment that they might be better off getting themselves infected to boost their natural immunity.

A group of high school parents who are challenging Gov. JB Pritzker’s ability to use COVID emergency powers to cancel high school sports at will, and to force high school athletes in the state to wear masks when competing, have revised their lawsuit again, to thwart what they believe to be a forthcoming attempt by Pritzker and others to force all high school students in the state to take the COVID jab to attend school or play sports.

Sheriff Jack Campbell says IDOC’s move is at the expense of county jails “So now it’s going to impact people’s quality of life, it’s going to impact their safety because there’s going to be some of these inmates out in the community that should not be there.”

White’s office announced that select Commercial Driver’s License facilities will reopen for in-person transactions beginning on Jan. 18, including locations in Rockford, Springfield and Marion.

“For the past three years, members of the House and Senate of both parties have tried to peel the onion that is DCFS to find the root causes of their failures,” Rep. Steven Reick said. “And the only conclusion that we could draw is that the agency is irretrievably broken and that no amount of money will solve its systematic failures.”

Illinois Fuel and Retail Association President and CEO Josh Sharp said the measure isn’t necessary, because municipalities already get 15% of the state’s motor fuel tax, and they get a share of state sales taxes on top of the state’s gas tax.

“I’m not averse to picking up the phone and calling the CEO of a company that might have antigen tests or other kinds of testing, to get those tests and make them available to whoever needs them in the state,” the governor said.

According to numbers from Truth in Accounting, the state’s bills totaled more than $272 billion in fiscal year 2020. Almost $213 billion, or nearly 80%, of that total is owed to public sector unions through pension debt and other post-employment benefits such as retiree health care benefits.

The flyer found within the Moline-Coal Valley School District is advertised for 1st-5th graders regardless of religious background and asks for permission from parents or guardians for students to attend.

“…(F)ew cities of their size in the United States had more gunshot deaths last year than Champaign and Urbana. And of 46 U.S. cities with a population approximating the 126,638 combined residents of Champaign and Urbana, only Hartford, Conn., had more firearm deaths…Among other Illinois cities, Peoria had 34 homicides last year, eclipsing a previous high of 25 homicides in 2019. Chicago had 836 homicides in 2021, its highest number in 25 years.”

Every week the debt grows by $2 million because of interest on the money. State Democrats have said that they are holding out hope that the federal government will offer help or forgiveness for some of this debt.

Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday more than 2,000 healthcare workers are moving around Illinois helping where they are needed. Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the problem is being caused by the unvaccinated.

The state is averaging more than 32,500 new COVID cases per day, the highest number it has recorded during the entire pandemic.