Page 63 - Lean County News Today

  Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council CEO Patrick Hoban said interest in the McLean County Targeted Development Loan program grew after the county made several changes. Credit BN EDC Patrick Hoban, the EDCs CEO, said interest in the program spiked after the county doubled the loan amounts to $10,000, removed interest payments and made them forgivable for COVID-related improvements, including supplies, technology and real estate--costs not covered by the state federal aid. “If th...

This morning, the first Illinoisans received their vaccinations protecting them against COVID-19, and in the coming days, over 100,000 healthcare heroes will join them. Here at @OSFHealthCare Peoria, I was overjoyed to witness this new beginning for Illinois. 📸: @Ashlee_Rezinpic.twitter.com/TZJFPCEPnD — Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 15, 2020 A woman in her 70s became the 76th Champaign County resident to lose their life to COVID-19, the state department of public heal...

Ryan Denham / WGLT 2020 was a blur. So many important things happened in the Bloomington-Normal community, from COVID-19 to racial justice protests to the recession. Oh, and a presidential election. Here is a look at the 10 most-read stories from 2020 on WGLT.org. Danielle Kater, a 30-year-old from Bloomington, was the youngest person we lost to COVID this year. Her family bravely stepped forward to tell their story, starting with this heartbreaking interview with WGLT’s Dana Vollmer. Ka...

PEORIA — In a historic moment, health care workers in Chicago and Peoria on Tuesday became the first groups in Illinois to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, marking what Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike called “the beginning of the end” of the pandemic. The vaccine, developed by the drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech, was granted Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week and is now being shipped throughout the United Sta...

BLOOMINGTON — There have now been more than 10,000 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in McLean County. “We really had no projections as to the number of cases we would have, with it being a novel virus,” said department Administrator Jessica McKnight. “Obviously, you had to always anticipate that this could be a possibility, but we never put any numbers on what we were expecting to see.” On Monday, US stocks rallied as investors bet on the distribution of Pfiz...

Emily Bollinger / WGLT McLean County health officials said Tuesday four more county residents have died of COVID-19 complications, while hospital capacity has become increasingly strained by a rise in more serious cases. The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) said the four patients who died include a woman in her 70 and a man in his 70s. They were not associated with a long-term care facility. Two others were tied to a long-term care facility--a woman in her 80s and a man in his 90s. T...

Bonnie, who has severe asthma, described her participation in COVID-19 vaccine trials and said why she believes the vaccine is safe, effective and should be gotten by everyone. "But please understand that, having those tests, does not really give you a free pass and insure there could be no transmission of infection," Dr. Ezike said. Because the vaccine will not be available to the general public for several months, the governor is urging people to act as though there is no vaccine, and continu...

When the jail inmate contract between Daviess and McLean counties ended Dec. 1, part of that included an agreement between animal shelters. McLean County Judge-Executive Curtis Dame said McLean County was paying Daviess County $18,000 a year to house its animals. “Looking forward, we can take that $18,000 that we paid and put it back into running the shelter here,” Dame said. Dame said he and Animal Control Officer Billy Jones have been in contact with shelters in other counties to se...

Mike Matejka / Facebook For 38 years, the Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly and the McLean County Chamber of Commerce have sponsored the “Christmas for Kids” party for low-income families. This year looked a little different due to COVID-19. Regional Manager and LIUNA General Executive Board member John Penn said they have not seen this level of response and need since their first year, which was during a recession. This year, the Normal Meijer store donated more than $1,000...

One hundred of Illinois’ 102 counties made the state’s weekly coronavirus warning level list on Friday. The two that didn’t? Champaign and Piatt. Of the eight indicators the Illinois Department of Public Health uses to determine which counties are shaded in orange (warning level) vs. blue, Champaign and Piatt were each on target in all but one: new cases per 100,000 people. The target is under 50. Piatt was at 421, Champaign 429. Any counties that exceed the targets in two or mor...