By Raymon Troncoso & Capitol News Illinois
• Jan 26, 2021
State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, speaks at a virtual Senate committee hearing on criminal justice reform in October. Peters and fellow lawmakers held several hours of hearings in the run-up to passing a sweeping criminal justice reform package in January that included the elimination of cash bail in Illinois by 2023.
Credit Blueroomstream.com
Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing “Lame Duck Look Back” series in which Capitol News Illinois is following up on the major bills that passed both chambers of the General Assembly in the Jan. 8-13 lame duck session. This is one of several stories examining the criminal justice reform package backed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus
Mokena, IL Colon Cancer Widow and son to receive donation from Champions for Cures in memory of her late husband
March 23, 2021 – As a pediatric palliative care nurse practitioner, Meggan Mikkal journeys with patients and their families through the toughest of diagnoses. When her husband, Andy, was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer in January of 2017, she was shocked. He had been experiencing telltale symptoms, but with a newborn, it was easy to rationalize away the signs.
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cancer killer in the U.S. of men and women combined. Meggan has taken Andy’s zest for life and passion for advocacy and carried that forward for herself, their son Andy, and others in the colorectal cancer community. She joined the Board of Directors for The Colon Club to share her experience and perspective as a caregiver and to lift up Andy’s message of empowerment for everyone to be the best version of themselves, even on the hardest days.
Credit Capitol News Illinois
Only one of the state’s 11 COVID-19 mitigation regions remains at the highest level of restricted activity Thursday, Jan. 21, as the statewide case positivity rate continues to decline.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Thursday that Region 7, which includes Will and Kankakee counties, was moved to Tier 1 mitigations, while Region 6 in east-central Illinois moved back to base Phase 4 guidelines.
That left only Region 4 in the Metro East region near the St. Louis, Missouri, border in the strictest Tier 3 mitigations.
“I am excited that 10 out of our 11 regions have moved out of Tier 3 mitigations,” IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a news release. “However, this does not mean we can let our guard down. We must continue to practice actions to protect ourselves from the virus – wear our masks, avoid large gatherings, and get the vaccine when it is our turn. This is particularly critical as new variants circulate, which earl
Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing “Lame Duck Look Back” series in which Capitol News Illinois is following up on the major bills that passed
Social studies classes in Illinois public schools are about to get a major overhaul, with more emphasis on Black history and the contributions of other underrepresented groups to American culture.