During COVID-19, many people who were homeless lived in Chicago-area hotels. Here’s what was learned. Charles J. Johnson, Chicago Tribune © Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune Nia Tavoularis, of Connections for the Homeless, at the Margarita European Inn in Evanston on April 9, 2021.
When COVID-19 halted the world a little more than a year ago, one group of people appeared to be particularly vulnerable to this new, little-understood coronavirus: the homeless.
Often suffering from poor health and packed head-to-foot in shelters known as congregate housing homeless individuals were one of several groups of people who, it was feared, would be decimated by the spread of COVID-19.
When homeless people lived in hotels, here s what we learned
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Wendella Tours & Cruises suffered a 75 percent hit to its annual revenue last year.
Chicago s tourism industry is desperate for visitors. But the group meant to lead the charge to bring them back is dealing with its own pandemic-induced distress.
As the city prepares for a summer that s expected to unleash pent-up demand from leisure travelers, Choose Chicago is operating as a shell of its former self: The normal $30 million-plus annual budget for the city s nonprofit tourism arm which relies heavily on COVID-19-drained hotel tax proceeds has been slashed to just under $16 million. A wave of layoffs early in the pandemic has left it with less than half of the 81 staff members it had before the crisis, all of whom are still furloughed one day per week. And if that weren t shaky enough ground, the group s chief operating officer just announced he is leaving next month and its board of directors disclosed this month that it won t renew CEO David Whitaker s contract when it expires in
WBGZ Radio 4/15/2021 |
By Greg Bishop - Illinois Radio Network
Business groups are looking for Illinois state lawmakers to provide limited liability from COVID-19 lawsuits, but efforts to bring about such protections have stalled in committee.
Many states across the country have measures in place that limit the liability for a business to be sued if someone alleges they contracted COVID-19 at that business. The American Tort Reform Association tracks policy state-by-state.
ATRA also indicates across the country 9,594 complaints related to COVID-19 have been filed. Through most of 2020, the group also tracked 176,053 TV advertisements in the United States for legal claims or services mentioning COVID-19. More than $1 million of the $3.1 million was spent in Illinois, according to the group.
WBGZ Radio 4/14/2021 |
By Greg Bishop - Illinois Radio Network
As Illinois state lawmakers return to session, up for grabs will be $7.5 billion in taxpayer funds the federal government is set to send the state.
It’s expected Illinois state government’s share of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will come in two installments over two fiscal years. Local governments in Illinois will share in more than $5 billion.
Last month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Budget Director Alexis Sturm told lawmakers they want to focus on paying off around $3 billion in short-term borrowing last year during the pandemic.
“So we can call it all within two to three weeks and save ourselves quite a bit of interest costs,” Sturm said.
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