A group of Taiwanese government and business leaders completed a visit to Southern Illinois on Tuesday, laying groundwork for what local officials hope will be future investments and business opportunities between the region and the southeast Asian nation.
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FOX Illinois: Downstate Illinoisans died at higher rates from COVID-19 than Chicago-area residents
During the month of October, downstate Illinois residents disproportionately died from COVID-19 compared to residents of the Chicago metropolitan area.
From Oct. 1-31, 2021, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported the deaths of 843 Illinoisans due to COVID-19.
WIFR: Pritzker: Illinois mask mandate stays until hospitalizations drop
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says the mask mandate will not be going anywhere just yet.
Illinois Department of Public Health reports an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations overnight. The latest report shows 1,274 COVID-19 patients in the hospital Tuesday. That is the highest number in nearly two weeks.
Bond Buyer: Illinois tollway reaps rating benefit from state upgrade, traffic recovery
The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will head into the market next month with an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service in tow as traffic levels rebound from a COVID-19-driven dive and worries have let up over the state’s pandemic strains.
The authority’s upcoming sale of $600 million will help finance the agency’s ongoing 15-year, $14 billion Move Illinois capital program. Loop Capital Markets LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities are senior managers with Loop running the books.
Telegraph: Illinois voters lose with gerrymandered maps
Democrats coined a good public relations phrase during the decennial redistricting process. They all repeated it, sometimes ad nauseum: “our maps reflect the diversity of our state.”
Undermining their arguments are lawsuits from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the NAACP over maps redrawing state legislative districts. MALDEF argues Democrats shortchanged Latino representation even after Latinos became the second largest minority in the state. The NAACP has sued over alleged voter “cracking” in East St. Louis, and other African American groups argue the number of Black majority districts has been cut in half.
Chicago Tribune: Who can be licensed as a midwife in Illinois is likely to expand soon, but critics say lack of Medicaid coverage is a problem
Who can be licensed as a midwife in Illinois is likely to expand soon. But home births attended by midwives under this new law would not be eligible for Medicaid coverage, at least for the time being.
Advocates say that’s a big problem for parents who can’t afford to pay for a home birth out of pocket — who are also some of the parents most likely to benefit from alternatives to hospital births.
Southern Illinoisan: Taiwanese business leaders visit Southern Illinois to strengthen relationship
Representatives of the Taiwan Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago as well as the Taiwanese American Chambers of Commerce in Chicago and Taiwanese business leaders joined Southern Illinois legislators, administrators from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and governmental leaders for a tour and presentation on the Alexander County Port District project which will develop a river port in Cairo. The group also toured the SIU campus, the university’s Transportation Education Center and other facilities at the Southern Illinois Airport.