(Vermilion County-jm) -- The Vermilion County Public Health Department is reporting the variant COVID strain B-117 has been confirmed in a Vermilion County resident. The health department did not release any details on the resident who has the variant. It could be the first case outside of the Chicago area. The strain is believed to be more contagious than the normal strain.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting 3,667 new cases of Coronavirus and 87 additional deaths bringing the state’s total number of cases to 1 million 108 thousand 430 and deaths to 18,883. Locally McLean County reported 69 new cases bringing their total to 13,604. Ford County reported 4 new cases bringing their total to 1,414. Champaign County reported 46 new cases bringing their total to 16,012. Vermilion County reported 109 new cases bringing their total to 7,359. Livingston County reported 17 new cases bringing their total to 3,821. Iroquois County reported 10 new cases and 1 additional death bringing their total number of cases to 2,654 and deaths to 57. Kankakee County reported 18 new cases and 1 additional death bringing their total number of cases to 11,846 and deaths to 168.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois’ tax filing season begins Friday, February 12th. You can start filing both your state and federal taxes on the 12th, and Illinois Department of Revenue Spokesperson Terry Horstman encourages people to do that electronically…

 

 

Illinois Department of Revenue Spokesperson Terry Horstman. Those filing an I-L 10-40 can do so for free on the: my tax dot illinois dot gov website. There you can also check the status of your refund. The tax filing deadline is April 15th.

 

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- The Illinois Board of Higher Education approved their ask for the coming state budget and they’re looking for a 4.5 percent increase. The proposed budget for the state’s system of higher education is $2.1 billion, which is $92 million higher than the existing spending plan. The board’s chairman John Atkinson said the increased budget is a “down payment” on a strategic plan focused on “equity, affordability and attainment.”

 

 

(Springfield-cf)-- January 1st of this year, a new law went into effect in Illinois to cap insulin prices at $100. 52nd District State Senator Scott Bennett of Champaign, one of the sponsors of the bill, talks about what diabetic patients spent on insulin before the start of the year… 

 

 

52nd District State Senator Scott Bennett of Champaign.

 

 

(Urbana-jm) -- The chancellor for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pleading students and staff to adhere to a request he made last week. Chancellor Robert Jones asked the campus community to refrain from any non-essential activities until February 8. If requirements are not satisfied, Jones said students may lose access to university Wi-Fi, Zoom, Compass and other technology.

 

(Undated-jm) -- Planting season is a couple months away but farmers and producers are still busy preparing for the upcoming season. Ford Iroquois Farm Bureau Manager David Treece says there is plenty of training opportunities available…

 

 

Ford Iroquois Farm Bureau Manager David Treece.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- The Illinois Department of Agriculture, along with the University of Illinois Extension Service, is hosting the Certified Livestock Manager Online Training and Webinars for 2021. The webinar dates are Friday, January 29; Tuesday, February 9; Thursday, March 4, 2021.  These will have the same format as previous workshops starting at 9:00 am. After the webinar, those with over 1,000 AUs will be required to log in and take the 40-question online test in lieu of the IDoA's paper-based test. Pre-registration is required ($40). Please go to go.illinois.edu/CLMT to register. For questions with registration, please contact UI Extension at (815) 858-2273.

 

(Undated-jm) -- The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting 3,667 new cases of Coronavirus and 87 additional deaths bringing the state’s total number of cases to 1 million 108 thousand 430 and deaths to 18,883. As for local active and recovered cases, McLean County reported 12,934 have recovered, 500 are in isolation and 24 are hospitalized. Champaign County reported 15,250 have recovered, 656 are in isolation and 24 are hospitalized. Vermilion County reported 569 active cases with 22 hospitalized. Livingston County reported 3,592 have been removed from isolation and 164 cases are active. Iroquois County reported 2,555 have been released from isolation, 39 remain in isolation and 3 are hospitalized. Kankakee County reported 10,441 have recovered and 1,237 cases are active.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- A new online tool may help people detect the symptoms of COVID-19 sooner. The loss of taste and smell is one of the main signs of the virus, but you may not consciously notice it right away says University of Illinois Food Science Assistant Professor Yanina (jah-nina) Pepino. The online smell and taste challenge asks users to track their senses daily first thing in the morning…

 

 

University of Illinois Food Science Assistant Professor Yanina (jah-nina) Pepino. If you see a dramatic reduction in your sense of taste and smell, that could be a sign of COVID says Pepino, and means people may be able to quarantine or seek testing a little quicker. You can access the test at r-i-e-c-h dash check dot de.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- A new report highlights highway safety laws a safety group says Illinois needs to improve. In its 2021 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety looked at 16 laws considered essential to traffic safety.  The organization gave every state a rating in five categories: Occupant protection, child passenger safety, teen driving, impaired driving and distracted driving. Illinois received a “caution” grade for lack of recommended safety laws, including a motorcycle helmet law and a booster seat law. The state received good marks for having restrictions on using cell phones, an open container law, and a rear-facing child seat requirement through the age of 2 law.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- The Illinois House has a new leader. After more than three decades the Illinois House will be led by someone other than Mike Madigan. 53rd District State Senator Jason Barickman says he looks forward to working with Speaker Chris Welch…

 

 

53rd District State Senator Jason Barickman of Bloomington.

 

 

(Hoopeston-jm) -- The City of Hoopeston is announcing city hall will be reopening to the public with some restrictions. Starting February 1st city hall will reopen to the public but no more than 10 people will be allowed at one time and masking and social distancing will be required. Hours will be limited to 8 to 2 Monday through Thursday and 8 to 11 on Friday.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- The consolidated election will take place April 6th but several area races are taking shape. WPXN’s Jason Madden takes a look at who is on the Melvin ballot…

 

 

 

(Champaign-jm) -- The Medicaid expansion facilitated by the Affordable Care Act led to increases in the identification of undiagnosed HIV infections and in the use of HIV prevention services such as preexposure prophylaxis drugs, says new research co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts who study the intersection of health care and public policy. The research by Dolores Albarracín, a professor of psychology and of business administration at Illinois, and Bita Fayaz Farkhad, an economist and a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at Illinois, found that expanding eligibility for Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income individuals, was associated with a 13.9% increase in HIV diagnoses.