Springfield News
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A federal judge over the weekend denied a motion for a temporary restraining order sought by a northwest Illinois church asking to be exempted from Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, but the church held service anyway on Sunday as 63 more people were reported dead after testing positive for the coronavirus.
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Sponsors of legislation passed last year requiring hotels and casinos in Illinois to install “panic buttons” — as part of an anti-sexual harassment package passed by lawmakers last spring — say they will extend the deadline for installing the security systems until next year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic’s toll on the hotel industry and safety concerns. Meanwhile, McCormick Place Alternate Care Facility will stop accepting new patients as Chicago area hospital capacity has been able to absorb Covid-19 patients, officials announced Friday afternoon.
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On the same day the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 141 deaths of Illinoisans diagnosed with Covid-19, a church in northwest Illinois lodged a federal lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker, alleging his stay-at-home order violated its pastor’s religious freedom.
In response, Pritzker’s administration inserted language into the governor’s new stay-at-home order that goes into effect Friday, specifying that Illinoisans may leave their homes “to engage in the free exercise of religion, provided that such exercise must comply with Social Distancing Requirements and the limit on gatherings of more than 10 people in keeping with CDC guidelines for the protection of public health.”
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The next round of state licenses for would-be cannabis entrepreneurs will not be awarded Friday as originally planned, officials announced Wednesday. Meanwhile, a new audit published this week found the former director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum improperly lent Illinois’ original copy of the Gettysburg Address to conservative talk show host Glenn Beck in 2018.
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Tensions between Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Republicans in the General Assembly widened Wednesday as State Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) filed suit against Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, and Pritzker attempted to appeal a Monday decision that let State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) out of his stay-at-home order directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Cabello filed his suit against Pritzker’s coronavirus-related stay-at-home order in Winnebago County as a class action. That means it would likely take longer to hear than Bailey’s, which the freshman filed in his native Clay County last week and won in a theatrical hearing Monday. -
After four days of significant decreases in reported deaths from coronavirus in Illinois, the state hit a record number of new deaths on Tuesday, signaling Illinois is nowhere near an end to its Covid-19 crisis.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 144 new deaths among those who had previously tested positive for the virus — though The Daily Line’s accounting of Covid-19 figures showed 142 deaths — and pushed the state’s overall death toll to 2,125 in the six weeks since the first Covid-19 death was announced. -
In the same hour a downstate judge ruled State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) could be released from Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, Pritzker on Monday said the remaining 12.7 million Illinoisans would see loosened social distancing restrictions when the number of coronavirus patients using intensive care unit beds and ventilators in hospitals begins to decrease.
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The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission will meet Monday to formally withdraw an emergency rule the body approved earlier this month that would have automatically granted workers’ compensation to essential workers who come down with coronavirus. Meanwhile, a former employee of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation spent a significant portion of his time on the job watching movies, doing puzzles and printing materials related to his second job, according to a report published by the Executive Ethics Commission last week.
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The number of new coronavirus test results reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health held above 10,000 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in a victory for Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration, which has held that benchmark as a goal for nearly a month. The increased testing has bent down the proportion of those who have tested positive.
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Illinois’ stay-at-home order will continue through the end of May, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday, with alterations allowing for the reopening of non-essential retailers to fulfill orders for pickup or delivery and requiring masks in public spaces as the state enters a new phase of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Additionally, scientists from the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois and Rush University Hospital were on hand for Thursday’s daily Covid-19 press briefing to provide new insight into the data Pritzker’s office has been using to make decisions. They concluded Illinois is likely in the beginning of an extended period of plateau for the virus’ spread, which could last into mid-May.
