Unity three-sport athlete Skyler Shepherd dribbles around St. Joseph-Ogden's Jake Pence during the Rockets home game on February 5, 2016. The Spartans in prevailed in an overtime thriller defeating the Rockets, 76-67.
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District data shows the total number of COVID-19 cases for six villages The Sentinel covers is now down to 66, a six-week low. The county's seven-day rolling positivity, excluding University of Illinois testing is a mere 6.1% and our region is down to 9% as of December 23.
On November 15 the area's active cases nearly doubled going from 69 to 110 after tests confirmed 41 new cases. The bulk of the surge came from households in Tolono and St. Joseph. The number of confirmed cases peaked at 142 on November 22, two days after Illinois was mandated to Tier 3 guidelines.
Despite the declining number of cases in Region 6 and 20% or better availability of ICU beds, Governor J.B. Pritzker has made it clear that he has no plans in the near future to relax restriction for our region and Region 1, which have met the criteria to roll back to Tier 2 mitigation.
"Since the surge hit us, it’s been important for us to get the right trajectory of cases, and hospitalizations and ICU use, and to make sure that we get to the right level," Pritzker said during his press conference a week ago Christmas day. "Remember, there are still many hospitals around the state, that have limited ability to take in new ICU patients, or even new hospitalizations. And so we’re trying very hard to bring it down all across the state before we start to relieve the regions from Tier 3 to Tier 2."
Rather than "yo-yo" in out of stricter mitigation measures, the Governor said he is taking a wait-and-see approach for a week or two after the holiday period.
Illinois reported 3,293 new and probable cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the statewide total since the beginning of the pandemic to 934,142. The state also reported 66 new deaths, raising the overall toll to 15,865.
Illinois' case total is now at the lowest since Oct. 19, when 3,113 cases were reported. And on Thursday, the state's seven-day average for coronavirus deaths fell to 116, its lowest point since December 2.
Junior Keanen Swanson looks to throw a pass during St. Joseph-Ogden's home football game against Illinois Valley Central in 2017. Swanson and the Spartans, who finished 4-5 after a heartbreaking loss to Monticello in the regular season finale two weeks later, rolled to a 38-20 victory against the Grey Ghosts.
Diageo, one of the world's largest beverage alcohol distributor, plans to introduce Roe & Co Blended Irish Whiskey, in Illinois in 2021.
Made from the finest hand-selected stocks of Irish malt and grain whiskies and aged in bourbon casks, the Irish Whiskey is a contemporary blend, non-chill filtered and bottled at an ABV of 45 percent (90 proof). According to Diageo, "It has the signature smoothness of Irish Whiskey with remarkable depth of flavor – a luxuriously smooth blend, with a perfect harmony between the intense fruitiness of the malt and the mellow creaminess of the grain whiskies."
Photo Provided
Last year, Roe & Co converted the Guinness Power Station into a new urban distillery in the heart of Dublin's whiskey district adjacent to where the old George Roe and Co distillery was originally located. The company has teamed up with Guinness in a new advertising campaign highlighting the importance of being good neighbors.
Named after George Roe, regarded as a pioneer in the distillery and export business during the golden era of Irish whiskey in the 19th century, his distillery was located on Thomas Street in Dublin and was a neighbor to the well-known Guinness brewery. Now a historic landmark, Roe's operation covered nearly 17 acres of ground.
Currently, Roe & Co is available in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Washington, D.C. and one of several major brands, including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness, distributed by Diageo.
The distillery is located at 92 James's Street in Dublin, Ireland where tours and tasting events are held Thursday through Saturday from 3p-8p.
The University of Illinois Research Park and American Family Insurance have partnered together to create a free part-time technology training program for people looking to expand their knowlegde or migrate to a more technology based career.
ILLINOIS REBOOT is a coding pre-academy that will introduce students to fundamental skills needed in programming and database management. Participants will gain a strong foundation in data science literacy while being introduced to UNIX, SQL, Python, GitHub, and Agile project management principles.
The training, which starts in February, will be taught in two-hour blocks. There are eight required classes and four elective courses incorporated in the program which runs through March 9.
Upon successful completion of curriculum and program requirements, participants will be awarded a University of Illinois Research Park Tech Badge certificate.
No previous programming experience is necessary. Participant must have access to an Internet-capable computer with a major operating system and reliable WiFi. For those without access to reliable connection, EnterpriseWorks incubator will also be an option for onsite use for participants who need dedicated service. Tablets, phones and other mobile or smart devices are not usable for completing assignments.
Participant in the program must also have the ability to download and install software on the workstation. While programming skills are not required, a technical aptitude or experience working with digital or computer technology is recommended.
Unity's Henry Dust [496] runs ahead of Monticello's Josh Clark through a muddy section of the course at the IHSA Cross Country sectional competition at Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School on Saturday, October 27, 2007. The senior finished the rain soaked course in 17 minutes, 12 seconds. Dust's 38th place overall finished helped the Rockets' cross country team qualify for the Class 1A state championship race for the first time since the 2000 season after their 5th place team finish.
Six ways Trump's budget will damage rural Americans' way of life
Right now, Congress is working on a giant, fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
PONTIAC - People everywhere are conquering their cabin fever and are enjoying the great outdoors after a long, bitter winter. But before you head out for that hike, health care experts remind you to take precautions to avoid tick bites. Read more . . .
Despite the declining number of cases in Region 6 and 20% or better availability of ICU beds, Governor J.B. Pritzker has made it clear that he has no plans in the near future to relax restriction for our region and Region 1, which have met the criteria to roll back to Tier 2 mitigation.
"Since the surge hit us, it’s been important for us to get the right trajectory of cases, and hospitalizations and ICU use, and to make sure that we get to the right level," Pritzker said during his press conference a week ago Christmas day. "Remember, there are still many hospitals around the state, that have limited ability to take in new ICU patients, or even new hospitalizations. And so we’re trying very hard to bring it down all across the state before we start to relieve the regions from Tier 3 to Tier 2."
Rather than "yo-yo" in out of stricter mitigation measures, the Governor said he is taking a wait-and-see approach for a week or two after the holiday period.
Illinois reported 3,293 new and probable cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the statewide total since the beginning of the pandemic to 934,142. The state also reported 66 new deaths, raising the overall toll to 15,865.
Illinois' case total is now at the lowest since Oct. 19, when 3,113 cases were reported. And on Thursday, the state's seven-day average for coronavirus deaths fell to 116, its lowest point since December 2.
