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Tickborne Heartland Virus is Reported in Jackson County in Southern Illinois

3 years ago
SPRINGFIELD – An older person who resides in a rural area of Jackson County recently tested positive for Heartland Virus, the third reported case in Illinois since 2018, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced today. The first two Heartland virus cases in Illinois were reported in 2018 in Kankakee County and Williamson County. Likely spread by the Lone Star tick, more than 50 cases of Heartland virus disease have been reported in the Midwest and southern United States since 2009. “As people continue to enjoy summer activities like hiking and camping, it is important to take precautions against ticks,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “Remember to wear insect repellent when in tick habitats and check for ticks immediately afterwards.” Heartland virus was first identified in 2009 when two Missouri farmers who had been bitten by ticks were admitted to a hospital. Almost all individuals with Heartland virus have been hospitalized. Although

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SIUE's Tolava Earns National Concrete Association Scholarship

3 years ago
EDWARDSVILLE – Consistency, determination and striving to achieve are some of the attributes that make one a serial winner. Such is the story of Cristian Rodrigo Tolava Torrico, a second-year graduate student in the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineering (SOE) Department of Civil Engineering. Tolava has been awarded the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Foundation Scholarship’s W. Gene Corley Memorial Scholarship. Named after a recognized industry leader, the scholarship is awarded to graduate students with an interest in forensic engineering and the behavior and design of concrete structures. “This recognition became an extraordinary component of my life and keeps me moving forward,” said Torrico. “I certainly have more to accomplish and more to learn.” For someone whose long-term aspiration is to set up a structural consulting company and tutor rising engineers, Tolava believes the scholarship, with other internship and

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ISP Announces First Counties To Go Live With Next Generation 911 System

3 years ago
MORRIS – Illinois State Police (ISP) Director Brendan F. Kelly, joined by Illinois Statewide 911 Administrator Cindy Barbera-Brelle, Grundy County Sheriff/Emergency Telephone System Board Director of Electronic Operations Chris Kindelspire, and KenCom Public Safety Dispatch Director Lynette Bergeron, today announced the first counties to go live with Next Generation 911. Next Generation 911 moves emergency response communications to a more integrated information technology network. “The safety and wellbeing of Illinoisans has always been — and will always be — my top priority,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “That’s why we are transforming our emergency response system with modern tools like Next Generation. When there’s an emergency, there’s no time to waste — and Next Generation 911 will ensure that first responders like paramedics, firefighters, and police officers have the information they need to respond quickly and efficiently.”

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John Collins-Muhammad Pleads Guilty in Bribery Scheme

3 years ago
Former St. Louis alderman John Collins-Muhammad pled guilty in federal court today for charges related to a bribery scheme. He had previously pled not guilty in June after an unsealed indictment revealed he and three former aldermen accepted cash bribes, cars, an iPhone and other gifts in exchange for political leverage. On Tuesday, Collins-Muhammad pled guilty to theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, bribery racketeering and wire fraud.
Monica Obradovic

Letter To The Editor: What I Have Learned from Sixth Graders

3 years ago
For the last 28 years of my life, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being involved, in one way or another, in the annual rite of passage that comes with becoming a sixth grader. For most of us, this momentous occasion is simply a memory that we have stored away in our minds with all the other good and bad we experienced in our middle school years. But for me, being privy to the annual event of sixth graders learning how to use a combination lock has become a pleasant highlight in my career as an educator. Now, don’t get me wrong: as a sixth-grade homeroom teacher, the actual responsibility of making certain that these students learned how to manipulate a lock was not fun. The constant forgetting of the locker combination, the failing to remember if it was left first or right first, and the ever-present question of why it was necessary to pass that second number once was sometimes daunting. As a young teacher in my twenties, I would sometimes become easily frustrated.

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