Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor JB Pritzker will issue an Executive Order cancelling the Illinois and Du Quoin State Fairs this year. The annual State Fairs, which attracted over 600,000 visitors combined in 2019, will return in August 2021. “The Illinois and Du Quoin State Fairs have been some of my favorite opportunities [...]
By Katie Davison, Innovate Springfield, and Lisa Clemmons Stott, Downtown Springfield Inc. More than 1400 Sangamon County residents responded to a survey this week gauging how they are feeling heading into today’s Phase 3 reopening. They are ready to get their haircut and visit the doctor. A majority plan to wait longer to visit [...]
New jobless claims in May appear to level out By Peter Hancock, Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The unemployment rate in Illinois reached a staggering 16.4 percent in April, the highest rate recorded since the modern system of tracking joblessness began in 1976, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday. The previous record of 13.9 [...]
By Rebecca Anzel, Capitol News Illinois ranzel@capitolnewsillinois.com Unemployed Illinoisans will soon have access to free, online skills-based training programs. Beginning in June and lasting through the end of the year, 3,800 courses and 400 specializations will be offered by over 160 universities through the online learning platform Coursera, Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday. Formal certification [...]
Judge previously granted temporary restraining order on its implementation By Jerry Nowicki, Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com A state commission voted to repeal a new rule that would have made workers’ compensation benefits available to essential employees who contracted COVID-19 without having to prove the illness was contracted at the workplace. The Workers Compensation Commission repealed [...]
Pritzker announces modified order to reopen some businesses in May By Peter Hancock, Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday that 4.4 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims during the week that ended April 18, including 102,936 workers in Illinois. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 520,227 workers in [...]
Since March 1, claims five times higher than first six weeks of Great Recession By Jerry Nowicki, Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com In the week ending April 11, another 141,049 Illinoisans filed initial unemployment claims, bringing the total number during the latest four weeks of the novel coronavirus pandemic to more than 634,000 in the state. [...]
Chicago tavern sues insurer over ‘business disruption’ claim Lawsuit illustrates how COVID-19 could be devastating for insurance industry By Peter Hancock, Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com A Chicago tavern that has been closed since March 16 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Illinois filed a lawsuit this week against an insurance company for refusing to pay [...]
Economists forecast potential major hit on state’s economy revenues By Peter Hancock, Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com More than half a million Illinois workers have filed first-time unemployment claims in the four weeks since the COVID-19 outbreak first hit the labor market. Economists at the University of Illinois are now forecasting a major economic downturn that [...]
While small business owners scramble to apply for the various loan programs and grants now being offered at the state and federal level, the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce is trying to help bridge the gap for those waiting for financial assistance. On March 20, the Chamber Business Relief Fund was created to assist businesses [...]