The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Friday April 30, 2021

Brian Moline
 
Wendy Porter and her father Roger Jensen show off the morel mushrooms they found in the woods.

Wendy Porter and her father Roger Jensen show off the morel mushrooms they found in the woods. Melissa Rosales/NET

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Friday April 30, 2021

Today's Headlines:

  • Gov. JB Pritzker has made public a long-awaited investigation into a COVID outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home last fall that killed 36 residents. 

  • A new report from the Illinois Department of Public Health finds Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. 

  • A committee at Eastern Illinois University voted unanimously this week to recommend that a building named for Stephen A. Douglas be renamed. 

  • Faculty, staff and students at the University of Illinois who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will soon no longer have to get tested for the illness. 

In today's deep dive, it's morel mushroom season in much of the Midwest, and people are scouring river bottoms to find the hollow, sponge-like, edible mushrooms. 

Reporting today contributed by Hannah Meisel, Christine Herman, Jim Meadows, and Melissa Rosales.