The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Friday November 20, 2020

Olivia Butts
 
Students stand in line at a U of I testing site along Goodwin Avenue at the start of the semester in August.

Students stand in line at a U of I testing site along Goodwin Avenue at the start of the semester in August. Christine Herman/Illinois Newsroom

Listen (Duration: 9:56)
Download

Friday November 20, 2020

Today’s headlines:

  • Governor JB Pritzker yesterday called on longtime Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan to resign if he won’t appear in public and answer questions about a bribery scheme.

  • llinois state health officials are continuing to urge residents to stay home for the holidays and avoid large indoor gatherings of any kind. They announced more than 1,400 additional COVID-19 cases today, along with 168 more deaths.

  • Champaign County health officials announced 140 new cases yesterday. There are more than 1,200 active cases inthe county and 16 people are hospitalized. The county’s seven-day average positivity rate, excluding University of Illinois tests, is 9.6%.

  • The US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating a complaint alleging that Jewish and pro-Israel students on the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus have faced a hostile environment of anti-Semitism and that the university’s response was inadequate.

In today’s deep dive, as the fall semester comes to a closeon the University of Illinois Urbana campus, we’ll find out what lessons officials have learned reopening the campus during a pandemic.

217 Today is produced by Olivia Butts and hosted by Brian Moline. Reporting today contributed by Hannah Meisel, Lee Gaines, and Christine Herman.