The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

Brian Moline
 
Dozens of small-scale studies across the globe on ivermectin fueled a misinformation storm that spread like wildfire in the United States. Even as the erroneous studies got retracted, many groups latched on to them.

Dozens of small-scale studies across the globe on ivermectin fueled a misinformation storm that spread like wildfire in the United States. Even as the erroneous studies got retracted, many groups latched on to them. Farah Yousry/Vecteezy

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Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

Today's Headlines:

  • A federal judge this week upheld a new Illinois law banning county jails from detaining immigrants for profit.

  • The pandemic threw a wrench in expanded gambling plans, which are just now getting back on track. Those projects are largely funding the state's large infrastructure bill.

  • Republican Congressman Rodney Davis says there was a lot to like in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that President Biden just signed into law. So why didn’t he vote for it?

  • Health officials reported 44 new COVID-19 cases in Champaign County Wednesday. The number of active cases has topped 1700 for the first time since August 2020.

In today's deep dive, the first in a two part series from Side Effects Public Media on how ivermectin became a coveted treatment for COVID-19 despite shaky research.