The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Thursday Feb. 4, 2021

Brian Moline and Olivia Butts
 
Johnson Simon is an artist and teacher who lives with cerebral palsy.

Johnson Simon is an artist and teacher who lives with cerebral palsy. Provided by Johnson Simon

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Thursday Feb. 4, 2021

Today's headlines: 

  • Some pharmacies in Illinois will start seeing an increase in vaccine doses - shipped directly from the federal government. That news came as Gov. JB Pritzker toured a vaccination site in Champaign Wednesday.

  • A group of Republicans this week introduced a bill allowing for the recall of elected officials, which would apply to both state and local government, with the exception of judges.

  • The Illinois economy continued its slow recovery last month, according to the University of Illinois Flash Index.

  • Champaign County reported 133 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. It was the first time in nearly a week that more than 100 cases were reported in the county in a single day.

  • As of Wednesday, nearly 15% of Champaign County’s eligible population had received the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, and 3% had received both doses.

In today's deep dive, we close our four-part series about the pandemic’s impact on people with disabilities. We hear from Johnson Simon, a painter who has cerebral palsy. His passion for teaching was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.

217 Today is produced by Olivia Butts. Reporting today contributed by Christine Herman, Derek Cantu, Jim Meadows, and Colleen Pellesier.