The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Carolina Garibay
 
One of the gas wells at the Peoples Gas Manlove Storage Field, located in rural Newcomb Township in northwest Champaign County.

One of the gas wells at the Peoples Gas Manlove Storage Field, located in rural Newcomb Township in northwest Champaign County. Jim Meadows/Illinois Newsroom

Listen (Duration: 9:37)
Download

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Today's headlines

  • The so-called Delta variant of COVID-19 keeps making inroads in Illinois. The more contagious COVID-19 mutation has propelled positivity rates in some areas of the state to levels not seen since the first half of January.

  • The St. Louis region this week became one of the first places in the nation to re-impose a mask mandate to help stem the new wave of coronavirus infections. The mask mandate applies to everyone age 5 and older, even if they’ve gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • An Illinois congresswoman wants to defund universities that provide abortion medication to students.

  • A northern Illinois couple is facing federal charges alleging they breached the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.

In today's deep dive, some rural residents of Champaign County had their water contaminated by a gas leak, but they could eventually be hooked up to a nearby public water system.

Reporting today contributed by Hannah Meisel, Sarah Fentem, Reginald Hardwick and Jim Meadows.