The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021

Brian Moline and Farrah Anderson
 
A sign outside of St. Agatha Catholic Church in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood expresses an urgent prayer. St. Agatha hosts the READI Chicago program, which is one of several anti-violence efforts showing signs of success despite the city's high shooting numbers.

A sign outside of St. Agatha Catholic Church in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood expresses an urgent prayer. St. Agatha hosts the READI Chicago program, which is one of several anti-violence efforts showing signs of success despite the city's high shooting numbers. Patrick Smith/WBEZ

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Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021

Today's headlines:

  • The House passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill over the weekend. The bill is projected to send at least $17 billion to Illinois for things like roads and bridges, airports, public transit, broadband access, and water infrastructure.

  • Governor J.B. Pritzker appeared Monday on a panel with three other Democratic governors at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. 

  • Champaign substitute teachers can now earn at least $140 a day-- a $30 raise over the previous base pay.

  • The University of Illinois Urbana campus has reported nearly 200 new cases of COVID-19 over the last week. That’s more than three times as many as the previous week and the test positivity rate on campus has nearly tripled over that period as well.

In today's deep dive, we'll hear a conversation with the director of a new Illinois agency dedicated to reducing gun violence. The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention will help dole out a promised $250 million to violence prevention organizations over the next three years.

217 Today is produced by Farrah Anderson. Reporting today contributed by Tim Shelley, Hannah Meisel, Emily Hays and Patrick Smith.