•May 12, 2021•
By Capitol News Illinois

Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday that Illinois will enter the “bridge” phase to full reopening on Friday, May 14. And barring any reversal of current trends, Phase 5, or full reopening, will begin on June 11.
He also announced that residents can now obtain COVID-19 vaccines from their physicians’ offices, rather than just designated vaccine sites, as public health officials continue to confront hesitancy within many communities to accept the vaccines.
Thursday’s announcement came as the state reached a new benchmark of having 55 percent of adults age 16 and over, and 80 percent of people age 65 and over, having received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Meanwhile, the daily number of new cases, hospitalization rates and intensive care unit usage have all been falling or leveling off.
Under the bridge phase – a transition phase between the current Phase 4 mitigations and the virtually complete reopening of Phase 5 – certain capacity limits will be eased at various kinds of events. Restaurants, for example, will be allowed to increase from 25 to 30 percent of capacity, as long as people maintain six feet of distance from one another, while offices, personal care facilities and retail service counters can increase from 50 to 60 percent of capacity. Read More

•May 12, 2021•
There is increasing evidence that brain health is directly related to body health. However, most people think more about keeping their bodies fit or their hearts healthy than working at maintaining a healthy brain. Cheri Burcham, Family Life Educator for the University of Illinois Extension, has resumed the “Wits Fitness: Brain Exercise Classes” at several locations in the area. Cheri will lead participants through interactive activities designed to exercise the brain to maintain and enhance cognitive function and memory. Locations and dates for 2021 include: Read More

•May 12, 2021•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

I love to learn new words. Or, as is often the case, relearn words I’d looked up before and forgotten. I swear my vocabulary stopped growing organically about 35 years ago. Adding to it is a constant struggle.
I check out e-books from my library, and if I’m tripped up by a word I don’t know (or can’t remember), I touch the screen and up pops a definition.
I do miss curling up with a good book, but curling up with an iPad is less cumbersome than curling up with a book AND a dictionary, especially when I’m traveling.
I learned a new word just before I started writing this.
Merriam-Webster’s word of the day was “fustian.” Read More