(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois Department of Employment Security has announced the state’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3% in September. While Nevada is the only state with a higher joblessness rate at 5.6%, the national U.S. rate is at 4.1%. Based on preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, nonfarm payrolls were down in Illinois by 2,400 jobs.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois Attorney General’s Office is joining a coalition of 46 attorneys general, calling on the Federal Communications Commission to close what they say is an unmonitored loophole to access the U.S. telephone network. The group is calling on the FCC to strengthen the Robocall Mitigation Database to penalize providers for false or inadequate information. If adopted, the procedures would stop more illegal robocalls.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois Department of Public Heatlh is observing this week as U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week. The annual event is intended to increase public knowledge about the importance of careful use of antibiotics in order to prevent antimicrobial resistance, where bacteria and other germs develop an immunity to the drugs that were designed to fight them. The CDC estimates that each year, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur throughout America. Learn more on the dph.illinois.gov website.
(SPRINGFIELD) More than 350 students in grades 4th through 8th will visit Illinois state historic sites this school year, thanks in part to grant funding from the State DNR and its State Historic Sites Field Trip Grant program. Nearly $4,400 in donated funds were awarded for twelve (12) field trip grants. While learning activities must directly relate to a school’s curriculum, the competitive program allows statewide teachers to apply for the funds to take students on field trips to visit and learn at selected state historic sites in Illinois.