Times Weekly News

County Treasurer Maria Pappas is urging residents to go to cookcountytreasurer.com to see if they are entitled to a refund.  According to Pappas, people can easily check to see if they qualified for missing exemptions or refunds going back as far...

Will County has reached the Severe Risk level for daily COVID infections and positive test rates, according to county health officials. The most recent figures show the rate of new cases at 192 per 100 thousand population (total population 690,000), with a positive test rate of 22%. The vaccination rate remains at just over 70% of all residents with 1 dose or more of COVID vaccine. Hospitalizations, cases and deaths have experienced a sudden spike over the past 30 days after a slight decrease.

Trees Forever is announcing a funding opportunity for Illinois communities to diversify their community forests or recover from natural or man-made disasters, particularly emerald ash borer (EAB). Trees Forever is accepting applications for Recover, Replant, Restore! tree planting grants February 1 through 25. Grants of $500 to $3,000 are available to plant more diverse disease-resistant and storm-resistant shade trees. Eligible projects include planting trees in public spaces, such as along streets and trails, community entryways, at schools, public buildings, parks and more.

Thetimesweekly.com Project Acclaim has selected the National Hook Up of Black Women, Inc. Joliet Chapter (NHBW) to receive the 4th Quarter of 2021 Reverend James E. Allen Award for Service to the Community. This award recognizes individuals or organizations who show selfless devotion of community by direct action; perform actions that have a community-wide impact; perform actions that significantly improve the life or well-being of individuals; and perform actions that enhance the best interests of the community. The National Hook Up of Black Women initiatives and efforts in the greater Joliet area certainly match the criteria for this award. Project Acclaim was particularly moved by the NHBW’s efforts to promote literacy throughout our community by giving out free books at community events and making available after-school tutoring as well as the organization’s efforts to encourage vaccination against infection and the spread of COVID-19.

Washington DC. - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the launch of its Clean Energy Corps, which is made up of staff from more than a dozen offices across DOE – current staff and new hires – who will work together to research, develop, demonstrate, and deploy solutions to climate change. DOE also announced that the Clean Energy Corps is ready to recruit an additional 1,000 employees using a special hiring authority included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help implement the Law’s historic infusion of $62 billion in funding and accelerate the nation’s drive to a clean energy future. The Clean Energy Corps’ new hiring portal will help streamline the application process for the industry veterans, experienced technical experts, and the next generation of clean energy leaders it seeks to attract.

Thetimesweekly.com TTW Network Prayer breakfasts, marches, parades, and an uptick in volunteer efforts to support the annual Day of Service have remained staples of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But the late civil rights icon family had asked that observers strike a different tune in 2022. King’s family requested no celebration unless federal lawmakers pass voting rights legislation, a task that appears out of reach as President Joe Biden and several Democrats have faced stiff Republican opposition.

TTW News Network Thetimesweekly.com The Joliet Region Food & Beverage Association (JRFBA), a division of the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry is eager to announce that the JRFBA will be kicking off a campaign to gather meal donations for hospital staff at Saint Joseph Medical Center and Silver Cross Hospital beginning Monday, January 17, 2022.

President Joe Biden on Friday announced the nominations of three individuals to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, including Lisa D. Cook, a professor of Economics and International Relations at Michigan State University. If confirmed, Cook would become the first African American woman to serve in that role. A Marshall Scholar from Spelman College who received a second B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University, Cook earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

President Biden has whiffed in his attempts to persuade hold out Senate Democrats to go around or abolish the filibuster to get voting rights legislation through Congress. The White House, led by the President, had engaged in a fiery campaign to push bills through that would protect voters against the cavalcade of suppression laws that have passed in Republican-led states in reaction to former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. Any hopes of getting legislation through was quashed when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona), and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) reiterated their refusal to change Senate rules so that the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act could pass. The two renegade Democrats pre-empted President Biden’s visit to the Capitol in embarrassing fashion. Before he arrived, the duo took to the Senate floor to declare they would not support any changes to the filibuster under any circumstances.

The National Covid Center opened at Cass and Eastern Ave. a week ago to provide urgent COVID lab services to the community. The Addison, Il based company has 1 site in Joliet and is affiliated with the Illinois Department of Health, according to Mr. Taki a senior executive for the center. They are CLIA certified and follow the CDC COVID-19 recommendations to provide a safe environment for all patients who wish to get tested. This information was posted on their website. Taki said, “the center is not a pop-up site,” and that they set-up sites in communities that don’t have access to testing.