Quick Hits: Illinois News In Brief For Oct. 28

From The Center Square:

Pritzker nixes basketball with guidelines for winter sports in Illinois

The Illinois High School Association says it only got a 15-minute heads up from the Pritzker administration about elevating basketball from medium to high risk for COVID-19.

The move means there won’t be competitive play per the governor’s order.

IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said the plan they presented the Pritzker administration which reflected what other states are doing with basketball was not accepted.

New state sports guidelines leave some disappointed

A Springfield high school basketball coach is devastated his student athletes won’t be able to compete because of the governor’s prohibition.

Lanphier High School Boys Basketball Coach Blake Turner said he broke the news to his team at the end of open gym Tuesday.

He said the loss of the season will be detrimental to student athletes hoping to get in front of scouts for the next stage of the their careers.

Distrust in government reported in Illinois

While other states were searching the internet for the term “Deep State,” Illinoisans were searching for “JB Pritzker Corruption.”

Researchers with the website NotFreeAmerica.com reviewed Google search data for government distrust searches and found Illinois was one of several states that appear to show a high level of distrust of elected officials of the dominating political party in the state.

Pritzker adds restrictions for Chicago as COVID-19 metrics increase

Starting today, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is prohibiting part of western Cook County and the Metro East area outside of St. Louis from indoor dining.

Similar restrictions imposed by Pritzker are now in six of the state’s eleven regions.

Region 3, the central west part of the state has 8 percent COVID-19 positivity for the first day Tuesday, signaling tighter restrictions are possible soon.

Illinois Supreme Court allows jury selection by video

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic circuit courts in Illinois can now conduct jury selection in civil cases by video conference.

Nearly eight months into the pandemic, the Illinois Supreme Court issued the order following a task force recommendation.

Civil trials have largely been on hold. Another order allows for remote service in protective orders if certain conditions are met.

State looks to expand manufacturing training

The state is looking to expand manufacturing training outside of Cook and the collar counties.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced his administration is working to establish two manufacturing training academies using $15 million in grants.

A community college or groups of community colleges can apply for the money to construct the facilities in downstate Illinois.

The focus of the work of The Center Square Illinois is state- and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility. For more stories from The Center Square, visit TheCenterSquare.com.