I’m Zayna, your newsletter editor, here to provide you with a weekly line to The North Star and the news. We’ll keep you updated about what’s going on right here in Naperville and break down the big stories. Remember to check out Polaris recipes and our weekly crossword!
Here's what's going on locally:
Many new laws went into effect at the beginning of the year.
The new year brought parties, resolutions and many, many laws. The state of Illinois saw over 100 bills go into effect on New Year’s Day. While a complete list of all the new 2022 Illinois laws can be found at this site, here is a shorter explanation of four impactful laws:
- Just recently, the minimum wage in Illinois increased to $12 an hour for full-time adult workers and $9.25 an hour for minors who work less than 650 hours per calendar year. Employers may count gratuities to offset salaries for workers. For example, employees that receive tips, such as waiters or taxi drivers, may be paid 60% of their hourly minimum wage. This boost is part of Illinois’s set goal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025.
- Illinois students are now granted up to five days of school absences for mental or behavioral health reasons without being required to show a doctor’s note. After their second absence, students will be referred to the proper school counselor, psychologist or social worker for mental health assistance. Students will be given opportunities to complete missed work and have access to academic help resources if needed.
- In more cultural news, Illinois has become the first state to require school history curriculums to include teachings about the contributions of Asian-Americans to America. The Jett Hawkins Act was also passed this month, which prohibits discrimination against natural ethnic hairstyles such as braids, locs and afros in school.
- Students who plan on attending an Illinois public college are no longer required to submit standardized testing scores from the SAT or ACT. This law was passed in an effort to minimize the barrier that underprivileged students often face when registering for or taking standardized tests.
In NNHS news...
Now, let's take a look at this week's national stories.
First, a breakdown of recent COVID-19 data:
The Omicron variant hit the U.S. on Dec. 1 and has already caused more panic and fear across the states. Let’s break down some of the local and national data:
Nationally:
- As of Jan. 9, the total number of U.S. cases is 59,521,277, with an average 678,271 new cases everyday. In comparison, on Dec. 9, there were only 123,505 new cases reported. This large initial uptake is decreasing now from record high case numbers like 1,018,935 new cases reported on Jan. 3.
- The daily average of hospitalizations is 132,086 people and the average of deaths is 1,562 people. Despite the increase in case numbers, the death and hospitalizations have stayed mostly static.
- 74.4% of the country has at least one dose of the vaccine, 62.2% is fully vaccinated and only 36.5% of the fully vaccinated have received a booster shot. Vaccine rates have significantly decreased since the spring. On March 31, there were 4,168,356 doses administered, compared to Jan. 8’s 500,007 doses.
Locally:
- In DuPage County, as of Jan. 11, there are 17,063 cases reported. There were 23 deaths, meaning a 2.49% deaths to cases rate. There were also 60,750 tests performed in that week, making the positivity rate 20.7%.
- There are 681,198 people in DuPage County who are fully vaccinated and 751,369 people who have at least one shot. This means 73% of the county are fully vaccinated and 81% have at least one shot. 319,318 people, 46.5%, have received a booster shot.
- Some schools in the Chicagoland area have moved to remote learning, not necessarily because of COVID-19 numbers in general, but because of staffing shortages. Five schools in Elgin’s school district closed and Highland Elementary in Elgin closed due to 400 teachers being out sick.
Next, a deadly fire in a Bronx apartment:
On Sunday, a fire broke out in a 19-story apartment building in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, due to a malfunctioning electric space heater in a bedroom. The fire claimed the lives of at least 17 people, including nine children.
- The fire began at about 10:50 a.m. EST, and first responders were initially notified via a phone call from a resident of the building who heard the smoke alarms going off.
- Reports show that the majority of displaced residents of the apartment building are a part of the Muslim community, with many immigrants from Gambia.
- The door of the unit with the fire was left open, along with one leading from the stairwell to an upper floor, allowing the smoke to travel throughout the building into the hallways and other units.
- Within three minutes of the initial call, the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) arrived at the scene with about 200 firefighters. First responders found residents, many of whom had suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest, lying on the floor and in stairwells..
- After FDNY air tanks ran out of air to support the firefighters inside, they did their best to rescue as many people as possible.
- More people were left injured due to “severe smoke inhalation” from the fire, sending 33 people to local hospitals.
In sports news...
The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace.
On Monday, the Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace after the team finished with a 6-11 record this season.
- This came after Nagy was never able to repeat the successes of his first season, in which he led the team to a 12-4 record and the playoffs for the first time in eight years. The team finished 8-8 in 2019, and then again in 2020.
- This does not come as a surprise to Bears fans, after a local report came out rumoring that Nagy would be fired after the Bears’ Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions. The Bears ended up winning the game 16-14, but it was their only win amid a 1-8 streak from week six to week fifteen.
- The search committee for a new head coach and general manager will be led by former Team Chairman George McCaskey, along with NFL executive Bill Polian with the possibility of hiring the new manager first. One team of coaching prospects high on the Bear’s radar seems to be the Buffalo Bills. The team is interested in interviewing their defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for the open position.
- Under a new structure, the manager will report directly to ownership instead of going to team president Ted Phillips, who will spend more time on a potential new stadium for the Bears in Arlington Heights.
This week’s news was written by Bella, Gracie, Faye and Amelia