As we look ahead to summer travel, VRBO has released a report on travel trends for 2021. Many pandemic trends will likely stick around, including driving instead of flying. Families are making up for travel time lost during the pandemic. According to VRBO, 82% of families have vacation plans for […]

Grace Barbic  |  Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Education Association, one of the largest teacher unions in the state, on Tuesday released its third annual state of education report examining attitudes towards public education in Illinois. The poll, conducted by Normington Petts and Next Generation Strategies, surveyed 1,000 […]

Lowe’s is preparing for home improvement’s busiest sales season. This spring, it will sell garden-to-go kits and supplies to help people enjoy a staycation. Lowe’s Gardening tools. Backyard grills. And supplies for a staycation? As home improvement’s peak sales season begins, Lowe’s said it expects shoppers’ spring purchases to continue […]

Social distancing is easier outside. That simple maxim drove Americans outdoors in a huge way last year. Local, state and national parks usage shot up substantially in 2020 as people searched out leisure and fitness activities that weren’t precluded by COVID-19 rules limiting indoor entertainment and exercise options where the […]

Several years ago, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released an overview of the Green New Deal that mentioned guaranteeing “economic security” for people who are “unable or unwilling to work.” When conservative critics noticed those last three words, they pounced. Fox News waxed poetic about the “dignity of work” and Breitbart sneered at the “self-described Democratic Socialist” whose […]

A year after the U.S.’s initial wave of coronavirus shutdowns, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The vaccine roll-out is finally gaining steam—nearly one-quarter of Americans have now received at least one shot—and last week, President Biden announced a plan to open vaccinations up to the general […]

You probably didn’t realize how many words begin with the prefix “pan-” until we found ourselves living through a pan … demic. On social media, we are in a “panorama,” a “pandemonium,” a “pandemi moore,” a “panini.” Over the past year, a new lexicon has emerged online: “quarantinis” to describe […]

Before Joshua Hunt took classes online at Morehouse College, he gained a little experience in virtual learning at Pine Bluff High School, all while a traditional senior year became anything but traditional. His soccer season was just getting started, and the Pine Bluff Zebras had just won their first three […]

Saturday marks a rather bittersweet anniversary. On March 13, 2020, I walked out of a local store. I haven’t been inside any building other than my house since then. This has been the Year of COVID, and as an “at risk” individual, I’ve followed the advice of my doctor and […]