Closed libraries can’t stop storytimes. Several stores offer senior shopping hours. How to participate in the Homewood Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday without being there. State launches new COVID-19 website. COVID-19 cases jump to 288 on Wednesday.
- Libraries are closed, but that isn’t stopping all heir reading programs. Storytimes are moving online. Homewood Public Library will hold “Miss Angela’s Facebook Live Storytime” at 4:30 p.m. today, and at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, Miss Kelly will host “Facebook Live Fairy Tale Stories.” Visit HPL’s Facebook page for more information.
- Information hygiene: Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday the launch of a new state website focused specifically on information about the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Because seniors are thought to be at higher risk of developing serious illness from COVID-19, local grocery stores are reserving certain hours for seniors-only shopping to minimize their contact with others. At Walt’s Food Center in Homewood, the hours are 7 to 8 a.m. The two Jewel-Osco stores in Homewood will have seniors shopping from 7 to 9 a.m.
- Governors State University announced Wednesday that campus class meetings will not resume. Instead, “alternative modes of instructional delivery will continue through the remainder of the spring semester.”
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The March 24 village board meeting will be conducted via telephone conference call. Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order that waives a portion of the Illinois Open Meetings Act to allow local governments to hold remote meetings to help control the spread of the COVID-19 virus.The order waives the requirement that a quorum of members of the public body be physically present at the meeting location. The trustees will not be physically present at this meeting, however it is still open to the public. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the board room of the village hall, 2020 Chestnut Road. Those wishing to attend must follow the 6-foot social distancing requirement at all times. Homewood’s meetings are routinely recorded, and Assistant Village Manager Napoleon Haney said the video will be posted on the village website as soon as possible Wednesday, March 25. He said residents who have questions or comments for the board could send email to [email protected]. [Note: The procedure for this meeting changed after this briefing was posted. This version incorporates updated information provided by the village Thursday, March 19.]
- Illinois Department of Public Health officials announced another jump in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases Wednesday, from 160 to 288.