Illinois had higher rate of COVID-19
According to new estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 4 U.S. adults and older teens had still not caught COVID-19 by the end of last year. Illinois had a higher prevalence of past infections at just over 80% than the U.S. average of 77%. Iowa had the largest share of residents with a prior infection at 90.6%. Vermont had the lowest percentage at just over 64%.
Livestock registration grace period
After severe storms blew through the state last week, the Illinois State Fair has announced that the livestock entry deadline for the fair has been extended to Friday, July 7. Officials said because many areas of the state were impacted by severe weather, including various post offices experiencing power outages and the overall impact to Illinois families and communities, the Illinois State Fair is providing the grace period for 2023 livestock entries. The Illinois State Fair runs from Aug. 10-20 in Springfield.
Counting turkeys
In an effort to modernize collection of turkey sighting reports, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has switched from paper postcards to a web-based survey, making the process simpler for the volunteer citizen scientists who submit turkey sighting information to wildlife biologists. Officials said the data collected from turkey brood surveys is the department’s best way to estimate reproductive success each year for Illinois’ wild turkey population. The survey period runs June 1 through Aug. 31.
