STATION EDITORIAL

Posted June 26, 2020

This is a station editorial, I’m Randal J. Miller, station president.

Well, the state of Illinois has moved to Phase 4 of Governor J-B Pritzker’s 5 phases established to re-open the state following the coronavirus outbreak.

I have a compliment and a complaint for the Governor.

My compliment is that COVID-19 cases across the state are far less right now, than other populous states in the country that are seeing a spike, and for that, we’re grateful.

My complaint is that when he established 4 regions of the state on May First, saying he would allow each region to move to the next phase depending on the data, it never happened.  He treated the state as one.

A WCIA-TV Freedom of Information Act request for data, proves the point.  Their investigation said based on data it obtained from the Illinois Department of Public Health, our region should have moved thru phases sooner because Central Illinois never got above the positive testing rate of 20 percent which was the I-D-P-H benchmark for a region to move.  Data showed our region never got above 8 percent, and that was on April 2nd.

That investigation further shows that even as Chicagoland area hospitals saw the state’s largest surge in Coronavirus-related admissions, once the Governor issued his Stay-at-Home order, the medical facilities there remained above the 14 percent threshold of available ICU beds, medical and surgery beds and ventilators throughout the last several months.

The WCIA-TV investigation further shows downstate hospitals never came close to hitting the 14 percent low-water mark, being well above 30 percent availability for ventilators and beds since late March.

Hindsight is always 20-20, but the last 4 months from my perspective was nothing more than a power grab by the Governor.  And, with any politician, once they’ve got power, it’s difficult for them to let go.

That’s our opinion...we welcome yours.  Our e-mail address is editorial@randyradio.com.

STATION EDITORIAL

Posted June 10, 2020

This is a station editorial, I'm Randal J. Miller, station president.

As we endure the remaining days of being in the Restore Illinois "Phase 3" recovery following the coronavirus outbreak, here are some random observations.

Observation # 1:  All the numbers I've been hearing and seeing about our Central Illinois region that Governor Pritzker designated, show that we should have moved to "Phase 4" weeks ago.  While he announced May First that the state would be broken into 4 regions to observe data and then follow the 5 phases he outlined, apparently minutes after his announcement he forgot about it.  The only reason he broke the state into 4 regions was to appease downstaters and Republicans.

Observation # 2:  As of June 10th, the statewide recovery rate from the Illinois Department of Public Health web site, is 92-percent.  That's 92-percent.  We shut down the entire Illinois economy despite a 92-percent statewide recovery rate.

Observation # 3:  Based on many other states that have re-opened, it appears that their economies are rebounding and getting back to normal.  I've told a lot of people recently that I don't want us to get to a "new normal."  I want our communities to get back to normal.  And, it IS possible.

Finally, observation # 4: I want to THANK the hundreds of you that are patronizing our local businesses--the car dealers, furniture stores, restaurants offering carry-out or drive-thru food, and other businesses that were allowed to re-open May 28th.  We're encouraging our local businesses to lead the GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL TIME, and YOU can help make that happen.  The survival of our local businesses in our small towns, depends on ALL of us to spend money LOCALLY where it counts...many times over! 

Let's all look ahead to the coming days, weeks, and months, with a sense of anticipation and excitement, as we together work to keep our small town way of life.

That's our opinion...we welcome yours.  Our e-mail address is editorial@randyradio.com.