Schools make COVID plans

Last week, the Illinois State Board of Education announced a highly anticipated statement regarding mask usage in schools. Many found the original statement confusing, but after some clarification, it appears…

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Vaccine hesitant explain stance

(Editor’s note: The Republic-Times is not presenting these viewpoints in this story as fact. The objective of this story is to provide insight from residents who do not appear likely…

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Wagner questions positivity rate

Monroe County Health Department Administrator John Wagner is again questioning state data related to the novel coronavirus, with the target of his criticism this time being the positivity rate for…

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Scrutinizing vaccine claims

(This is the second part of an ongoing series focused on examining misconceptions, concerns and myths about the COVID-19 vaccine).   As more people continue to be inoculated against the novel…

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Tackling vaccine myths

As America continues work on its largest vaccination effort ever, a number of concerns, misconceptions and myths persist about the COVID-19 vaccine.  It is reasonable to question the safety of…

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Columbia in-person school debate

The Columbia School Board unanimously voted Thursday night to increase the option for in-person attendance to the highest level since the pandemic began.  Starting Feb. 16, all students in fifth…

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Vaccine comes to Monroe County

Monroe County received its first shipment of the novel coronavirus vaccine this week, with the first 100 doses arriving Wednesday. It began administering the first doses of the vaccine at…

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