City Beat

    The City of Decatur is preparing to reopen the Civic Center and City offices to the public in June as we enter phase 3 of the reopening plan. The City Council held a special meeting Tuesday evening to consider repealing the Mayor’s Emergency Order to prepare for moving forward with the Phase 3…

         • MAGIC DATE? A COVID-19 update stated last week that “the City of Decatur and Macon County leaders are preparing to move us from phase 2 to phase 3 on May 29th.”      I know local businesses are making plans to re-open on that date and, believe me, there is going to be more…

       THE GREAT Depression started in 1929 and lasted well into the 1930s — some historians state that it lasted until the beginning of World War II in 1941. Today’s economic fallout from the COVID-19 Pandemic has an increasing number of media outlets comparing the Great Depression to what our nation, and the world, are…

         The Decatur City Council met in study session Monday evening to discuss finances and what needs to be done to keep the city operating. Although no official action is ever taken during a study session — that will come during a regular council meeting — it was, and is, apparent that some extremely…

         SUNDAY is Mother’s Day and, needless to point out, it will not be the usual kind of special day because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Not only has our physical well-being been placed in danger because of the coronavirus, about all of those occasions that we’ve always held dear have either been cancelled or…

         As we move deeper into the fight to protect ourselves and others from the coronavirus, we are being asked to do what not that long ago, would have seemed ridiculous. Face coverings are now required in public indoor spaces, for both customers and the employees unable to maintain 6-foot social distancing. Many of…

  (Note: Today’s column is a light-hearted look at my daily routine and a few simple changes that have taken place under the “new normal” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not meant to minimize or be unaware of the suffering this disease has caused so many, both physically and economically.)      EVERY weekday morning…

    Decatur area residents, along with the rest of the state, have generally reacted favorably to Governor JB Pritzker’s announcement last week that he is extending the stay-at-home and social distancing order until the end of May. (Complete details of the announcement can be found on page 12 of the print edition.)            Obviously,…

         • AS I am writing this column there’s been 11 COVID-19 deaths of Macon County residents.  Ten of the deaths have been among residents at Fair Havens.  Every time there is a report of someone passing away or being infected with coronavirus, it should not only make us sad, but strongly…

    How are you doing? I hope you are staying as safe from the coronavirus as is humanly possible. We’ll get through this, and we will emerge in a much better position, with limited hospitalizations and/or deaths if we all work together, follow the rules of prevention and look out for each other      As…