Less restrictive Covid-19 rules go into effect in the Metro-East

Covid-19 restrictions have been eased in the Metro-East, but there’s still no indoor dining. The Illinois Department of Public Health says improving Covid numbers prompted the drop into Tier 2 mitigations starting today (Friday) in Region 4, which includes St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, Clinton, Bond and Washington counties Meetings and social gatherings can have…

Biden revokes Trump report promoting ‘patriotic education’

President Joe Biden has revoked a recent Trump administration report that aimed to promote “patriotic education” in schools but that historians rejected as political propaganda. An executive order issued Wednesday disbanded Donald Trump’s presidential 1776 Commission and withdrew a report it released Monday. Trump created the group in September to rally support from white voters.…

‘Just move on’: Republicans grapple with post-Trump future

President Joe Biden’s inauguration represents a new high point for Democrats, who have assumed control of Congress and expelled Donald Trump from the White House. But for Republicans, this moment marks a painful shift to a new era of diminished power, deep uncertainty and dangerous intraparty divisions that some believe threaten the very survival of…

St. Louis County receives more coronavirus vaccine doses; shots to resume

St. Louis County Tuesday received delivery of 3,900 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine from the state of Missouri. The county Department of Public Health will continue administering the vaccine on Wednesday morning to people who have registered, and the process will continue daily at the Health Department’s John C. Murphy Health Center in Berkeley.…

Survey: Major European allies optimistic about Biden admin

BERLIN (AP) — A new survey suggests that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will assume office amid a surge in optimism among major European allies, and at home, about the future of trans-Atlantic relations and American foreign policy in general. Four years of President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy have frayed relations with…