Drive down any U.S. interstate and there’s a good chance you will see a pun or a funny reference on the next electronic message board you spot.

Such messages have become ubiquitous across the country lately.

But besides getting a snicker, what’s behind these roadside bits, and are they making drivers behave differently?

They are known as dynamic message signs, and they usually remind drivers about speed limits or traffic delays.

Though the technology has been around for decades, in recent years states across the country have been taking a different tactic with their messaging in a bid for more eyeballs.

A recent message that was flashing out across Illinois expressways is a perfect example of this.

It read, “Got The Munchies? Get Food Delivered. Don’t Drive High!”

Since Illinois legalized marijuana this year, transportation officials have been trying to get people to avoid driving stoned, so why not appeal to a stoner’s love for snacking?

(Read more here)

Artists throughout Illinois have been hit particularly hard by the social distancing effects of the coronavirus pandemic. For many, their primary source of income has dried up as gigs and events have been canceled…

For Rockford painter Laura Gomel, virus-related shutdowns have dealt a huge blow. She owns an art gallery, teaches art classes, and even enters her own work in shows. That typically keeps her busy six days a week, but all of that has been canceled or postponed because of COVID-19.

“That’s the biggest thing, I don’t have any income,” Gomel explained. “At all. Zero, and I don’t know when I’m gonna have some…because my job depends on people, [on] interacting with people. That’s what I do for a living.”

For now, she’s at home, caring for her nine year old daughter who has Down Syndrome. Gomel said she’s keeping busy; she’s helping with school work and cleaning her house.

But she’s usually at her art studio, painting acrylic portraits and scenes to sell. ‘

“Ideas just never stop coming out of my head. I constantly have something I’m working on and…I’m just flatlining.”

(Read more here)

Kids across Illinois will be heading to school next month. For parents, that means checking off supply lists, calming those first day jitters, and even getting their kids vaccinated. Not everyone believes in that last one, which is why states like Illinois offer families exemptions for religious reasons.

But just last month, New York joined a handful of states that ban the practice, citing a large spike in measles cases. Though it hasn’t happened yet in Illinois, lawmakers across the country are mulling whether or not to do the same.

To understand why religious exemptions are a big deal in the public health realm, you have to understand what just happened in New York state. Hundreds of measles cases seemed to be stemming from a few communities near New York City where families were refusing to vaccinate their kids for religious reasons.

The problem is, a lot of those kids were getting sick.

(Read more here)