Statewide: Youth Uses Technology To Help Seniors Find Vaccines

The vaccine rollout has been a difficult and confusing experience for many elderly residents.  But a 13-year old from Evanston has found a way to help people learn where to sign up.  He created a website.

Also, while restaurants are reopening, many employees remain unvaccinated and worried. 

Those stories and more on this episode of Statewide. 

Our lineup:

* WBEZ's Edie Rubinowitz reports on a teenager who created a website to help seniors get vaccinated.

* Jennifer Fuller with WSIU explains how summer camps are optimistic about offering outdoor oportunities to kids this year.

* Rich Egger of TriStates Public Radio brings us an interview about Major League Baseball recognizing statistics from the Negro Leagues.

* Yvonne Boose of WNIJ reports from Aurora on efforts to get more Black residents vaccinated.

* We'll hear a conversation with Paul Mensah, a vice president at Pfizer in St. Louis, whose team has helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine. Mensah is Black and he weighs in on how his role could help more Black people take the shots.

* WBEZ's Vivian McCall reports on how restaurants are opening, even though many of the workers are still waiting for the vaccine.

* Christine Herman talks with Adani Sanchez, client services coordinator for Champaign County Health Care Consumers, about helping people find the right health insurance plan.

* Hotter nighttime temperatures during the growing season can interrupt the sleep cycles of some crops. Christina Stella with Harvest Public Media has that story.

* Peter Medlin of WNIJ looks at potential solutions to Illinois' growing teacher shortage.

* The dry cleaning industry has been especially impacted during the pandemic. Odette Yousef tells us while once a staple of many neighborhoods, a lot of the businesses are disappearing.

Listen to Statewide across Illinois in:

• Bloomington/Normal – WGLT 89.1 (Fridays 11 a.m. - Noon, Sundays 6-7 a.m.)
• Carbondale – WSIU 91.9 (Fridays 2-3 p.m. and Sundays 6-7 a.m.)
• Mount Vernon - WVSI 88.9 (Fridays 2-3 p.m. and Sundays 6-7 a.m.)
• Olney - WUSI 90.3 (Fridays 2-3 p.m. and Sundays 6-7 a.m.)
• Quad Cities - WVIK 105.7 HD-2 (Fridays 11 a.m. - noon)
• Rockford/DeKalb – WNIJ 89.5 (Saturdays 6-7 a.m., Sundays 2-3 p.m.)
• Springfield/Decatur - WUIS 91.9 (Fridays 11 a.m. - Noon, 11 p.m. - Midnight, Saturdays 9-10 a.m.)
• Peoria – WCBU 89.9 (Fridays 11-noon, Sundays 6-7 a.m.)
• Pittsfield - WIPA 89.3 (Fridays 11 a.m. - Noon, 11 p.m. - Midnight, Saturdays 9-10 a.m.)
• Urbana/Champaign – WILL 580 (Fridays 11 a.m. - Noon, 7-8 p.m.)