Category Archives: Headlines
New Normal fire station set to improve community response times
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) - Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, the Normal Fire Station 2 will be reborn, albeit in a different part of town. The Normal Fire Department is making progress on its $8 millio...
Jul 01, 2025 Photo courtesy: Normal Fire Department/Facebook
Tazewell County certifies 95,000th marriage milestone
PEKIN, Illinois (WMBD) - Tazewell County just hit a milestone last Friday that the county clerk John Ackerman and his staff have been tracking for a year and a half. Tazewell County was established in...
Jul 01, 2025 Photo courtesy: File
'Hidden gem': Growing number of visitors discovering southern Illinois as travel destination
By SONYA DYMOVA & MAGGIE DOUGHERTY Medill Illinois News Bureau news@capitolnewsillinois.com WOLF LAKE. Ill. - Standing on the edge of a 300-foot limestone bluff in southern Illinois' Shawnee Natio...
Jun 30, 2025 Machaela Sweeney enjoys the view at the top of Inspiration Point near the Mississippi River in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest. (Medill Illinois News Bureau photo by Maggie Dougherty)
Bradley receives $2 million for capital improvements
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) - Bradley University was awarded $2 million in grants from the state for campus improvements. State Sen. Dave Koehler and state Rep. Jehan Gordon Booth, who is also the Majority Le...
Jun 30, 2025 Photo courtesy: File)
Join WJBC for the Spirit of McLean County Sky Concert
We hope to see you on Friday, July 4th, for the Spirit of McLean County Sky Concert! The fireworks will start at dusk, around 9:15 p.m., at Miller Park in Bloomington and Fairview Park in Normal. Than...
Jun 30, 2025
Chicago man ordered held in connection to ISU shooting
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) - A 19-year-old Chicago man will remain in jail pending the outcome of his case in connection to a shooting at Illinois State University earlier this year. Emir Thomas appeare...
Jun 30, 2025 McLean County Jail. (Photo courtesy: McLean County Law and Justice Center)
National speculation helps 'get more for the people of Illinois,' Pritzker says
By BEN SZALINSKI Capitol News Illinois bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD - Gov. JB Pritzker began his third campaign for governor on Thursday, but much of the buzz around his 2026 campaig...
Jun 27, 2025 Gov. JB Pritzker holds a branded craft “JBeer” on stage at a Springfield campaign kickoff event alongside local state Sen. Doris Turner. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jade Aubrey)
Campers at Timber Pointe relish outdoor fun and new friendships
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) - Grade school students ran around Timber Pointe at Lake Bloomington this week, enjoying the outdoors and making new friends during Camp Limberlost. "I think a lot of them are...
Jun 27, 2025 Kiwanis Club of Bloomington. (Photo courtesy: Facebook/Kiwanis)
Home Sweet Home Ministries launch new fundraising campaign
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) - A local non-profit launched a new campaign to raise money that will go towards helping unsheltered neighbors in Bloomington-Normal. Home Sweet Home Ministries' "Build The Br...
Jun 27, 2025 Home Sweet Home Ministries. (Photo courtesy: HSHM/Facebook)
Community comes together to support Humane Society after A/C failure
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) - The Humane Society has lost air conditioning after their system went out overnight, making the building around 85 degrees. "The first one went down a while ago and we got it fixe...
Jun 27, 2025 The Humane Society of Central Illinois. (Photo courtesy: HSCI/Facebook)
