By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – If you need a bus ride around the Twin Cities, you may soon be able to get one for free. Connect Transit, Bloomington-Normal’s public transit system, is considering a proposal to eliminate bus fares entirely, thanks to $28 million in state and federal grants that can offset the possible deficit…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Police sergeants and lieutenants will receive pay raises, and they’ll have to submit to random drug and alcohol testing each year under terms of a new, four-year union contract. The deal approved unanimously Monday night by the Bloomington City Council calls for the 21 union members to get 2.5%…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – Local Republican leaders have chosen who will replace outgoing State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington). Barickman chose to resign after winning re-election in the new 53rd District. Current 106th State Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) will now take his place, receiving 87% of the vote from party chairmen. Normal Town Council…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – McLean County prosecutors on Friday charged a Bloomington man with 15 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault involving a child younger than 13. Prosecutors say David Oliver, 51, faces mandatory life in prison if he’s found guilty on any of the charges because of his conviction in 2000 for sexually…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Police say a man has been arrested for predatory criminal sexual assault. Police say that man is David L. Oliver, 51. Police say the arrest happened early Thursday and that the investigation remains ongoing. The circumstances behind the incident are still pending.… MORE
By Neil Doyle LEXINGTON – Authorities in Lexington are working with the McLean County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police to solve seven burglaries to three different businesses that have happened since mid-November. According to a Facebook post, Lexington Police say they have several persons of interest and are working to develop a suspect(s). The…… MORE
By 25 News NORMAL – Rivian Automotive fell short of its goal of producing 25,000 electric vehicles at its plant in Normal during 2022, but the pace of production picked up and the company made more deliveries in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three months. Rivian was 663 vehicles short of achieving its goal,…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – A man arrested early Sunday by Bloomington Police was wanted for a gang-related shooting in January of last year just north of the downtown area. A warrant was issued for Ronald Thornton’s arrest last February. Gunfire in the 600 block of North Main Street wounded a man who was a…… MORE
Heartland Community College is naming a new Dean of Adult Education.… MORE
A 28-year-old Pennsylvania man is facing four charges of first-degree murder after being accused of killing four University of Idaho students.… MORE
By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …
By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…
By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…
Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…