People will be able to donate a few different ways electronically this year during the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle campaign.… MORE
Category Archives: Local News
Midwest Food Bank packages Thanksgiving meals for those in need
2,500 families in McLean County who might not be able to afford a Thanksgiving dinner won’t be missing out on one this year.… MORE
Bloomington charity down on donors; asking for help during holiday season
Children’s Home and Aid has been making sure families have gifts to open during the holidays for 30 years. Now they’re dozens short.… MORE
Illinois lawmakers tee up first legislative clash with Gov. J.B. Pritzker over tax exemption on plane maintenance
Gov. J.B. Pritzker will soon have a bill on his desk that has promised to veto, setting up what will likely be the first legislative clash between lawmakers and the freshman executive.… MORE
Pritzker rules out constitutional change to address Illinois’ $134 billion in unfunded pension liabilities
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday that a constitutional amendment voters will decide next year will help save the state’s finances and dismissed any proposal to reduce the state’s pension costs by through a constitutional amendment to remove the state’s pension protection clause.… MORE
Durbin: Vaping industry putting pressure on Trump
After reports that President Donald Trump is reversing course on a planned e-cigarette flavor ban, Illinois’ senior U.S. Senator is responding.… MORE
Cynthia Baker found guilty of murder in her 8-year-old stepdaughter’s death
A McLean County jury has found Cynthia Baker guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her 8-year-old stepdaughter, Rica Rountree.… MORE
Crop Report: ‘Weather was not encouraging’
The harvest progress is 80 percent for corn in Illinois, 92 percent for soybeans. … MORE
Report: Illinois doctors prescribe injured workers more expensive remedies, sends costs higher
When the nation’s doctors began moving away from opioid-based pain medication for patients injured on the job, prescribers in many states shifted patients to traditional pain medication while those in Illinois turned patients to significantly more expensive alternatives.… MORE
Mandated sick pay could come for vote when Illinois lawmakers return in January
While it didn’t pass before lawmakers left for the year, a measure mandating Illinois employers give all employees, even part-time ones, earned sick pay could come up next year.… MORE
Blogs
Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all
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.” …
Is federal mobilization the answer?
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…
In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans
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…
Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life
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…