Due to water main repairs, Six Paints RD., from Woodhavens to Longden will be closed.… MORE
Category Archives: Local News
The vote: Proposed constitutional amendment coming to ballot box
All Monday afternoon long, the Illinois House debated whether Illinois voters in 2020 should determine whether to change the state’s income tax system from flat to graduated.… MORE
Council to vote on empowering city manager to hire police and firefighters
By Howard Packowitz BLOOMINGTON – The authority to hire Bloomington police officers and firefighters would shift from a volunteer commission to the city manager, under a proposal before the city council Tuesday night. City Manager Tim Gleason was a 21 year veteran of the Pekin Police Department, rising to the rank of Lieutenant before becoming…… MORE
Bloomington Firefighters battle early morning blaze
By Katherine Murphy BLOOMINGTON– An early morning apartment fire in Bloomington Monday caused limited damage. Word from Bloomington fire officials no one was hurt in the fire that broke out around 6:30 a.m. in the 2200 block of Todd Drive. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined and the family that…… MORE
Two Bloomington businesses face penalties for not obtaining city video gaming licenses
The Bloomington City Council will decide Tuesday night whether to accept settlements in which two businesses have agreed to pay fines for not obtaining city licenses last year for their video gaming terminals.… MORE
Local student aims to honor soldiers through grave markers
As Memorial Day aims to honor service members, one local high school student is honoring those that have fallen through grave markers.… MORE
Gadhiraju leaving MCRPC, takes job with Town of Normal
The director of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission is leaving for a job with Normal’s town government. … MORE
Illinois brewers fighting proposed tax increase
By next Memorial Day, that beer you’re sipping could be more expensive.… MORE
BPD: Driver located in hit-and-run on city’s west side
Bloomington police said they have located the driver involved in a reported hit-and-run on the city’s west side Monday night.… MORE
Road Closure: westbound lane on Oakland, between Vale and Woodland
As storms swept through parts of central Illinois on Wednesday night, drivers will have to find an alternative route due to storm damage clean-up.… 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…