Wendell Niepagen Greenhouses in Bloomington has donated flowers that the Bloomingotn Kiwanis Club will be selling for Mother’s Day. (Photo courtesy Bloomington Kiwanis) By Eric Stock BLOOMINGTON – Camp Limberlost will be able to take in more children this summer because of the success of a flower sale. This year’s Bloomington Kiwanis flower sale is…… MORE
A document presented this week to local lawmakers outlines projects the city of Bloomington wants to fund over the next five years. (Joe Ragusa/WJBC) By Joe Ragusa BLOOMINGTON – The city of Bloomington is searching for money to fund several road projects over the next five years. City Manager David Hales presented those projects at…… MORE
By Eric Stock BLOOMINGTON – Two key connections in McLean County’s history are Abraham Lincoln and Route 66. As WJBC’s Eric Stock reports, those two themes are intertwined in a tourist stop in Bloomington. The new Route 66 visitors center in downtown Bloomington officially opens this weekend. Director of McLean County Museum of History which…… MORE
By Joe Ragusa BLOOMINGTON – A man from Bloomington has been arrested for drug trafficking. Bloomington Police accuse Casey Nordine, 20, of possessing around $13,000 worth of drugs, including crack and cannabis, along with two scales that had cocaine residue. A search warrant was executed by the Bloomington Police Department’s Vice Unit on April 21…… MORE
By Adam Studzinski BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s city council will vote Monday on renewing an agreement with Midwest Fiber to handle the processing of the city’s recycling. The city first entered a two year contract with the company, which is based in Normal, in 2013. “This particular contract represents a model referred to as a shared…… MORE
By WJBC Staff BLOOMINGTON – McLean County property tax bills will be released on Friday. About 68,000 McLean County taxpayers are being billed $308.3 million, which is about 2.8 percent or $8.3 million higher than last year. McLean County’s overall final 2014 taxable Equalized Assessed Valuation has increased to $3.69 billion compared to $3.62 billion…… MORE
By WJBC Staff CLINTON – The DeWitt County Board has approved a deal that will keep Clinton Landfill from storing toxic PCBs. The landfill owners have agreed to pay $1 million in fees to the county as part of the agreement which the county board adopted on an 11-2 vote. The agreement ends a lengthy…… MORE
By Joe Ragusa BLOOMINGTON – Nicholas Compton will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Compton was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for murder charges plus 39 years for other charges stemming from the death of three-year-old Robbie Cramer in March 2013. “As far as the law allows, justice was done,” Assistant State’s…… MORE
By Adam Studzinski BLOOMINGTON – The latest numbers from the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Bloomington has the lowest unemployment rate of any of the state’s metro areas. The city had an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent last month. The agency said a majority of the state’s metro regions increased employment in March. It’s…… MORE
By Adam Studzinski NORMAL – Grove Elementary School students spent part of Thursday afternoon learning about electricity safety. The company put its My Safety City on display for students. Ameren Community Relations Coordinator Paula Thornton said the presentation uses a series of different situations to teach children how to be safe around electricity. “The school…… 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…