By USDA Corn: Planted area is estimated at 10.8 million acres, down 2 percent from last year. Harvested area, forecast at 10.55 million acres, is down 3 percent from 2021. Based on October 1 conditions, the Illinois corn yield is forecast at a record 210 bushels per acre, up 8 bushels from 2021. Production is…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – The McLean County Board granted a special use permit for solar panels to be installed in Bloomington Township, and renewed permits for three other solar farms in the county. The board during its monthly meeting Thursday night also extended the contract of County Administrator Cassy Taylor for five years and…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – A 24-year-old Bloomington man is in the McLean County jail on attempted murder charges in connection with a stabbing that took place in Normal in late July. Normal Police say Zhane McGill was arrested after a lengthy investigation by its Patrol and Investigative Division, along with collaboration from the McLean…… MORE
By 25 News NORMAL – The two major political parties in McLean County have now weighed in on a tax referendum for the county’s largest school district. McLean County Democrats meeting Tuesday night voted to accept the party’s executive committee recommendation urging voters to vote yes on the proposal, conflicting with the McLean County Republican…… MORE
Thanks to a cut by OPEC +, gas prices across Central Illinois are back on the rise.… MORE
The Bloomington City Council is signing off on over a million-dollar makeover for the city’s water treatment plant.… MORE
By Neil Doyle BLOOMINGTON – Six people were displaced after a fire Tuesday afternoon at the Washington Senior Apartments in Bloomington. Bloomington fire crews were called around 4:30 p.m. to the apartment complex at 510 E. Washington Street. Authorities said the fire started in an apartment on the third floor and the cause was unattended…… MORE
By Neil Doyle NORMAL – Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena will soon be getting a new name. ISU’s governing board will vote Friday on a naming rights and sponsorship agreement to rename Redbird Arena to “CEFCU Arena.” CEFCU will pay ISU athletics approximately $3.1 million over ten years for the naming rights for Redbird Arena,…… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 7.0 days suitable for field work during the week ending October 9, 2022. Statewide, the average temperature was 54.9 degrees, 2.3 degrees below normal. Precipitation averaged 0.05 inches, 0.74 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 26 percent very short, 33 percent short, and 41 percent adequate. Subsoil…… MORE
For the first time this winter, boys and girls basketball could use a shot clock in tournaments or shootouts.… 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…