By HOI ABC NORMAL – Parents, students and more came together at Normal West High School Saturday to learn about the latest updates within the Unit 5 school district. The district hosted a ‘Community Engagement’ session where administration members talked about recent successes and challenges. Superintendent Kristen Weikle touched on challenges the district faces, including…… MORE
BLOOMINGTON (Heart of Illinois ABC) – There’s movement in Bart McNeil’s 23-year old McLean County murder case. McNeil is serving a 100-year sentence for the murder of his three-year-old daughter Christina. Two Illinois groups that work to exonerate wrongful convictions are re-affirming the reasons the court should hear new and so-far unconsidered evidence in the…… MORE
By Neil Doyle NORMAL – In celebration of Earth Day, Connect Transit will be suspending fare collection on all public transportation services for Bloomington-Normal. “A single person choosing to use public transportation instead of driving can reduce up to 20 pounds of CO2 emissions in one day,” according to a news release from the public…… MORE
A family is remembering their 17-year-old son after his shooting death in Bloomington nearly two weeks ago, asking “how,” “why,” and “who.”… MORE
By HOI ABC CHICAGO – A federal judge has sentenced a Bloomington man to 16 years in prison after a jury last year found him guilty of trying to traffic cocaine in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. Tekoa Q. Tinch, 34, was convicted of attempting to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Federal prosecutors said Tinch…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Phillip Hanks is used to giving an “organ recital.” “I received a pancreas, a liver, upper / lower intestine, liver, (Did I say liver already), kidney, and stomach. The Joliet area man was a bodybuilder who used too much protein, creatine, and then ibuprofen. Almost one year ago, he received…… MORE
More than $12 million is being awarded to communities around the state to ensure students get to school safely.… MORE
AFSCME Local 1110, the union that represents approximately 350 employees in Illinois State University janitorial, grounds, catering, dining center and retail dining areas, has overwhelmingly ratified a new contract.… MORE
Illinois added nearly 5,700 teachers during the last school year, more than the past five years combined.… MORE
By Jake Fogal BLOOMIGNTON – About 350 building, grounds and dining services employees of Illinois State University have ratified their new union contract in voting on campus that started early Tuesday morning and stretched past midnight. More than 92% voted to approve the terms of an agreement reached last week as University workers were prepared…… 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…