By Neil Doyle NORMAL – Make Music Normal is making its return this weekend with multiples stages and regional acts spanning all genres. The event kicks off Friday from 5-10 p.m. in Uptown Normal. It also runs Saturday from 1-10 p.m. Town of Normal Civic Arts Manager Adam Fox spoke with WJBC’s Scott Miller. “We want…… MORE
By HOI ABC NORMAL – The Unit 5 School Board is extending the contract of Superintendent Kristen Weikle and also giving her a 4% raise after she received a positive performance review. Weikle has been on the job since early 2020 and has had to guide the district through the COVID-19 pandemic. For her efforts, the…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – He is not governor anymore and does not even live in Illinois anymore. But Bruce Rauner does visit Springfield occasionally to see friends and go hunting – doves, this week. In what he says is his first interview since leaving office in 2019, he tells WJBC News why he thinks…… MORE
By Neil Doyle NORMAL – Former Normal Community football coach Dick Tharp, the school’s winningest coach with 158 victories, passed away Tuesday at the age of 90. Unit 5 made the announcement Wednesday in a social media post. Tharp was in attendance last week as the school renamed the football field in his honor. He spoke…… MORE
Large groups of worms called “armyworms” are overtaking yards in central Illinois, leaving grass and plants dead in their path.… MORE
The Superintendent of McLean County’s largest school district says the district will follow Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders of vaccine mandates and masks for children in the classroom.… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 5.7 days suitable for field work during the week ending September 5, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 70.7 degrees, 0.8 degrees below normal. Precipitation averaged 1.24 inches, 0.58 inches above normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 8 percent very short, 17 percent short, 67 percent adequate, and 8…… MORE
By HOI ABC NORMAL – The Normal Town Council is making changes to its liquor code to allow alcohol to be served at the publicly owned Normal Theater and for outdoor events in Uptown. The council voted 6-1 favoring the changes. Council member Stan Nord voted no, claiming the town might face exposure in alcohol-related lawsuits…… MORE
By HOI ABC CHICAGO – Former U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson III, whose family has roots in Bloomington-Normal, has died at his Chicago home. He was 90. Stevenson is the son of former Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, two time Democratic presidential candidate, and United Nations ambassador Adlai Stevenson II, who was raised in Bloomington . The former…… MORE
Four more McLean County residents have died from COVID-19 complications as hospital beds in the twin-cities near capacity.… 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…