By Neil Doyle LINCOLN – A heat advisory will go into effect at 1 p.m. Tuesday for all of central Illinois with heat indices around 105 degrees. The advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The National Weather Service is reminding people to take precautions to prevent heat exhaustion and heat stroke this week. [4:05…… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 6.4 days suitable for field work during the week ending August 22, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 74.9 degrees, 1.1 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 0.38 inches, 0.33 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 5 percent very short, 31 percent short, 56 percent adequate, and…… MORE
By HOI ABC BLOOMINGTON – On Monday, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) approved the state’s request for assisting residents and businesses financially hurt from recent severe weather. The new disaster assistance is meant to boost flood recovery efforts in Ford County as well as surrounding counties, including Livingston County and McLean County. According to a…… MORE
Child abuse cases are rising across Central Illinois, as the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) reports over 25,000 investigations.… MORE
The Midwest Food Bank is sending a semi load of food boxes and hygiene kits to help with Hurricane Henri and disasters in Haiti and New York.… MORE
Since the weekend, the McLean County Health Department is reporting 151 new cases of COVID-19.… MORE
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is kicking off Champaign’s new highway interchange project.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – That covid booster might be the last shot you need for the illness. Dr. Vidya Sundareshan, infectious disease program director at Southern Illinois School of Medicine in Springfield, said the CDC has put that word out, as many of us prepare for another shot, eight months after the initial one.…… MORE
By HOI ABC BLOOMINGTON – A Chenoa man has been arrested after a McLean County Grand Jury indicted him on felony charges of attempted production of child pornography and obstructing justice. The indictment alleges than in January of this year, Curtis Cleary, 32, made a hole in celling tile and placed a recording device inside a…… MORE
By HOI ABC BLOOMINGTON – A Colfax man, who prosecutors say is a repeat sex offender, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Randall Patrick, 51, pleaded guilty in June to predatory criminal sexual assault of a child younger than 13. Prosecutors said the crime happened two years ago in Colfax. McLean County Judge William…… 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…