By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – At a Public Safety and Community Relations Board meeting Wednesday evening, heads of local police departments were asked questions about certain procedures, with a focus on transparency. This comes in the wake of Sonya Massey’s death, the reason why the special meeting occurred. Bloomington and Normal’s police chiefs, along with the…… MORE
By WMBD-TV CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Public Health announced the first person who has died as a result of the West West Nile in the state this year. According to an IDPH news release, the 80-year-old man from Lake County had an onset from symptoms of West Nile virus in mid-August and died…… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork in the week ending August 25, 2024. Statewide, the average temperature was 68.7 degrees, 4.6 degrees below normal. Precipitation averaged 0.01 inches, 0.66 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 7 percent very short, 31 percent short, 61 percent adequate, and 1 percent…… MORE
A downtown Bloomington parking garage that has stood since the 1970’s has a chance to be revitalized, while also contributing to the city’s public transportation system.… MORE
By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – A Georgia man appeared in McLean County Court for a status hearing in connection to the murder of a Peoria teen. This was Tomiyale Anderson’s second appearance since securing private defense attorney Jennifer Patton. Patton asked for an additional 60 days to go through discovery. The 20-year-old is facing first-degree murder…… MORE
A 90-year-old man died from injuries sustained in a crash Saturday morning in rural Tazewell County.… MORE
The state’s top prosecutor announced charges against five men for a burglary ring that resulted in dozens of video gaming machines being stolen across Illinois including in McLean and DeWitt counties.… MORE
Monday morning saw a brief status hearing in the case of Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy accused of murder in the July 6 shooting death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman, in her Springfield home. Grayson is white.… MORE
By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington Revivalists hosted a public forum at the Bloomington library on Sunday, trying to come up with solutions for the current housing crisis. The group’s mission is to improve their community through bottom-up solutions. Panelists with the Bloomington-Normal Community Land Trust and McLean County Co-Housing discussed issues like homelessness, the…… MORE
After a semi-trailer hauling 67 cows rolled over on I-57 in Tuscola overnight, authorities and community members alike from Central Illinois have banded together to try and find the missing animals on the run.… 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…