By Blake Haas NORMAL – A first-grade teacher at Glenn Elementary School in Normal is being charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse of a child. In a news release, Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner said Jonathon W. Hovey, 47, of Forsyth was arrested after a parent contacted Unit 5 staff…… MORE
After reports of an armed subject on Friday in Normal, Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner says two men are being held in the McLean County Jail on weapon charges.… MORE
Relatives of murdered University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang have been told her body might be in a Vermilion County landfill, according to multiple news media reports.… MORE
The demolition of State Farm’s former Downtown Bloomington headquarters would signal a loss of faith in the city, according to one of the participants in a listening and strategy session conducted Friday evening at City Hall.… MORE
Normal police arrested two men early Friday after finding stolen guns and drugs.… MORE
The Normal Town Council will consider a change to its liquor code to accommodate online shoppers buying alcohol and wishing to pick it up curbside, or have the business deliver it to them.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The new law intended to close the pay gap between the sexes is a bad bet for business, says one leader. “This is a bad bill that’s going to make it harder for small businesses to find qualified job candidates. Small businesses, in particular, can’t afford to waste time and…… MORE
A second person has pleaded guilty and sentenced to probation in a scheme to defraud Bloomington’s city government of revenue generated from the city-owned indoor sports arena. … MORE
State Farm executives told Bloomington city leaders Thursday they still intend to seek a demolition permit for the former headquarters in Downtown Bloomington. However, Mayor Tari Renner said the company is also willing to discuss other options.… MORE
It was 50 years ago when the Town of Normal introduced its first full-time fire department.… 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…