By WMBD-TV MCLEAN COUNTY – The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that McLean County will receive $200,000 as part of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Programs. According to the Illinois EPA, the funding is supposed to be used to support municipalities and counties with the development or revision of existing strategic energy…… MORE
Bloomington’s next City Manager wants to focus on a homeless camp on the city’s east side.… MORE
By Jake Fogal BLOOMINGTON – A lockdown at Bloomington High School and Junior High School earlier this month led to one person being arrested after allegedly bringing a weapon to campus. District 87’s Superintendent, Dr. David Mouser, is recapping the lockdown that took place, and what the district did well, and where things could be…… MORE
The city council has selected Bloomington’s former city attorney and current deputy city manager as the next city manager. … MORE
An investigation into a man found dead in a ditch in McLean County is now a murder investigation.… MORE
One local grocery store, which faces financial hardship, plans to keep its doors open for now.… MORE
By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – Illinois State Police announced the result of its joint enforcement detail near Veterans Parkway and Towanda Barnes Road in Bloomington on Wednesday. According to Illinois State Police, ISP deputies were joined by Bloomington police officers and McLean County Sheriff’s deputies and conducted 115 traffic stops. During the detail, officers and deputies issued…… MORE
By WMBD-TV ST CLOUD, Minn. – A former Illinois State University President has a new job at a Minnesota University. According to St. Cloud State University Communications, Larry Dietz was appointed interim university president by the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges. Dietz served as the 19th President of Illinois State University from 2014…… MORE
By WMBD-TV PEORIA – A rural McLean County man is in jail Wednesday after being arrested the day before for allegedly grooming and exploiting children for sexual reasons. Matthew V. Phillips, 35, of Stanford, a small village of 600 in the eastern part of the county, was booked into the Peoria County Jail on charges…… MORE
Rivian announced more company-wide layoffs on Wednesday.… 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…