By WMBD-TV PEORIA – As legislators return to Capitol Hill for the new fall session, the top item on the agenda is passing the budget to avoid a government shutdown. If Congress does not pass a budget by Sept. 30, the government effectively runs out of money and will be at a standstill. This means…… MORE
A delegation led by Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is back from Japan, and she believes the trade mission met its goal.… MORE
By Blake Haas BLOOMINGTON – New jobs could be coming to the twin cities with a new Internal Revenue Service facility. This week, U.S. Representatives Eric Sorensen and Jan Schakowsky joined U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in a letter to the IRS supporting a new taxpayer correspondence print and mail management facility in Bloomington. According to…… MORE
The updated harvest forecast shows 198 bushels of corn per acre and 61 bushels of soybeans per acre in Illinois. … MORE
The Bloomington Police Department announced Wednesday that it expanded its website where public crime data is available for community members.… MORE
By Jake Fogal NORMAL – The Board of Trustees at Illinois State University is teaming up with Parker Executive Search as the hiring and consulting firm to assist with a nationwide search for the University’s 21st President. The company will receive $110,000 in compensation, plus expenses, to assist the University’s search and screening committee in…… MORE
With a big assist from the weather, the Illinois State Fair reports its largest attendance since the current tabulation practices were adopted in 2015.… MORE
A new study conducted by the Stevenson Center at Illinois State University shows the vast economic impact of immigrants on McLean County.… MORE
Senate Judiciary Committee chair U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wanted to show his colleagues what’s being done in Illinois to ban book bans… MORE
By WMBD News PEORIA – A former neurosurgery resident at OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center has been indicted on dozens of counts of unauthorized videotaping. Henry Chang, 28, faces 56 counts, which allege he set up a camera in a bathroom to record both male and female employees. The counts allege there were 52 “Jane Does” and…… 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…