By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington School District 87 school board member is being given a chance to avoid jail through a veterans program after a repeat drunken driving conviction. A judge on Tuesday sentenced Fitzgerald Samedy, 36, to 2 1/2-years on probation with McLean County’s Veterans Treatment Court. Samedy pleaded guilty in December to aggravated DUI…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The leader of Illinois’ second-largest school district is a school board vote away from becoming superintendent of the Illinois State Board of Education. Elgin U-46 superintendent Tony Sanders would succeed the retired Carmen Ayala. Not surprisingly, coronavirus has colored the last few years for his district. And, in his new…… MORE
By 25 News NORMAL – The Unit 5 school board has reached a decision on the potential cuts that will happen if voters don’t approve a tax referendum. Officials say they are in a $12 million budget deficit. It was a unanimous yes to these conditions: Reduce administration Reduce budgets by 10% (unit office, building…… MORE
“I’ll keep knocking on the door until they let me in.”… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington Fire Department is responding to the Interstate 74/55 interchange for a vehicle fire. Fire department spokesperson Frank Friend says it is a transit-style bus but is not from Connect Transit. There are no injuries. The occupant on the bus was the driver. 25 News can be reached at…… MORE
By 25 News NORMAL – The Unit 5 school board plans to discuss possible budget cuts during a special meeting Tuesday. The district has said a number of programs would be on the chopping block if voters do not approve the district’s tax referendum in April. Those cuts include closing Carlock Elementary, cuts to athletic…… MORE
Tazewell County Coroner Charles Hanley has identified a Peoria woman as the victim of a fatal crash Saturday.… MORE
By Jake Fogal NORMAL – A fire severely damaged a house in the Carriage Hills subdivision Sunday morning. Just before 11:00 a.m., Normal fire departments were dispatched to the 800 block of Landau Lane. The homeowner wasn’t home when a neighbor called to report significant smoke and flames coming from the back of the house. Within…… MORE
By Jake Fogal NORMAL – An Illinois State student reported missing on Thursday was found dead late Friday night in Normal. According to a news release, Normal Police Officers located a body near a creek area in the 900 block of North Main Street in Normal at approximately 10 pm Police say 21-year old Matthew…… MORE
The Bloomington-Normal NAACP is denouncing the death of Tyre Nichols – an African-American man – at the hands of five African-American police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.… 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…