Hy-Vee announced that all employees are now required to wear a mask or other facial covering while at work in response to the coronavirus outbreak.… MORE
LaHood: People are getting restless
A Central Illinois Congressman has some ideas for reopening the state amid the coronavirus pandemic.… MORE
State’s planting season off to a good start
The state’s two major cash crops have begun 2020 on a strong note.… MORE
Bloomington businesses to receive partial refund on video gaming fees
Bloomington city government will return some of the money it received from businesses with video gambling machines because the gaming terminals have been shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.… MORE
Attorney expects more lawsuits after state lawmaker successfully challenges Illinois governor’s stay-at-home order
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday his office planned to appeal a ruling in a legal fight over the governor’s authority to extend the state’s stay-at-home order.… MORE
MCHD announces four new COVID-19 cases, moves total to 92 confirmed cases
The McLean County Health Department reports four new cases of COVID-19 in the county, bringing the total number to 92 as of Monday.… MORE
Illinois lawmakers likely to miss deadline to move on fair maps proposal before redraw
With the last session days of April having been canceled, reform advocates’ hopes of passing a ballot initiative before Illinois redraws its political boundaries become a near impossibility. … MORE
GoFundMe raises money for healthcare workers in McLean County
By Heart of Illinois ABC BLOOMINGTON – Mike Kraynak and Dean McCullough have been friends for about 15 years. Both gentlemen wondered how the coronavirus pandemic would impact McLean County. “We wanted to do so much, but we had to narrow it down and that’s when we wanted to focus on healthcare workers because they have…… MORE
Gov. Pritzker: ‘Illinoisans have really pulled together” during COVID-19 pandemic
For all the bad news of the coronavirus crucible, some aspects which have grown from it have been positive. Gov. JB Pritzker says he hopes these days have a legacy of cooperation, caring and service that last and last.… MORE
Rep. lawmakers dissatisfied with lack of answers regarding convicts being let out early due to COVID-19
Some Republican lawmakers are dissatisfied with the answers – or lack of answers – they are getting about convicts being let out of prison to make the prisons less susceptible to coronavirus outbreaks. … MORE
Blogs
Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all
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.” …
Is federal mobilization the answer?
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…
In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans
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…
Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life
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…