Local News

Bloomington-Normal's public bus system said Thursday it has to reduce service because it doesn't have enough drivers. Connect Transit General Manager David Braun said weekday bus service on certain routes will come less frequently.

Central Illinois health providers will receive a $5 million chunk of $18 million in new state money to transform health care for people on Medicaid and other under served populations. It's part of the so-called Illinois Healthcare Transformation collaborative. J

Authorities said Thursday that the body found three weeks ago near Peru, Ill., is that of miissing Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day of Bloomington.

The McLean County Health Department said 33 McLean County residents are hospitalized with COVID-19. That's the county's highest mark since mid-May.

Eric Ellis is president and CEO of Integrity Development Corp., a diversity and inclusion consulting firm. He'll be the keynote speaker at the Bloomington-Normal NAACP's Freedom Fund event at 6 p.m. Saturday on Zoom.

The Unit 5 school board Wednesday night adopted a $212.3 million budget for fiscal 2021-2022, and discussed a report detailing a decade’s worth of the district’s budget trends.

District 87 officials Wednesday night approved a budget with a structural deficit of about $3.6 million for the upcoming school year. That is about $2 million less than projected.

Some McLean County residents say the end of expanded COVID unemployment benefits is not the only reason they delayed returning to the workforce.

One of the area's top high school swimmers wants to recruit more students to another sport that satisfies her love of water. U-High senior Olivia Haerr has qualified for state finals as a swimmer. Now she helped start a bass fishing program at the school in Normal.

Children too young to receive the COVID-19 vaccine make up the largest share of new coronavirus cases in McLean County. Data from the McLean County Health Department (MCHD) released Wednesday show nearly 25% of new cases in the last week are in children 11 and under.

The Bloomington Public Library has presented two options for expansion to the city council. One costs $20.7 million, the other $2 million more. The difference is a two-level parking structure.

Heartland Community College reported Tuesday it has returned to pre-pandemic levels of students. As of the 10th day of classes, student enrollment was 4,436, a 2.5% increase from the start of the fall term last year.