News

The coronavirus pandemic gave student-athletes a lot of idle time over the past year as their sports were put on hold.

The McLean County Health Department is reporting 52 new COVID-19 cases and an additional hospitalization.

A bill that would offer state tax credits to owners and developers of affordable housing units passed out of committee last week at the Illinois Capitol.

The Constitution Trail soon will connect a Route 66 landmark in Normal to a stretch of the historic road that winds north to Towanda as a bike path.

During its virtual meeting Monday, the Normal Town Council approved the Kelley Basin-Route 66 Trail Connection Project on a 6-1 vote. Council member Stan Nord was the only “no” vote.

Jenn Carrillo was censured Monday by her fellow Bloomington City Council members over her public pledge to make “life a living hell” for two recently elected council members, whose candidacies she opposed.

In a special meeting, the council voted 6-3 to formally disapprove of Carrillo’s comments. 

Carrillo along with council members Julie Emig and Jeff Crabill voted against the resolution. 

Black leaders in Bloomington-Normal hope justice will be served in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, with the head of the NAACP issuing a call against violence after the verdict is announced, while a leader with Black Lives Matter said focusing on looting misses the point.

UPDATED 4:20 p.m. | Fruit farmers in central Illinois are worried a freeze Tuesday night could destroy their crops.

McLean County added 212 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend—the highest weekend case count reported since mid-January.

The Bloomington City Council will have a special meeting on Monday to talk about censuring council member Jenn Carrillo.

Gov. JB Pritzker announced Friday that $1.6 billion in federal funding will be allocated toward early childhood education and child care providers in Illinois.

The funds will be provided through the American Rescue Plan passed by Congress in March, Pritzker announced at a news conference in Aurora, and will include $140 million in direct grants for child care providers to be dispersed over the next three weeks.

The leader of the independent oversight organization for Illinois prisons says the state is in "uncharted territory" as the Department of Corrections works on starting in-person visits again.

The Town of Normal may spend about $353,000 to dig a new water well. That's among the proposals going before the council on Monday.

UPDATED 4:05 P.M. | The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) has announced its first Spanish language virtual town hall to address COVID vaccine hesitancy.

McLean County government will soon hold its first in-person meetings in more than a year as the county begins its once-a-decade remapping of County Board districts.

The unemployment rate for the McLean County area labor market may have been 5.1% last month, but it’s a lot lower in certain job sectors. Restaurants, for instance, have had difficulty finding enough people to staff operations.

Bill Kennedy, a retired Illinois State University softball coach and longtime educator, has died, according to the university's athletic department. 

Three Illinois Wesleyan University students who allegedly injured a classmate during a fraternity hazing incident could be suspended or expelled, according to IWU Dean of Students Karla Carney-Hall. 

McLean County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and death toll continue to climb.

The League of Women Voters of McLean County will likely launch a study later this year into the benefits and drawbacks of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for elections.

Hundreds of Unit 5 students were quarantined last week as McLean County sees a surge in coronavirus cases affecting young people. 

Members of the McLean County Board of Health said Wednesday that it's a priority to maintain the county’s full COVID-19 contact tracing program.

A national clean energy trade organization has released a report showing growth in electric transportation-related jobs in Illinois could position the state to lead the domestic supply chain.