News

The coronavirus has cut deeply into the Bloomington-Normal economy. But one area that seems to be chugging right along is the local housing market.

McLean County health officials reported eight new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with two of those patients hospitalized, but in good condition.

Illinois State University said Tuesday it is still assessing the impact of new rules issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that could prevent some international students from attending the school.

The pandemic has caused the cancellation of another of the big annual Bloomington-Normal event.

Bloomington-Normal businesses and other organizations were approved to borrow at least $130 million through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, with the most money going to restaurants and doctor’s and lawyer’s offices, according to a WGLT review of the loan data.

UPDATED 3:25 p.m. | McLean County health officials reported Tuesday the county’s first COVID-19 death since May, while the county’s active coronavirus caseload gradually increases.

Bloomington City Manager Tim Gleason said it’s "ridiculous” to suggest local governments will ever fully defund police, but he supports the discussion of how to better redirect some police resources.

McLean County’s pretrial services coordinator has been tapped to serve as the manager of pretrial services for the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC).

The current pandemic has forced Black men listed on public conviction registries into cycles of homelessness and reincarceration, criminal justice advocates said Tuesday in a plea to Gov. JB Pritzker to suspend housing limitations for registrants.

UPDATED 9:25 a.m. | A record 405 people were tested Monday at Bloomington’s drive-thru testing site, as McLean County officials expressed concerns about delayed results.

Connect Transit General Manager Isaac Thorne says the service may need to use $9.1 million in federal assistance to offset a potential lack of state funding.

Thorne said Connect Transit has no assurance the Illinois Department of Transportation will be able to provide its normal 65% reimbursement of expenses after September. IDOT is the bus service’s largest funding source.

Union leaders are calling on local governments to do more to protect workers the next time they offer tax incentive agreements to companies.

A young father says he faces eviction for refusing to take down a Black Lives Matter banner hanging from his family’s apartment balcony in Bloomington.

Seven new cases of the coronavirus were reported Monday in McLean County, continuing an uptick in cases that began just before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Mayor Chris Koos said he plans to arrange a meeting with Black Lives Matter BloNo leadership so they can lay out any specific concerns with the Normal Police Department.

There were at least seven — and possibly as many as 12 — new cases of the coronavirus reported over the holiday weekend in McLean County.

A 49-year-old Bloomington man wanted on attempted murder charges has been arrested in Nashville,  Tenn., police said Friday.

Religious scholars and philosophers are among those encouraging Illinois Wesleyan University President Georgia Nugent and the board of trustees to preserve academic programs.

There were four new cases of the coronavirus reported Thursday in McLean County.

The City of Bloomington plans to move more city offices and its city council meetings to the McLean County Government Center by the end of the year.

Illinois State University’s administration will release a new round of reopening guidance next week related to work-from-home and instruction that could help to de-densify campus when students return in August, a spokesperson said Thursday.

On a Thursday afternoon four years ago, the police watched as Donnelly Jackson left his mother’s house on Riley Drive in Bloomington after a short visit.

At a time when America is reckoning with much of its racist past, a historian says museums show that many historical figures were flawed people.