Charlie Schlenker
Senior ReporterWGLT Senior Reporter Charlie Schlenker grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, and graduated from Augustana College. He has spent more than four decades in radio and has won numerous state and national awards for journalism. He lives in Normal with his family.
Contact Charlie at ceschle@ilstu.edu.
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There are still a lot of details to work through with a prospective contractor on the Uptown Normal underpass project for another revised bid, and with state, federal, and railroad partners. City Manager Pam Reece has more to say in a WGLT interview. -
The newly elected head of the state’s largest union lives in Bloomington. Illinois Education Association members chose Karl Goeke who had been serving as interim president following the death of IEA president Al Llorens in September. -
The union representing firefighters in the Town of Normal is giving up its request to add a fourth fire station. And the town is considering new traffic signal preemption technology that could cut 15-20 seconds off the average drive time to emergencies. -
The McLean County Board could decide to claw back more than $400,000 in budget overruns from County Clerk Kathy Michael's office. Board chair Elizabeth Johnston said depending on what invoices and other documentation Michael submits in the next month, the county general fund may need to be reimbursed. -
McLean County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston said she disagrees, in part, with Twin City mayors Dan Brady and Chris Koos who have criticized the performance of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council. Johnston said she thinks the EDC has delivered a lot of bang for the buck. -
There are many myths about the American west. They're wrong yet are remarkably sticky in American cultural consciousness according to historian Megan Kate Nelson. Nelson will speak at Illinois State University on March 19. -
The City of Bloomington has deferred adoption of an Eid al-Fitr Day proclamation in part due to the conflict with Iran. -
Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady acknowledged in a WGLT interview the city has already begun to go its own way in project advocacy. Brady has been critical of the annual One Voice collective community lobbying trip to Washington. The city sent its delegation a day early this year to push its own projects. -
There are further signs of a thaw in the shared sales tax dispute between the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal on one side and McLean County government on the other. The county board has approved a three month suspension of paying sales tax money from the city and town.
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The head of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council has submitted his resignation. Patrick Hoban led the EDC for six years. This opens the door to a broader discussion of the role of the EDC in the Twin Cities.
