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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When the state rollback of the locally shared grocery tax first passed, then-Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe said he believed there was no appetite on the Bloomington City Council to impose a local tax. Though the vote was still split, the council passed the tax this week. -
During his State of the University address, the president of Illinois State University said "funding pressures remain high and very concerning." -
The lawsuit with origins in Central Illinois involves shotgun shells and has nationwide implications. -
El consejo de la ciudad de Bloomington considerará un posible impuesto local a las ventas de comestibles el lunes. -
La disputa entre la Ciudad de Bloomington, el Municipio de Normal y el Condado de McLean por el dinero compartido del impuesto sobre las ventas destinado a la salud mental y la seguridad pública se ha intensificado de nuevo. -
A 72-year-old woman has died in a house fire in Saybrook. -
The dispute over shared sales tax money for mental health and public safety has escalated again. Normal and Bloomington have formally accused the county of defaulting on the decade-old intergovernmental agreement on use of the shared revenue.
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Gov. JB Pritzker called the grocery tax regressive and abolished it last year, effective in January 2026. Local communities can approve their own 1% percent sales tax on groceries. -
The annual financial trends report for the Town of Normal shows a largely positive picture. The town says most of its leading indicators are healthy, though there are a couple things to watch. -
McLean County has one Nobel Prize winner — but oh what a one! Modern electronics rests upon Clinton Davisson’s physics experiments bombarding a block of crystalized nickel with electrons.
