Sarah Nardi

Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle is advising parents and students to be prepared for a possible return to 100% remote learning due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Justice Tom Kilbride of Illinois’s 3rd Judicial District has apparently come up short in his bid retain his seat on the Illinois Supreme Court for a third term.

“Though votes continue to be counted, I am disappointed in the apparent outcome. I want to thank the voters of the Third Judicial District for twice placing their faith in me to uphold the sacred principles that guide our judicial system," said Kilbride in prepared remarks.

The Illinois High School Association voted on Wednesday to carry on with the high school basketball season despite a recent statewide surge in COVID-19. The decision comes just a day after the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) elevated basketball to a high-risk category.

Connect Transit will undergo yet another leadership change as interim General Manager Martin Glaze is leaving the public transit agency.

As Unit 5 prepares to bring students back to the classroom next week, Superintendent Kristen Weikle sought to assure parents that bilingual learners would continue to be supported.

Last week, Unit 5 announced plans to introduce hybrid learning starting Oct. 19. Parents were informed of the decision via email and video messages, and given until Sept. 28 to decide to move their students into the hybrid plan or stick with remote instruction.

Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle announced Wednesday night a planned return to in-person learning, saying the district hopes to bring students back to the classroom beginning in October “assuming that the metrics are such that we’ll be able to do so.”

The McLean County Board of Health began its meeting Wednesday night with a barrage of public comment.

The demolition of Central Illinois Regional Airport’s old terminal building is slated to begin this month.

The site is the former location of CJ’s Restaurant, which closed in 2018.

In a virtual meeting with the Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority on Tuesday, CIRA Deputy Director Javier Centeno said work will begin on Sept. 14 and is projected to last 85 days.

Wednesday's Unit 5 school board meeting got off to an emotional start when some parents expressed their frustration with remote learning. 

The McLean County Health Department is gearing up to expand contract tracing efforts in response to rising cases of COVID-19.

In a virtual meeting on Tuesday night, the Normal Human Relations Commission heard a presentation from Prairie State Legal Services about fair housing issues.

Attorney Emily Petri outlined the protections guaranteed to renters and homebuyers under the federal Fair Housing Act, the Illinois Human Rights Act, and local ordinances.

Designed to protect people from unfair housing practices, the laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of characteristics like race, religion, sexual orientation, family status, and disability.

Unit 5 says government trade restrictions will delay the arrival of Chromebooks and tablets it planned to distribute to elementary students to help with remote learning.

Not In Our Town (NIOT) hosted a virtual event on Monday evening designed to spur community conversations around race.

This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. For more stories about the effect of COVID-19 on museums, please visit the Prairie State Museums Project at PrairieStateMuseumsProject.org.

In a meeting with the Bloomington City Council Monday night, Connect Transit board chair Ryan Whitehouse pledged the public transportation service will become completely ADA compliant by 2024.

On Thursday night, the Bloomington-Normal chapter of the NAACP began its monthly town hall meeting with a sobering statistic.

UPDATED 11:50 a.m. | The Bloomington City Council voted Monday night to approve the reappointment of a Connect Transit board member, though not without discussion, with alderman Jeff Crabill moving to exclude the selection of Ryan Whitehouse.

This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. For more stories about the effect of COVID-19 on museums, please visit the Prairie State Museums Project at PrairieStateMuseumsProject.org.

As violent images of the recent deaths of black citizens proliferate the media, some scholars and activists sense an opportunity to pursue lasting change.

“You probably don’t know this, but a broken tail light is a black man’s biggest fear.”

Around the table, people were silent as Otis Evans Jr. described what it’s like to be a black man in America.