Unit 5 was accepted for the News Literacy District Fellowship to provide $30,000 in grant funding over the next three years, beginning in the fall.

A committee of school board members and educators completed a multi-year process related to enrollment realignment on Thursday when it presented a final recommendation to the school board. That recommendation avoids two of the most controversial options the district considered.

Democratic state Rep. Maura Hirschauer has introduced a bill aimed at reducing hesitation when providing CPR to women.

Normal Citizen of the Year Adam Nielsen is living with early onset Alzheimer's disease. He and his wife Dayna Brown are doing so publicly and intentionally, as support to others who may be going through the same thing and as part of an advocacy effort.

Carlock Elementary was initially proposed to close due to its enrollment that hovers around 100 students. The consulting firm Cropper GIS characterized that as “unsustainable.” Parents are relieved to hear Unit 5 plans to recommend school board members approve a plan to keep the school open and keep Glenn Elementary as-is.

The new version of the proposed Trail East and West development project in Uptown Normal would be primarily residential housing on the north side of the traffic circle straddling Constitution Trail. And a controversial mural on a building in the project footprint would likely be torn down.

A nonprofit is partnering with a Bloomington family to bring awareness of resources for families navigating autism. Leo Egbers was diagnosed with autism shortly before he drowned in a pond behind his home in 2024.

The Normal Police Department has made technology one of its top priorities in 2026. That includes a new video drone that officers can bring to crime and crash scenes.

Normal Public Library Director John Fischer said they hope to be an example to other community organizations that sustainability is possible. The Sustainable Libraries Initiative has been pursued by just 100 North American libraries.

With support from a Healing Illinois grant, the Bloomington-Normal-based opera company is producing several months of programing centering Black composers and stories in the genre.