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The world of farming is a place where mental health issues can be difficult to tackle. So much of what farmers experience is out of their control. Plus Bloomington's new Mayor says the federal infrastructure bill could be important for the city. And businesses can require workers to get vaccinated or say whether they have received the vaccine, but in Bloomington Normal most are leery of doing that.

Meet the new President of Illinois State University. After nineteen men before her Terri Goss Kinzy becomes the first woman in that job. Plus, no one knows how many cops, city workers, and public facing employees have had the Coronavirus vaccine in Bloomington Normal. The chief clinical officer for OSF HealthCare, talks about what new guidance on masks means for you in central Illinois. And arts correspondent Breanna Grow brings a group of young artists to you.

A social club that was dormant for decades has reborn in McLean County. Kathleen Lorenz and Vicky Varney explain how the Lincoln Club aims to reduce political polarization. The McLean County Health Department and Illinois State University partner on a new program to train people to respond to a mental health crisis. More new restaurants are coming to Bloomington-Normal and the eateries already here are busy again. Plus, Champaign-based singer songwriter John Aulabaugh overcomes numerous health issues to make a new album.

Republicans in Congress like Darin LaHood don't like the Biden administration definition of infrastructure. They don't think it should include public housing, healthcare related or energy projects. A central Illinois lawmaker says he could back a trillion dollar bill, but not the two trillion proposal from Democrats. Plus, McLean County's sheriff recounts his three decade career. Jon Sandage says he won't run for a third term. And if you thought tales of Dickensian privation were just from big cities of the Victorian era, listen to the next episode of McHistory. The McLean County Poor farm was a horror show.

A new survey shows consumer confidence is high heading into summer. COUNTRY Financial Representative Laurie Adams says there's a lot of pent-up demand after many Americans have been cooped up at home for the last year. Plus, drag out your aviator goggles, your Victorian-wannabe attire, and strap on a ray gun. It's time for Cogs and Corsets in Bloomington Normal. Meet the new women's soccer coach at Illinois Wesleyan University and hear about her experience on the women's national team. Finally, WGLT's gardening podcasters tell you how to save and propogate a 60 year old Apricot tree.

Governor JB Pritzker says he's disappointed so many school districts had planned to make masks optional for the fall. He's taking that choice out of their hands. There's now a statewide mask mandate - daycare through high school. It's tough to put out a car fire in an electric vehicle because you have to keep the battery cells that aren't on fire cool enough so they don't go up. Normal firefighters say it takes ten times the usual amount of water to put out an EV car fire. They're studying up for a lot more EVs on the road. And Team Mercury is on the road. Illinois State University's solar car racing team has a very quiet engine.

Healthcare leaders in Bloomington Normal say they don't worry too much about having half the hospital beds the World Health Organization recommends for a community this size, they're confident they can pivot in a pinch. Besides, they say, if you add beds, they get filled. Meet the new director of the Western Avenue Community Center and hear how she learned to love multiculturalism. Recent house flooding in Normal was far less than in Bloomington, but that doesn't mean there are no lessons to be learned there. And getting rid of household hazardous waste in an approved way is difficult, expensive, and rare. The Ecology Action Center has an option coming up this fall.

The Mayor of Normal warns looming federal limits on water system phosphorus emissions could be a development killer if area residents have to pay for 160-million-dollars in improvements without federal help. There are a lot of pets turned in to shelters in McLean County right now. But the reason for the furry glut might not be post pandemic pet purging after all. And a soon to be abolished tent city on Bloomington's west side raises the profile of the homeless in the twin cities.

The latest trend in wind power is taller turbines with longer blades. That's important for people near two central Illinois wind farms under construction. And a new mental health concern has emerged in Bloomington Normal, re-entry anxiety. A lot of people are eying the sale of Illinois State University's 26 acre Shelbourne Apartments in Normal as a big opportunity. Normal City Manager Pam Reece says any new housing should probably not all be single family homes nor perhaps dense student housing. Plus, central Illinois scientists have found a way to convert wasted bread into a compound found in everything from food to pharmaceuticals, vitamin C.

There's an Illinois State University connection to Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. As Biles withdrew from the competition one of the highest profile defenses comes from former redbird gymnast and now coach, Andrea Orris. The Simone Biles matter is also raising awareness that high level athletes sometimes need help just as much as the rest of us to stay on an even keel. ISU Sports psychologist Sam Kurkjian has more. And most of the members of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival theater company this year are Black Indigenous or people of Color. Hear how a diverse cast inflects the plays of the Bard.