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The structural deficit for Unit 5 schools is $12.5 million and rising $1.5-2 million a year. Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle says she hopes to have deficit reduction plans developed by the fall. They will include cuts, new revenue, and efficiencies in existing operations. Plus, the town of Normal will rework zoning rules to allow permanent outdoor on street dining. it proved popular during the pandemic. Hear from City Manager Pam Reece. The prairie state doesn't have a lot of prairie left. Learn more during WGLT's gardening podcast 'Grow.' And Opera Under the Stars comes to an outdoor venue in Normal, courtesy of Prairie Fire Theater.

Frank Catalano got his big music break at age 18 and but for his mom it could have happened earlier. She didn't much care for smoky bars and hanging out till the wee hours of the morning. Catalano appears with Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain this Saturday in Bloomington. Plus, 'Ridin' on the City of New Orleans' and the rest of the Amtrak service in Illinois including through Bloomington Normal will get a little easier as the pandemic ebbs. Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle says child mental health efforts may get some of the millions in federal pandemic relief money coming to the district. And after protests of new curriculum guidelines by district 87 parents who want their kids in the arts, Bloomington schools are making adjustments.

Some authors published decades ago in a ground breaking ISU based journal of Black Literature are still working today. Hear about Obsidian Literature & Arts. So, you spend a lot of time and effort making your garden look faaaan-tast-ic and get nothing else out of it. Now, you can do that AND grow something you can eat. The pandemic brought fear, uncertainty, stress, boredom, and, it turns out, artistic fuel for a new twin cities exhibit by Susan Emmerson and Lisa Walcott. Finally, hear a hip hop song collaboration between Bloomington and Chicago grassroots art schools.

Naples saw flooding, property damage and power outages while taking the force of Hurricane Ian. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Naples City Manager Jay Boodheshwar about the impact.

When are kids too old to go trick-or-treating? In some U.S. towns, it's illegal for teenagers to indulge in the sweetest part of Halloween – one even threatened jail time.

Fifty years ago this month authorities took down a tent city on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that was part of a protest against poverty. One of the key organizers was the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, a leader of the civil rights movement.

Bloomington voters this spring will choose their first new mayor in eight years. The choice is between a low-key veteran city council member and two…

Gloria Molina was an outspoken advocate for working-class people in East Los Angeles. Several public spaces in the city are named in her honor.

Religious schools and other nonprofits like the Littler Sisters of the Poor say the government's workaround for birth control still imposes a burden on their freedom.

It was a medical miracle: Surgery that made it possible for babies born with heart defects to live to adulthood. But for some, those mended hearts start to falter decades later.