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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.

The McLean County Emergency Management Agency usually spends a lot of time preparing for disasters. But most of the last year and a half have been consumed by, well, emergencies. And they're shorthanded. A great tune and a little reinvention has kept this opera popular for nigh on 300 years. MIOpera begins its season in Bloomington Normal with the Barber of Seville. And, the band Good Morning Bedlam has close harmonies on stage and in the rest of their lives.

Illinois Wesleyan University plans a study of campus culture to root out hazing. A student was badly bruised and cut on his forehead during a hazing incident last month. Sigma Chi will lose its house. Plus, baseball returns to central Illinois. Hear about the rationale behind a big health bill designed to address inequities for African Americans. Learn how central Illinois parents can weigh the pros and cons of sending kids to summer camp when the pandemic is not yet done.

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.

Yoga is coming back. Acupuncture is up. Reiki is feeling the energy. Hear about non traditional health methods and the pandemic. Plus, it's a booming time for construction and trades unions working at Rivian. Some have been there for three years. But, it's not just the auto maker that's generating work. Tree limbs crack and fall. You might not want to handle the damage by yourself, but it's awfully expensive to have a service do it. Get advice from Sarah Nardi and Patrick Murphy on our gardening podcast GROW. And Arts correspondent Breanna Grow gives us a sneak peek at "Hot Shorts."