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The City of Bloomington recently approved the purchase of an armored security vehicle for use by police and the department's SWAT team. The Town of Normal has a tactical response team too, but the town is not likely to keep up with the Joneses.
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Most solar panel projects in Normal have been roof mounted so far but there is potential for more ground mounted units like the one the council approved this week for Grace Church on Hovey Avenue.
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Eight months ago, a housing coalition in Bloomington-Normal asked for help, and a share of Town of Normal and City of Bloomington pandemic relief money to support as people go through rental assistance, eviction avoidance, and affordable housing programs. But the lack of housing and affordable housing is a much broader issue than one advocate can solve.
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It will be expensive to remove asbestos from the Normal Public Library. Estimates range from $3.5 million to more than $5 million if other improvements are done at the same time.
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Parker Lawlis, who served for 25 years on the Normal Town Council, died recently at the age of 88. A celebration and visitation is scheduled for May 20 at Carmody-Flynn Funeral Home, Bloomington.
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The draft of the strategic plan for Uptown South in Normal has a lot in it — a large footprint public building, housing, an Amtrak platform and so on. City Manager Pam Reece said you can fit quite a bit into those 7.5 acres south of the railroad tracks.
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Rising interest rates have blocked the hoped-for start of construction this spring on a flagship development project in Uptown Normal.
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Town of Normal Finance Director Andrew Huhn said during a daylong budget workshop for the town council that a lot of the increase will be funded by projected double-digit revenue growth, mainly in sales and income tax receipts.
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It could be time to discuss one of the proposals in a 2019 Connect Transit special working group report, says Normal City Manager Pam Reece, because it's an unusual development — an organization asking for less money instead of more.
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City Manager Pam Reece said the Vision Zero-Go Safe Plan to eliminate auto collisions with walkers and bikers is one the themes to emerge from a recent strategic planning session.