District 87

Carl's Pro Band in Bloomington is closing as co-owner Carl Thacker retires. Assets are being taken over by The Music Shoppe, now Bloomington-Normal's only music store.

District 87 bought the Willie G. and Gloria Brown Education Center building to address overcrowding of pre-K and Bloomington Career Academy classes.

District 87 will implement the ban in the fall, with a structure of tiered consequences for violations. District officials hope teachers and parents will help support it.

The new sales tax takes effect July 1. Earning around 53% of the vote, the referendum was one of several factors contributing to an increased voter turnout compared to previous municipal elections.

A Trump administration effort to remove the federal government from wide swaths of American life continues to spread. Libraries and museums in Bloomington-Normal and around Illinois also will feel the impact.

An investigation is underway into claims that McLean County school administrators used public money to promote a website advocating for a countywide sales tax.

The Twin City school districts have added transparency dashboards on their websites to show where funding would be spent if the new sales tax is approved April 1.

Bloomington High School's principal says cell phones are to blame for a lot of student disciplinary and academic concerns.

This fall, the Academy will move into renovated space at the Willie G. and Gloria Brown Education Center, providing customized classrooms for technical and career-focused training programs.

There are only two Bloomington City Council seats that have contested races in the April 1 election. Ward 9, which covers a good part of the northeast side, is one of them.