Downtown Bloomington

In this glued-to-your-phone era of technological isolation from our fellow human beings, one creative person is turning to old tech to help people reconnect and spread joy and a little art. As part of our ongoing feature series More of That, Please, we bring you the story of typewriter poetry.

Bruegala returns to downtown Bloomington for one last hurrah. The Jaycees are retiring the event after 25 years.

When the state rollback of the locally shared grocery tax first passed, then-Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe said he believed there was no appetite on the Bloomington City Council to impose a local tax. Though the vote was still split, the council passed the tax this week.

Gov. JB Pritzker called the grocery tax regressive and abolished it last year, effective in January 2026. Local communities can approve their own 1% percent sales tax on groceries.

Lifelong Access hosted a Golden Hammer event on Tuesday to update the public on the former Pantagraph building the agency is renovating.

The City of Bloomington is a finalist for a three-year, $120,000 grant to provide free concerts in downtown Bloomington. Awards are decided by a community vote, open until Sept. 15.

The work now underway is concentrated in the 600 block of North Main Street, right where it hits East Street as it curves in front of the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. The plaza in that area will be reimagined, including a lighted ring hovering above a new outdoor activity/performance space.

The City of Bloomington has agreed to vacate a one-block portion of Elm Street in front of a former tavern south of downtown, paving the way for a growing local restaurant business to expand.

Connect Transit says all bus routes that use the Front Street Transfer Center will now transfer at a new temporary location at Roosevelt and Jefferson streets.

The Bloomington City Council voted Monday to approve a one-year pause on contributing revenue to the McLean County mental health and public safety sales tax fund, following last week’s matching action by the Town of Normal.