Politics and Government

Town of Normal staff are signaling a potential need for significant rate increases in several programs including water and sewer, recycling, landscape waste and trash pickups. City Manager Pam Reece said a need for new sewage lift stations and cost recovery for hauling will require a council policy discussion.

Members of a South Asian association in McLean County gathered Saturday to celebrate India's 77th year as a republic, featuring a keynote address by U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is running for U.S. Senate from Illinois.

The four Republican Party candidates for governor of Illinois told a Central Illinois audience Thursday evening they favor property tax caps, pension reform, ending Illinois' status as a "sanctuary state," and rolling back the SAFE-T criminal justice reform act which ended cash bail.

Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady said the downtown business community largely drove the city decision to scale back on First Friday promotional events. The city will now pick its spots to promote First Fridays, tied to happenings such as the Route 66 Festival, Tour du Chocolat, or holiday programs.

The fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection passed with little note this week, as events in Venezuela, the economy and even chatter about Greenland consumed public attention. It didn't go entirely unobserved. House Democrats held an unofficial hearing on the issue.

The union representing firefighters in the Town of Normal is continuing its campaign to keep the soon-to-close College Avenue fire station open — after a new station opens on the east side of town. The town insists there is no situation that needs to be addressed.

2025 was a good year for Normal, according to City Manager Pam Reece, noting town achievements include a range of infrastructure projects, opening a refurbished skate park at Fairview Park, and advancing the town's public arts plan.

Winter weather complicates an already scarce parking situation in Downtown Bloomington. The Market Street parking deck has closed. And the Front and Center block has yet to finish demolition and become surface parking. That’s likely to become available sometime next spring.

New Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson said one reason he unseated previous organization head Brian Duncan was a legal dispute with the American Farm Bureau Federation.

McLean County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston said there's significant movement on mental health program spending in the county. That comes from sales tax money shared with the county by Bloomington and Normal.