Politics and Government

Gov. JB Pritzker is pushing for statewide zoning changes to spark housing construction. Not everyone is jazzed about the proposal though.

After more than eight years of trying, the Town of Normal may be able to move ahead with the Trail East and West developments on Uptown Circle. And if council members balk at a price increase for the Uptown Underpass, the town could have to repay millions in grant funding.

The Town of Normal has collected more storm debris in less than a week than all the waste it hauled away in March.

The chair of the McLean County Board said the recent awarding of $1.7 million in mental health and human service funding shows the potential of an intergovernmental agreement using shared tax money to improve the community.

A grant that will help fund a two-mile stretch of new sewer interceptor on Bloomington-Normal’s west side is part of a much larger project that may link some small towns in McLean County to the Twin Cities' sewage treatment system.

Crockett said it's time for a fresh face in the office and he wants to do innovative things other county clerks do, such as employ universal polling places.

A big chunk of the community volunteers on appointed boards and commissions in Bloomington will have their terms expire at the end of the month. A few more terms will lapse at the end of June, according to the city website. And there were already a lot of vacancies among the 138 seats the mayor fills by appointment.

The skirmishing between Democratic McLean County Board members and Republican McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael continued as Michael did not appear before the board Executive Committee Monday afternoon.

The state has announced a $5 million grant for the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District [BNWRD] that is intended to stimulate business development on the west side of the Twin Cities.

The YWCA of McLean County is ending a nearly 40-year-old program that coordinates volunteers for nonprofit organizations in the community. This comes in the face of changing federal priorities and the Trump administration's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] and its "War on Woke."