Sound Ideas

Mayor Tracy Welch wants to see the women's prison site remediated, unlike what happened two decades ago at the 100-acre Lincoln Developmental Center site. It's part of the City of Lincoln's multi-pronged strategy boosting economic development in the Logan County seat.

Illinois has already experienced a record-breaking number of tornadoes in 2026, but this year even thunderstorms are proving to be dangerous.

More than a year and a half after a dispute over shared sales tax money began, the City of Bloomington, Town of Normal and McLean County have no resolution and no talks scheduled.

The top editor of Bloomington's Pantagraph newspaper was let go in an apparent cost-cutting move. Cumulus Media in Bloomington also recently gutted its news department.

Bloomington-Normal tourism officials said the Route 66 centennial celebrations have increased out-of-town visits to McLean County by 3% compared to year-to-date figures from last year.

Over the 20-year run of the problem-solving court, 200 McLean County residents have graduated from the program. Clients and their team members alike describe it as difficult but worth it.

In all, 655 phone calls came into Bloomington and Normal emergency call centers during recent thunderstorms and high winds. That volume overloaded dispatchers at certain points, but the system functioned as designed.

Bloomington-Normal groups are having early conversations about creating a Tourism Improvement District that would impose fees of up to 5% for hotel and short-term rental guests.

If Bloomington-Normal government leaders decide they want to bring a data center to the community, they would need to demonstrate that the community has the energy capacity to sustain it. That remains an open question.

As both Bloomington-Normal school districts begin the school year, three principals know this year will be their last before retirement.