Black Lives Matter BloNo

As a senior case worker at Labyrinth, YWCA McLean County’s transitional housing program for formerly incarcerated women, Vera Traver has witnessed the devastating effects of cash bail.

But she’s also lived them as a formerly incarcerated woman herself.

About two dozen Black Lives Matter protesters gathered Wednesday in downtown Bloomington to express their anger and sadness after a Kentucky grand jury decided not to indict three Louisville police officers for their roles in Breonna Taylor’s shooting death.

Members of the City of Bloomington’s Human Relations Commission want a do-over on last month’s police divestment discussion. 

Local police departments are feeling the heat from civil unrest in cities where police-involved deaths have sparked violent protests, according to McLean County law enforcement leaders.

Discussions about divesting from police departments continue across the nation in the wake of multiple shootings of Black Americans at the hands of white police officers this year.

A leader with Black Lives Matter BloNo says the group that paid bail to free 10 looting suspects from the McLean County jail demonstrates how unfair the bail system is.

The Black Lives Matter BloNo group held a public meeting Sunday that shared compassion and addressed some of the response to its list of policy demands.

Mayor Chris Koos said he plans to arrange a meeting with Black Lives Matter BloNo leadership so they can lay out any specific concerns with the Normal Police Department.

After weeks of protesting for justice for black lives lost at the hands of police, commemorating the day that ended slavery meant a little more this year than others for some.

Black Lives Matter BloNo said Wednesday it was disappointed in a social media post from the McLean County Democrats that called for reframing the “Defund The Police” debate away from the word defund.

Heyworth business owner Tricia Braid said she was tired of scrolling through social media feeds and seeing many people doubting the media reports about the military use of tear gas and rubber bullets on peaceful protestors to clear Lafayette Plaza for the president to have a photo taken with the Bible.

For Ky Ajayi, it hasn’t just been a long week. It’s been a long three years.

McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage has said he does not plan to release inmates at the McLean County jail in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

As the holiday season arrives, Black Lives Matter BloNo is calling for volunteers to help monitor McLean County courtrooms as part of its ongoing efforts to reunite families with loved ones who can't afford bail.

The Bloomington-Normal chapter of Black Lives Matter is teaming up with the McLean County Democrats for a Father’s Day bailout fundraising event this weekend.