City of Bloomington

The City of Bloomington’s next Community Preservation Plan may put more emphasis on the not-so-distant past and more visibly connect the dots between historic preservation and affordable housing.

The early 1900s saw an influx of racism and discrimination in the Midwest, from anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant, and anti-African American sentiment, to race riots in Springfield, Chicago, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Ku Klux Klan became a force in central Illinois. Segregation grew in Bloomington-Normal and what had been a thriving black middle class was gradually destroyed.

Mayor Tari Renner said Tuesday he’d like to firm up plans this year for a new fire station that would cut down 911 response times in northeast Bloomington.

If it seems like everybody is doing a podcast these days, it might almost be true. That includes governments.

As digital technology has made it cheap and easy to deliver anyone's message to the world, WGLT explores how municipalities and other public bodies are using podcasts to communicate with constituents in new ways and wonder if it's making a difference.

Bloomington city officials are traveling to North Carolina this week for the first gathering of a national initiative aimed at improving public health through housing.

The Bloomington and Normal Water Reclamation District will have to spend $160 million-plus over the next couple decades. Businesses, homeowners and apartment owners in the Twin Cities will have to pay for it.

Bloomington residents voiced their desires for what should occupy the 4.1 acre block that formerly housed Mennonite Hospital and Electrolux at 800 N. Main Street.

“Something that would be economically viable,” Tim Tilton said.

“Something that is respectful of the historic nature of the neighborhood,” Andy Birkey added.

The Bloomington Liquor Commission approved three new liquor licenses Tuesday, including a tavern license for a restaurant going into the former Hooters location on Hershey Road.

Bloomington is still mulling over what to do with the city’s year-and-a-half long moratorium on new video gambling licenses. City council members agree they want video gambling to be limited in some way.

The City of Bloomington has scheduled a public meeting to gather feedback on a proposal to add bike lanes along Illinois Route 9.

Janet Mariani needed a home for her first business—an ice cream shop. She chose Downtown Bloomington.

Hoping to avoid losing any more historically significant buildings, the City of Bloomington has enacted a new review process to screen properties before an owner can demolish them.

Debate over gasoline tax increases to fund road repairs in Bloomington and Normal is more complex than the question of keeping the amount the same in both cities.

At the tail end of the Civil War, there was another battle stirring in the City of Bloomington: the war on dogs.

Whenever a snowstorm hits, the first question most people have is, "When is my street getting plowed?"