Health and Safety

McLean County Health Department's administrator breaks down what is known about the bird flu, or H5N1 strain of influenza A.

The state of Illinois will receive about $29 million from a nationwide settlement announced in a lawsuit over potentially cancer-causing baby powder.

The Community Health Care Clinic in Normal has recovered its federal tax-exempt status. The agency that serves low-income people with no or inadequate health insurance lost its 501-C-3 designation in May of last year.

Susan Rush, a crisis counselor at PATH, looks back on her job a year after the national suicide and crisis lifeline became operational nationally.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says 2023 could be the hottest year to date. Meanwhile, researchers are finding that as the temperature rises, people’s mental health might be worsening.

Illinois State University police are implementing a co-responder policing program where mental health professionals and law enforcement make joint responses to 911 calls.

The Normal Public Library board has taken the next step in the project to remove asbestos from the library. Workers discovered asbestos fireproofing flaking off structural beams in 2020 during a bathroom renovation.

Shortages of nurses, McLean County jail workers, and police officers are well known. The looming national shortage of firefighters is less known, but no less significant. That is true in Bloomington-Normal, too.

A recent study that tied the use of gas stoves in homes to rates of childhood asthma — especially in Illinois — inadvertently brought gas stoves to the forefront of the culture wars.

A scathing report from the State Executive Inspector General shows a climate of hazing and sexual discrimination created a hostile work environment at the state prison in Pontiac, including stating there is reason for disciplinary action against 10 employees for discriminating against a guard who was perceived to be gay.