Police and Courts

A man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday for opening fire on a rival on Bloomington’s east side—a shooting that put several nearby vehicles and a store in the crossfire.

A 41-year-old Bloomington man is dead after a motorcycle crash Thursday night in northeast Normal.

Bloomington-Normal residents were reminded Monday to check their smoke detectors after authorities released the cause of a fatal condo fire in Normal.

A jury convicted a 25-year-old man Tuesday in a scheme to deposit forged checks at a Normal bank and then withdraw the money from ATMs before the bad checks could be discovered.

A Blue Lives Matter rally outside Bloomington City Hall on Monday evening drew about 15 people.

Attorneys for Alan Beaman say they will ask the Illinois Supreme Court to review an appeals court ruling exonerating former Town of Normal police officers who Beaman accused of conspiring to wrongfully and maliciously prosecute him.

A 21-year-old Carlock woman is in custody after allegedly hitting a pedestrian with her vehicle and fleeing the scene, only to be tracked down by police two weeks later.

McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage is running for re-election. Sandage cited achievements in increasing drug enforcement efforts as a reason he hopes people will vote for him again.

"We have dedicated another detective to our detective division and started running narcotics cases out of our detective division. We have also added a K-9 unit to the patrol division and we are working a lot more drug interdiction details," said Sandage.

The man accused of stabbing a Peoria woman to death in a Bloomington motel last month now faces new charges.

Police say 32-year old Kyle Brestan was arrested again at the McLean County Jail on seven counts of the manufacture and possession of child pornography.

Another shooting in Bloomington, and another leg wound. Police don't believe the wound locations in each of the four shootings since April 28th is significant. 

Police have arrested a 22-year-old man from Normal for shooting a man to death in Normal on Wednesday.

A 33-year old Brimfield man shot himself Tuesday afternoon on I-74 near Carlock. McLean County Coroner Kathleen Davis said Paul S. Smith died of a penetrating contact gunshot wound of the head.

The incident remains under investigation by the McLean County Coroner's office and State Police.

A citizen review board for police will not be a slam dunk in Bloomington, if early council discussion is a guide.

Several Aldermen said they wanted to learn more about the options during a work session on the issue. A couple want to move ahead and have staff draft an ordinance. Alderman David Sage said he sees no case for the panel.

The first day of a discovery recount for the Normal mayoral race revealed no dramatic change in the result.

Candidate Marc Tiritilli had requested a recount of a quarter of the precincts in the town after losing to incumbent Chris Koos by 11 votes. 6,336 voters went to the polls in the Mayoral race April 4, 2017.

61 social service agencies suing the State of Illinois over the budget impasse got their day in court on Thursday.

An attorney for the agencies told Illinois Appellate Court judges the agencies are political hostages because of the budget impasse. Those groups are suing the state to get paid what they’re owed.

Bloomington police say someone shot a teenager near Miller Park early Thursday morning.

That is the second shooting in the last week.

The Mayor of Normal is not enthusiastic about a formal welcoming cities ordinance. Area groups marched on Bloomington City Hall this week asking for an ordinance to limit local government cooperation with federal immigration and customs enforcement, or ICE.

Mayor Chris Koos of Normal said he supports keeping immigrant families together, but not through that method.

Bloomington Police say they have made no arrests yet in connection with a shooting on Springfield Road.

The gunfire happened about nine o'clock Thursday evening in a parking lot of the 1700 block of Springfield Road.

It has been four years since Bloomington resident Haleigh Eichhorn disappeared.

Her body was found in rural Stanford on May 7, 2013 ten days after she was last seen.

An Illinois retirement board is terminating former U-S House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s state pension.

He’d been collecting about $28,000 a year for his service in the state legislature.

McLean County Sherriff Jon Sandage is banning cell phones in the Law and Justice Center starting in June.

Sandage said some people were violating policy against photos and recordings in court.