Sound Ideas

The YWCA of McLean County is ending a nearly 40-year-old program that coordinates volunteers for nonprofit organizations in the community. This comes in the face of changing federal priorities and the Trump administration's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] and its "War on Woke."

Jeff Gerald is a member at Farrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping gym in Bloomington, and recently won their yearlong national body transformation challenge with a grand prize of $10,000.

The exhibition is on view at the McLean County Arts Center alongside the center's popular emerging artist exhibition—something curator George Woodworth calls "huge" for the artists' journeys through and out of addiction.

The Department of Justice quietly reassigned its senior attorneys off of the Recognition and Accreditation Program, which provides training and standards for non-attorneys to give legal advice and sometimes litigate issues. The Immigration Project in downstate Illinois has 30 DOJ reps.

Student winners of this year's City of Bloomington Black History Essay Contest wrote about everyone from civil rights icons to artists, musicians and little-known scientists. The young people have chosen heroes to admire and people who speak to them.

Judge Casey Costigan has served on the bench in McLean County since 2006, ascending to chief judge overseeing five Central Illinois counties since 2022. His seat is up for election in November, with a new chief judge to be announced later this year.

The City of Bloomington is engaged in a significant planning effort to look for ways to expand its drinking water supply. Water director Brett Lueschen said the city will likely need more water in the future.

In a mix of local, national and international affairs, kids wonder how the news of the world will affect them. Stephanie Barisch is a mental health professional guiding parents on how to talk to their children about news events.

The City of Bloomington's Downtown for Everyone project is moving through the 500 block of North Main Street as scheduled and is still expected to cost $13.2 million. Residents and business owners are continuing to adapt through sometimes inconvenient construction work.

The region's only real-time data center collects and interprets information from license plate and public safety cameras. Bloomington Police plan to invest in crash detection tools and additional software and hardware upgrades.