19-year old man dies after car-school bus crash in Normal

Posted on October 29, 2021

Police car — *Normal Police, the McLean County Accident Reconstruction Team, and the coroner’s office are continuing to investigate the crash. (WJBC file photo)*

NORMAL – The driver of a car that collided late Friday morning with a First Student school bus in Normal has died from injuries he suffered in the crash.

McLean County Coroner Kathy Yoder said Gavin Lartz, 19, of Normal, was pronounced dead about 4:30 p.m. at Carle BroMenn Medical Center’s emergency room.

Lartz was taken there after Normal fire crews extricated him from the wreckage.

According to Yoder, the car driven by Lartz was heading northbound on North Main Street in Normal and struck the bus, which was turning onto Main Street, from Summit Street.

Police and Unit 5 school officials said no students were on the bus when the accident happened just before 11:50 a.m. Friday.

Police said the bus driver suffered minor injuries, and was treated and released from Carle BroMenn.

Normal Police, the McLean County Accident Reconstruction Team, and the coroner’s office are continuing to investigate the crash.

North Main Street was closed for several hours after the crash.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…