By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – A Georgia man appeared in McLean County Court for a status hearing in connection to the murder of a Peoria teen. This was Tomiyale Anderson’s second appearance since securing private defense attorney Jennifer Patton. Patton asked for an additional 60 days to go through discovery. The 20-year-old is facing first-degree murder…… MORE
A 90-year-old man died from injuries sustained in a crash Saturday morning in rural Tazewell County.… MORE
The state’s top prosecutor announced charges against five men for a burglary ring that resulted in dozens of video gaming machines being stolen across Illinois including in McLean and DeWitt counties.… MORE
Monday morning saw a brief status hearing in the case of Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy accused of murder in the July 6 shooting death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman, in her Springfield home. Grayson is white.… MORE
By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington Revivalists hosted a public forum at the Bloomington library on Sunday, trying to come up with solutions for the current housing crisis. The group’s mission is to improve their community through bottom-up solutions. Panelists with the Bloomington-Normal Community Land Trust and McLean County Co-Housing discussed issues like homelessness, the…… MORE
After a semi-trailer hauling 67 cows rolled over on I-57 in Tuscola overnight, authorities and community members alike from Central Illinois have banded together to try and find the missing animals on the run.… MORE
A white substance found in a creek near the intersection of Airport Road and North Hershey Road in Bloomington was discovered to be paint.… MORE
By WMBD-TV & Jake Fogal NORMAL – A 15-year-old girl is dead after a medical emergency at Normal Community West High School on Thursday. According to a news release from the Normal Police Department, officers initially responded to the high school on a report of a student having a medical emergency at approximately 9:51 a.m.…… MORE
By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – Congressman Darin LaHood visited Bloomington on Thursday as the city prepares for another project. After more than 25 years in the making, Bloomington leaders said they’re ready for the Hamilton Road Project. It’s part of a bigger concept, the southern transportation corridor, which is found in city planning documents dating back…… MORE
By WMBD-TV NORMAL – Heartland Community College is planning for its future. The college’s Board of Trustees allotted $35 million for general obligation debt certificates. This will be money Heartland can use towards projects including, but not limited to, renovations to their Workforce Development Center and its Hawk Cafe and the Advanced Manufacturing and Technical…… MORE
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.” …
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…
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…
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…