By WMBD-TV PEKIN – Tazewell County Coroner Charles Hanley reported that a man is dead after a single-vehicle crash near Illinois Route 9 and Mennonite Church Road in rural Pekin at approximately 2:32 p.m. on Sunday. According to Hanley, a 51-year-old rural Mapleton man was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 3:05 p.m. The…… MORE
One of the top cops at the Normal Police Department now has the backing of the Federal Bureau of Investigations.… MORE
During a news conference in Chicago on Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker, along with officials from the Illinois Department of Corrections, announced plans to rebuild Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln and Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill. Money for the projects is already part of his 2025 budget, he said. Statesville opened in 1925 while Logan opened in 1978, according…… MORE
By WMBD-TV PEKIN – Tazewell County voters will go to the polls next week to decide, among other things, if they want a monument to honor the three county residents who earned the nation’s highest military decoration for valor. William Reed, John Ayers and Thomas Murphy earned the Medal of Honor for their actions in the 1863 Battle of Vicksburg during…… MORE
By WMBD-TV MCLEAN COUNTY – A lack of affordable high-speed internet is an issue for residents in rural McLean County. Chad Walden is the village president of Arrowsmith, a small community in eastern McLean County. He said Arrowsmith, population of about 300, would benefit from having high-speed internet. “We have struggled with the lack of…… MORE
An act of vandalism is forcing some voters in Bloomington to go to a different polling location during the Primary Elections on March 19.… MORE
For the first time in nearly a decade, State Farm in Bloomington selected the Fortune 500’s next Chief Executive Officer.… MORE
By WMBD-TV SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) reported on Wednesday that spring enrollment is up 5.1% in 2024 compared to 2023. According to an ICCB news release, 262,638 students enrolled in public community colleges in Illinois for the 2024 spring semester. This is up from 249,836 students who enrolled in the spring…… MORE
By WMBD-TV BLOOMINGTON – A release of 2023 crime statistics by the Bloomington Police Department shows fewer homicides and fewer people shot but increases in other categories. Shootings dropped from 42 in 2022 to 30 in 2023, a decrease of 12. The number of people who were shot, predictably, dropped as well. There were 15…… MORE
House of Representatives passed a bill early Wednesday morning that could ban the social media application TikTok. … 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…