A consultant who’s very familiar with the community is coordinating the search for the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council.… MORE
Category Archives: Politics
Safety worries prompt push for reduced city speed limit
A commission created by the Bloomington City Council about two years ago is devising a way for residents to decide if they want motorists to drive slower in their neighborhoods.… MORE
City manager counting council votes on doubling gas tax
Bloomington City Manager Tim Gleason is providing some intrigue to the release in a few days of the next city council agenda.… MORE
Illinois lawmaker proposes employer tax break for organ donors
For a nine-year-old from Grundy County, Evan Simms has been through a lot.… MORE
City forms its own economic development team
A retiring Bloomington alderman isn’t happy with the outside agencies performing economic development work for the city.… MORE
Mayor Renner won’t veto extended video gaming ban
Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner will not veto recent city council action extending the freeze on new video gaming machines in the city to give aldermen more time to examine video gaming’s impact on the community.… MORE
‘Day of Action’ Monday in Dwight
Opponents of an immigrant detention center in Dwight are calling Monday a “day of action.” That’s when the village board is expected to vote on annexing property near Interstate 55 and Illinois Route 17 for the $45 million facility.… MORE
Pritzker reveals long-awaited details of graduated income tax plan
The numbers Illinois has been waiting for since the gubernatorial campaign are here.… MORE
Council hopefuls debate tax incentives to spur development
The two candidates vying to become the next Ward 2 alderman on the Bloomington City Council have different ideas about economic development..and the use of taxpayer dollars to attract businesses… MORE
Charges dropped in a “Schock”ing turn of events
By Dave Dahl Tonight might be the best night’s sleep Aaron Schock has had in the last four years. “I’m looking forward to having this weight off my chest and not having it be the first thing I think about every morning and the last thing I think about before I go to bed,”…… MORE
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…