By WJBC Staff NORMAL – The Missouri Valley Football Conference released its preseason poll this week and the Illinois State Redbirds were picked to finish seventh. For the first time since joining the conference in 2008, SDSU has been chosen to win the conference in the fall of 2021 with 454 points and 24 first-place votes. North…… MORE
By St. Louis Cardinals Communications ST LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals organization announced it will host a 10-year anniversary reunion of the 2011 World Series Championship team at Busch Stadium on Saturday, September 18, presented by Heartland Coca-Cola. Over 25 former players and coaches from the 2011 team, including Cardinals Hall of Famer Chris Carpenter,…… MORE
By HOI ABC NORMAL – Normal Community High School is honoring a longtime coach by naming the football field after him. The Unit 5 School Board Wednesday night approved renaming the venue Dick Tharp Field, paying tribute to the Ironmen’s head coach from 1968 to 1988. Tharp’s 158 wins is the most in school history. During…… MORE
By St. Louis Cardinals Communications ST LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals announced Wednesday that the lives of the late Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Bob Gibson will be celebrated during the team’s Hall of Fame Weekend presented by Edward Jones from August 20-22. “One of the challenges during the last several months was determining a way to properly…… MORE
By St. Louis Cardinals Communications ST LOUIS – The Cardinals return from the All-Star Break with a seven-game homestand featuring a three-game weekend series vs. the San Francisco Giants (July 16-18) followed by four games with the rival Chicago Cubs (July 19-22). Fans can view a full list of homestand highlights at cardinals.com/homestand. Friday, July 16 —…… MORE
By St. Louis Cardinals Communications ST LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals organization announced Thursday that it will pay tribute to National Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Ted Simmons on Saturday, July 31, before the team’s 6:15 PM game versus the Minnesota Twins. The tribute will be highlighted by the unveiling and dedication of a Ted Simmons statue…… MORE
By Neil Doyle NORMAL – A local baseball product is headed to the majors. Normal West graduate McCade Brown was selected 79th overall by the Colorado Rockies in the 3rd round of the MLB Draft. A 6-foot-6 right handed pitcher, Brown plays his college ball at Indiana University. He does have one more year of eligibility…… MORE
By St. Louis Cardinals Communications ST LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals selected right handed pitcher Michael McGreevy out of the University of California Santa Barbara with their first round selection (18th player overall) in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft. McGreevy, a San Clemente, Calif. native pitched three seasons at UC Santa Barbara, going 16-3,…… MORE
Student-athletes across the state can now receive compensation while in school after Gov. Pritzker signed SB 2338 into law.… MORE
By St. Louis Cardinals Communications ST LOUIS – The Cardinals return to Busch Stadium for a seven-game homestand featuring a four-game weekend series vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates (June 24-27) followed by three games with the Arizona Diamondbacks (June 28-30). Fans can view a full list of homestand highlights at cardinals.com/homestand. Thursday, June 24 — Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh…… 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…