By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The red-shirted forces of Moms Demand Action gave State Rep. Denyse Wang Stoneback (D-Skokie) a standing ovation Tuesday, when she summed up her opinion of the National Rifle Association: “A money-making operation from gun manufacturers based on half of the text of the Second Amendment,” she said during a House…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – To all of you who asked for a white Christmas: Thanks a lot. Cold, wind, and snow will belt virtually all of Downstate Thursday and Friday. Some areas could get about four inches, with a six-inch snowfall possible northeast of a line from Bloomington to Paris. Ed Shimon, the warning…… MORE
The Illinois Department of Transportation is reminding the public to visit and bookmark gettingaroundillinois.com, a website with continually updated information on road conditions.… MORE
By 25 News CENTRAL ILLINOIS – This incoming winter storm will barrel through Central Illinois right as people are trying to get to their holiday destinations. The Illinois Department of Transportation says lower staffing levels mean plowing and treating roads will take longer, but don’t think it will severely impact their response. AAA reports this…… MORE
As inflation has driven up energy costs, Ameren and Google have teamed up with the Environmental Law and Policy Center, to offer customers some smart savings.… MORE
It took a performance hall on the University of Illinois campus to hold all of the people who wanted to pay their respects to Scott Bennett, the state senator who died of complications from a large, undetected brain tumor Dec. 9.… MORE
By 25 News NORMAL – Illinois State University is honoring one of its baseball standouts who’s became a major leaguer with the St. Louis Cardinals. ISU is building an indoor hitting and pitching facility along the right field line at Duffy Bass Field. Friday, the university’s governing board voted to name it in honor of…… MORE
By 25 News BLOOMINGTON – Two juveniles are being tried as adults for allegedly stealing 25 guns from a Bloomington sporting goods store in December of last year, with one of the stolen firearms being used to shoot a 13-year-old boy in Peoria. Earlier this week, 14-year-old Antwan Freeman appeared in adult court on charges…… MORE
By 25 News WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) bid farewell to the U.S. Congress on Thursday by criticizing Republicans and Democrats for not putting the country ahead of politics. Kinzinger, raised in Bloomington and elected to the McLean County Board when he was a sophomore at Illinois State University, was one of…… MORE
A high-ranking state official – who says he is a two-time survivor of gun violence – is in favor of outlawing assault weapons in Illinois.… 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…