By Blake Haas and A.J. Harris BLOOMINGTON – Over 600 smash burgers were served up Wednesday night in downtown Bloomington as Green Gables teamed up with Epiphany Farms. Green Gables, a landmark staple by Lake Bloomington, burned several weeks ago, leaving the popular restaurant in ruins. To raise funds for the restaurant, cooks from Green…… MORE
Hopes have been dashed for a new Samsung electric vehicle battery factory in the Twin Cities, as Stellantis and Samsung announced they’re taking their business and $2.5 billion investment to Kokomo, Indiana.… MORE
A Bloomington pawn shop owner robbed and beaten at gunpoint last Wednesday is sharing his first-hand account.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – During a nationwide reckoning over racism and slavery among our Founding Fathers and other historical figures’ racism and connections to slavery, the state removed statues of Pierre Menard and Sen. Stephen Douglas from the east lawn of the Capitol. So the chair of the Illinois House Statues and Monuments Task…… MORE
A Chicago man is behind bars in McLean County after a shooting early Wednesday morning.… MORE
By HOI ABC BLOOMINGTON – State Farm Insurance is ending its partnership with an organization promoting education about transgender youth, saying the topic should not be required learning in schools. The Bloomington-based company acknowledges its support for the “philanthropic” program GenderCool, has been the subject of news and customer inquiries. Backlash against State Farm included an…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The “Little Giant” has a big cheerleader who wants the Stephen Douglas statue returned to the Capitol lawn. Reg Ankrom of Quincy is two thirds of the way through writing a trilogy biography of Douglas and has a spirited defense at the ready: “Douglas did not own slaves.” Ankrom notes…… MORE
Ahead of the busiest travel day of the year, Normal Police are beefing up patrols for Memorial Day.… MORE
Rivian Automotive is welcoming a series of Farmers’ Markets at their manufacturing facilities in Normal.… MORE
There’s a lot of debate on if cell phones should be allowed in the classroom, but one central Illinois Superintendent is making his stance clear… 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…