By Neil Doyle NORMAL – Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner on Monday announced plans to retire at the end of April 2022. “I have given this great consideration and the time is right,” said Bleichner in a news release. “The organization has six new recruits preparing to report to the academy at the end of April and…… MORE
By Neil Doyle BLOOMINGTON – Gas prices in Illinois are averaging $4.50 a gallon, down about seven cents over the week, according to GasBuddy. The cheapest station in the state is $3.84 while the most expensive is $5.29, according to GasBuddy price reports. Gas price in Illinois are 80 cents higher than a month ago…… MORE
A Naperville man has been identified as the victim of the fatal crash on southbound Interstate 55 Thursday south of Bloomington.… MORE
For a while this past week, there were two speakers in the Illinois House of Representatives.… MORE
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), looks forward to the confirmation hearings next week for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.… MORE
A Bloomington mother charged with concealing the death of her 7-month-old daughter, Zaraz Walker, has been deemed unfit to stand trial.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois legislature has three weeks until its self-imposed deadline to put together a budget. One person with a big part of that job is House Majority Leader Greg Harris, who says there’s a multi (b) billion dollar shortage in the unemployment insurance trust fund. “There are a number of…… MORE
By HOI ABC BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington woman is free on bond after prosecutors charged her with criminal neglect that led to her mother’s death late last year. The allegations against Carrie Funk include that she and her mother lived in filthy conditions at their Bloomington home, and that first responders found the older woman…… MORE
A Bloomington man is dead after being hit by a vehicle around 8:24 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, in the 1500 block of South Main Street in Bloomington.… MORE
The roll call continues – of dead or missing children. And State Rep Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa) says it’s evidence the performance of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is unacceptable.… 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…