By IIS Radio SPRINGFIELD – A look back at Illinois weather this year. February 2021 was brutally cold, with many records set all over the state. Spring and summer featured plenty of rainfall in central and southern Illinois, while the northern part of the state remained dry says State Climatologist Trent Ford. “The 2021 northern…… MORE
By Jake Fogal Earlier this month, State Farm began their annual Season of Giving campaign, with a small twist. Switching things up then in past years, the insurance company held a healthy competition between departments, where employees participated in a program called Acts of Good. Acts of Good is a program where workers could track…… MORE
As hospitals in McLean County is near capacity with cases of COVID-19 and the new variant Omicron running rampant, local health officials are issuing guidance for holiday get-togethers.… MORE
By Neil Doyle BLOOMINGTON – The Katthoefer Animal Building at the Miller Park Zoo will re-open Wednesday, Dec. 22, after several animals tested positive for COVID-19. The building was shut down last month after a tiger and four snow leopards started showing symptoms. Testing confirmation did not come until Dec. 14 from the national laboratory.…… MORE
Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) is not running for Governor – instead, he will be up for re-election in the newly drawn 15th district.… MORE
A man accused of strangling and punching an eight-year old family member in Bloomington last month remained jailed Tuesday night on felony charges.… MORE
A Livingston County man has been sentenced to 135 years behind bars for sexually assaulting a young girl over a three-year period.… MORE
By Jake Fogal At approximately 11:20 a-m, area residents heard a large noise, accompanied by mild shaking in some areas. Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Rebecca Clark explains what that loud boom heard across Central Illinois was. “Upon further review, it was determine that an F-15 fighter jet in the air space of up Central…… MORE
By Jake Fogal NORMAL- Wednesday Evening, Illinois State President Terri Goss Kinzy announced that out of caution for COVID-19, all in-person classes during the first two week of the Spring Semester will be transitioned to online learning. “Although this is not how any of us expected to begin the spring term, we must continue to…… MORE
By Jake Fogal Carolyn Smolen of Bloomington, has been awarded a $29,998 Women in Leadership Scholarship from Greenville University. Terri Sunderland, Greenville’s Women in Leadership program director realized Smolen’s potential when she first applied. “Carolyn was a clear standout as a candidate for the full-tuition scholarship,” Sunderland said. “We see in Carolyn strength in adversity,…… 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…