News

Editors note: This is the first of a series of interviews with newly elected council members in Bloomington and Normal. 

There are a "ton of details to work out," but a Bloomington Alderman is standing by campaign statements about a shared sales tax agreement between Bloomington and Normal. 

Recent political rhetoric aside, the majority of immigrants living in the US. come here legally, and each has a compelling story to tell. Those are among the messages members of Bloomington-Normal's immigrant communities hope to convey at a conversation Thursday evening at Bloomington Public Library.

East Indian, Mexican, Caribbean and Latin American immigrants will share their personal stories.

Instead of letting old plastic shopping bags clog our landfill or flutter around on the whims of the wind, one local group is upcycling them to help folks in need.

North Street Records owner Jeff Wilson paused to contemplate the 50 year anniversary of The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.

"I can't believe all Beatles records are starting to be 50 years old," said Wilson sitting next to the turntable behind the counter in his store. "I guess it's like the world's classical music, especially Sgt. Pepper because it's so iconic."

The man who has spent the past month learning about past management of the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts says the 1,200 seat theater and basement-level meeting space sits empty far too often.

"I get no pleasure out of an auditorium of 1,200 sitting there empty and knowing that 1,200 could have something in it and that 'something' could be producing revenue for the city," said Carl St. Clair, a former VenuWorks executive who was lured out of retirement with a four-month, $30,000 contract to serve as interim director of the BCPA.

Once the excitement of adopting a new pet settles down, you have a big decision ahead of you:  what to name your new friend.

Even veteran coaches can get nervous when jumping into a new endeavor. Adding to the apprehension for Illinois Wesleyan women’s basketball coach Mia Smith is jumping midstream into an at-large representative for selecting athletes and coaches for the national USA Basketball committee. She had no idea she was even being considered. 

Longtime WGLT Morning Edition Host Jim Browne, 65, passed away Saturday morning around 6 a.m. in hospice at Advocate BroMenn. He died after a lengthy illness.

Browne had a 45 year career in broadcasting at several radio stations including WGLT and WJBC in Bloomington Normal.

Downtown Bloomington is set to go steampunk with Cogs and Corsets: A Steampunk Happening, June 2 - 4.

A potential multi-sports complex on Bloomington-Normal's west side could top $50 million in public-private investment.

In an interview  for GLT's Sound Ideas, Katie Kim of the Kim Group, a developer working with landowner Dave Stark on a multi-use sports complex in Bloomington-Normal, said she continues to meet with stakeholders.

Bloomington police said they want to look at a next generation body camera product because the first one under review doesn't have enough battery life.

Cameras are supposed to have eight hours of recording time. But, some batteries are lasting only three hours. Chief Brendan Heffner said the law is ambiguous because it's not clear whether ten hours refers to recording capacity or battery life.

Sergeant Clayton Arnold is overseeing the pilot project of 12 officers using body cams. Sergeant Arnold said there are procedural hurdles to clear as well, such as deciding how much time to allocate for report writing with access to body camera footage.

The jumping worm and the gypsy moth are two pests you need to keep an eye out for -- they're bad news for plants and gardeners.

South side Peoria native and Manual High School alum Terrion Williamson returns to her hometown to discusses her first book. Williamson will share her thoughts on "Scandalize My Name: Black Feminist Practice and the Making of Black Social Life" at the Peoria Public Library - Lincoln Branch at 3:00 p.m on May 21. 

Bloomington aldermen will again discuss and eventually vote on a budget amendment to strike a controversial sewer oversizing project on the city's far east side. 

Anonymous websites like Anon-IB that post nude photographs of women are difficult to control because the law has not kept up with the technology that makes these sites possible.

By NOT intervening with childhood trauma at an early age, Baby Fold of Normal Training Coordinator Keith Brotheridge said society pays much more in the long run. He cited the Centers for Disease Control "Adverse Childhood Experience" which followed 17,000 people with extensive traumatic experiences.

Technology is increasingly removing barriers for those seeking help with behavioral health issues.