Fairbury, IL

PONTIAC, Ill. – On June 28, 1968, Pontiac City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Jerrold Potter and his wife, Carrie, boarded a chartered flight from Kankakee, Illinois, to Dallas for a national Lions Club conference. He disappeared mid-flight in the skies over central Missouri. The Potters joined 21 other...

NORMAL (Heart of Illinois ABC) - Youth basketball players got their chance to learn from an NBA player and Normal U-High graduation Keita Bates-Diop and his brother Kai, also a U-High graduate. But Saturday’s camp was about more than just basketball. About 100 young basketball players took the court...

FAIRBURY (Heart of Illinois ABC) - The Fairbury Police Department may be small, but they are working to get sex offenders off all Illinois streets. In the past two months, they have arrested two people. Now, the department is working to lead others to making arrests in cases like these.

CHENOA (Heart of Illinois ABC) - Greenery was on full display Saturday, with McLean County residents sharing their gardens to support the community. The Chenoa Women’s Club hosted the ‘Through the Garden Gate’ garden walk. Eight gardens were open for self-guided tours, with each having a distinct visual identity. One, for instance, was focused on vegetables, another on trees, and one based entirely around a dairy farm.

FAIRBURY — Kamryn Fehr and Milan Leman, both of Fairbury, recently announced their engagement to be married. Kamryn Fehr is the daughter of Charles and Kathy (Schneider) Fehr. Milan Leman is the son of Chad and Kim (Stoller) Leman. Grandparents are Dale and Sandra Stoller, Wayne and Carol Fehr and Duane Schneider, all of Fairbury, and Jerry and Kathy Leman, of Secor.

Next year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of William Shakespeare’s First Folio, but with so many theater companies now mounting Shakespeare’s plays, you’d think it was this July. Enjoy several performances at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival held in Bloomington/Normal through August 6. Photo by Illinois...

NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) – With the NBA season now over, Normal native Keita Bates-Diop returned to his hometown Saturday for a yearly skills camp with young hoopers. The San Antonio small forward was raising awareness and money for the need of Automatic Electronic Defibrillators (AEDs) in local basketball gyms.

By this time, Pontiac residents should have all the information available to them regarding the proposed 1 percent sales tax referendum on Tuesday's Primary Election ballot. But if they have questions, the series of town hall meetings the city provided are now over. The last of the seven gatherings took...

PAXTON — Exactly when Just Hamburgers will reopen is not yet known, but the wildly popular burger joint in Paxton that closed in late April is expected to soon take a big step toward that goal. Realtor Nate Evans told the Ford County Chronicle on Friday that the sale...

7 a.m.-11 a.m. — Pontiac Farmer's Market, downtown. 10 a.m.-Noon — Livingston County Food Pantry will be open — drive-thru only. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. — “Through the Garden Gate” Chenoa Women's Club Garden Walk from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at Fairbury Pharmacy, Chenoa Pharmacy, Blessings From Above, VerClare Boutique, Crossroads Cafe and The Butler's Pantry. For more information visit the Chenoa's Women's Club on Facebook.

A Marshall County man is facing two sex-related charges in Livingston County. Anthony Jensen, 22, of Wenona was charged with Traveling to Meet a Minor and Indecent Solicitation of a Child, both class three felonies. Jensen was arrested by the Fairbury Police Department at the Circle K gas station in...

CHAMPAIGN — Tarique Barnes got a tough introduction to getting significant snaps as a linebacker for Illinois football. He won the job in the fall of 2020 before the Illini played one of the first games after the first wave of the COVID pandemic at Camp Randall Stadium against then No. 14 Wisconsin.

Two Bloomington women running for the Illinois House say they’re devastated and sickened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade – and that the state needs to act to protect healthcare providers and fortify its laws permitting abortion. Sharon Chung and Karla Bailey-Smith...

A narrow, bipartisan gun-control bill is headed to President Biden's desk — without the support of the two House Republicans who represent Bloomington-Normal. The legislation would incentivize states to pass red flag laws and expand background checks for 18- to 21-year-olds, among other measures. It passed the Senate on...

Illinois State baseball third-year sophomore outfielder Ryan Cermak became the first Redbird to be named an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glover, as announced Wednesday. Cermak, who originally came to ISU as a shortstop and pitcher, was named the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned First Team All-MVC honors for the second-straight season. Cermak was also an All-MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team recipient.

Bloomington-Normal’s workforce grew by more than 4,000 over the last year, according to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The unemployment rate for the Twin Cities in May increased to 4.1%. That’s up from 3.8% in April, but it’s an improvement from the area’s 4.3% clip in May 2021.