Fairbury, IL

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington man is being charged with aggravated domestic battery after allegedly strangling his ex-girlfriend over the weekend. Michael McCombs, 38, is being held in jail until his domestic violence risk assessment is complete, according to the McLean County Circuit Clerk’s Office. McCombs is also facing charges of strangulation and domestic battery.

Jolee Hastings was crowned the 2021 Ford County Fair Queen on Monday. Hastings is 19, of Loda, is a 2020 graduate of Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School. She is attending Parkland College and the University of Illinois through the Parkland Pathway program. Hastings is majoring in agricultural accounting. Lyndi Allen, 18, of...

LIVINGSTON COUNTY – Livingston County Health Department officials reported six residents are the latest to test positive for COVID-19 and there’s been two additional lives lost. A man in his 50’s and a man in his 80’s have both died. As of Monday, the county total of confirmed positive cases...

Six members of the Normal Town Council on Wednesday night excoriated the seventh, Stan Nord, for what some called bullying and others slander of City Manager Pam Reece. The special meeting came about after Nord questioned Reece's ethics last week on procurement and zoning policy, and over deciding who could attend a 2019 citizens summit. Council members said the first two were a matter of law and the third was a decision reached by the town council as whole, not Reece. City Attorney Brian Day also said he alone is responsible for issuing legal opinions on zoning and procurement and he did not consult with Reece, at all.

GIBSON CITY ─ The end of a community legacy and longtime service to Gibson City has come to an end as Lamb-Young Funeral Home has closed its doors permanently. The funeral home at 303 N. Church St. has operated for 134 years as a place where families and friends made final arrangements for loved ones.

PAXTON – Governor Thomas Ford Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution met June 7, 2021, at the Pells Park pavilion in Paxton. The June meeting marked the group’s first in-person meeting since March 2020, due to restrictions on gatherings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chapter members otherwise met regularly via Zoom.

Normal council members held a special session Monday to discuss issues raised by Councilman Stan Nord about City Manager Pam Reece. Normal Councilwoman Karyn Smith speaks about the issues surrounding the meeting.

The truancy rate at Graymont Elementary School rose to 24 percent during the 2018-19 school year, according to a Illinois Business Daily analysis of the latest Illinois schools report card. The school's average daily attendance rate was 97 percent. Students are considered chronically truant if they miss five percent of...

McLean County's legal community and housing advocates have a new plan to avoid—or at least minimize—a spike in evictions once the statewide moratorium is lifted in August. The group of judges, landlord’s attorneys, social service agencies, and local governments worked together to craft McLean County's first Eviction Diversion Program. Here's...

BLOOMINGTON — Members of the public will be privy to which official said what in four closed-door sessions of Bloomington City Council meetings held when the city was considering whether to end the Metro Zone agreement with Normal. The announcement that portions of the select sessions would be shared with...

DeWald Construction did not give in as time was running out in its Little League contest with Pontiac Police Association Monday evening at the Rec-Plex. A Ryne Mackinson triple cleared the bases and led DeWald to a 6-5 victory. Pontiac Police was holding a 5-1 advantage after scoring a run...

Illinois State University is part of a national push to get as many students, faculty, and staff as possible vaccinated against COVID-19 before the start of fall semester. ISU has signed onto the White House's COVID-19 College Vaccine Challenge that supports President Joe Biden's goal of raising the COVID vaccination rate to 70% of adult Americans with at least one shot by the Fourth of July. That rate is currently about 53%, while just over 44% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated.

BLOOMINGTON — Adam Havens kept up his hot play in the Bloomington-Normal City Match Play by downing Parker Newton, 5 and 4, in a championship flight first-round match Monday at Prairie Vista Golf Course. Havens, who led qualifying Saturday with a 7-under par 65, advanced to a second-round match against...

While attending the four-day Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference in June 2019, Addison Cervantes was challenged to complete 100 service hours in one year. By the time she graduated from high school, Cervantes exceeded this goal by 82 hours and received the President’s Volunteer Service Award as a result. Cervantes,...

NORMAL – Following a 2020 pandemic postponement, Make Music Normal is returning this fall. The free-to-attend music festival in Uptown Normal will take place September 10 and 11. Town of Normal Civic Arts Manager Adam Fox says the footprint of the event will be a little smaller, but will still...

BLOOMINGTON – June is Pride Month, and McLean County’s only alternative bar is celebrating through a variety of events through “Pridefest.”. In downtown Bloomington, Jan Lancaster, owner of the Bistro located at 316 N. Main St., said the bar would hold a concert and drag show for a “Pridefest street party.”

NORMAL — The Mount Pulaski baseball team advanced to state for the first time in school history on Monday with an 11-1, five-inning win against Annawan-Wethersfield at the Class 1A Normal Super-sectional. Mount Pulaski (21-1) was led by Drew Martin with 10 strikeouts on the mound and a 2-for-2 performance...

Illinois State University wants to hear from our students, faculty, and staff about why it is important to get the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. As part of the ongoing #RedbirdsTogether campaign, various University social media accounts will feature pictures, stories, and videos from vaccinated members of the campus community leading up to the start of the fall semester.