Charlie Schlenker

With about six months left before the June 28th primary election, state lawmakers are firming up plans to run for office in newly drawn districts. Or in one case, not run.

Low vaccination rates, human behavior, and viral mutations may mean COVID will never end. That's according to many experts, including OSF HealthCare Chief Operating Officer Mike Cruz.

There might actually be more vaccination hesitancy by parents considering the COVID shots for their kids than for any other group. At least one school district estimates just 20-30% of children ages 5-11 will get the vaccine.

Rivian has hired about 1,000 people in central Illinois in the last three months. As of Monday, the company said it has 3,060 workers at its plant in Normal, easily making the company McLean County's third largest employer, ahead of Country Financial and behind Illinois State University and State Farm.

A new assessment of the state strategy to reduce nutrient runoff shows mixed results. “The trajectory will not meet the goals of the strategy,” said Kris Reynolds with the ag environmental group, American Farmland Trust.

Authorities said Thursday that the body found three weeks ago near Peru, Ill., is that of miissing Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day of Bloomington.

What had promised to be a record corn crop in central Illinois earlier this year, may not be one after all.

Rivian has begun commercial production of its R1T electric pickup trucks at its production plant in Normal.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Thursday that Normal is a finalist for a new Samsung battery manufacturing plant that could add thousands of jobs adjacent to Rivian’s facility and cement Central Illinois as a Midwestern electric vehicle hub.

Reditus Laboratories said cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus are on the rise in Bloomington-Normal and Peoria as they are in many states and regions.