Robyn Gautschy Skaggs

5 days ago | pantagraph.com | Robyn Gautschy Skaggs

BLOOMINGTON — Miller Park Zoo will recognize Endangered Species Day with a number of special activities on Saturday, May 17. A chalk art contest will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in partnership with the Endangered Species Coalition. The contest is open to all ages; to sign up, email [email protected]. The zoo will provide all materials. A scavenger hunt is planned for noon to 2 p.m., with a small prize offered to all who complete the hunt.

5 days ago | pantagraph.com | Robyn Gautschy Skaggs

BLOOMINGTON — The Bloomington-Normal YMCA has hired Thomas Crouch as senior director of facilities management, effective May 5. Crouch, a Bloomington native, served in the U.S. Air Force from 2001 to 2007, stationed in Idaho and England, and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, according to a news release. He returns to Bloomington from Fort Worth, Texas, where he worked in facilities maintenance at Greenhouse Treatment Center and at Trinity Metro.

6 days ago | pantagraph.com | Robyn Gautschy Skaggs

BLOOMINGTON — The annual children's opera put on by Prairie Fire Theatre and Illinois Wesleyan University is returning with three free performances for the public this weekend. "There's a Ghost in the Opera House," a 40-minute opera written by Nancy Steele Brokaw, will be staged at the following times and places in Bloomington:6:30 p.m. Friday, May 9, Hansen Student Center at IWU, 300 E. Beecher St.10 a.m. Saturday, May 10, Bloomington Public Library, 205 E.

1 week ago | pantagraph.com | Robyn Gautschy Skaggs

BLOOMINGTON — A new movie theater is set to open this summer in the former Ovation Cinema Grill on the southeast side of Bloomington. Golden Ticket Cinemas Ale House is renovating the theater at 415 Detroit Drive to include recliner seating; a 30-tap self-pour beer wall; an expanded food and beverage menu, with the option for moviegoers to have items delivered directly to their seats; upgraded sound and projection systems; and all-you-can-eat popcorn, according to a news release.

2 weeks ago | pantagraph.com | Robyn Gautschy Skaggs

PEORIA — State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, announced this week more than $1 million in state funds have been awarded to public school libraries throughout the state, including more than $70,000 in Central Illinois. In total, more than $1.3 million went to 2,484 public school libraries through the Secretary of State's School District Library Grant Program, according to a news release from Koehler's office. Amounts were figured at about 88 cents per student, with a minimum award amount of $850.