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1 month ago | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Benjamin Fries |Andy Kravetz |Tanya Williams
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — More than 100 people listened as two teams of attorneys laid out their cases regarding two decades-old convictions. A three-judge panel from the 4th District Appellate Court left their normal digs in Springfield and went on the road. Instead of a lavish and austere courtroom, they used the Prairie Room at the Bone Student Center on the Illinois State University campus. Appellate courts sometimes go on the road to hear cases.
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1 month ago | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Renae Skinner |Tanya Williams
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD)– Engineering is a field still largely dominated by men, but in Peoria, a couple of women are leading the field. On Maxwell Road, construction crews are hard at work. But this crew includes the Peoria County Engineer and Resident Engineer. Both are women and civil engineers. “I grew up in construction. My dad was a concrete contractor. I’ve worked in engineering since I was 13,” said Josie Esker, Resident Engineer with the Peoria County Highway Department.
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1 month ago | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Tanya Williams |Shabnam Danesh
NORMAL. Ill. (WMBD) — Members of the United Faculty of ISU overwhelmingly approved an authorization to strike, in voting that ended at noon Friday. The union has another federally mediated bargaining session scheduled with Illinois State University administrators Monday. But could issue a notice of intent to strike any time after that. The parties also met in a 12-hour session on Wednesday. But ultimately the union chose to take the strike authorization vote.
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2 months ago | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Andy Kravetz |Tanya Williams
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — It appears the hatchet being applied to the federal government could affect the federal justice system in Peoria, as well as many other federal office sites throughout the country. According to the Department of Government Efficiency’s “savings” website, one of the many leases slated for “termination” is the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s 21,631 square feet of space believed to be One Technology Plaza. But what that means and how it could play out here in Peoria remains uncertain.
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Nov 15, 2024 | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Alex Berger |Tanya Williams
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A new era for police response is here for Peoria. The Peoria Police Department and Trillium Place are partnering to provide more mental health support and response through a Co-Responder Social Services Unit. Services provided by the unit include trauma-informed crisis intervention, de-escalation, victim advocacy, counseling and follow-up support which includes helping people find safe housing if necessary.
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Nov 14, 2024 | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Tanya Williams
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — Identity Optical in Normal is shuddering its West College Avenue manufacturing plant by the end of the year. The almost 100 employees who will be left without a job received the notice about a month ago, according to a report issued but the Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity. Acuity Optical Laboratories, LLC operates as Identity Optical.
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Nov 14, 2024 | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Tanya Williams
PEKIN, Ill. — The Pekin City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to keep the 1% state-instituted grocery tax set to expire on Jan. 1, 2026. Illinois was one of a handful of states that instituted the 1% grocery tax with the Jan. 1, 2026, sunset that also allows cities to implement their own replacement version of tax either on groceries or a general sales tax without needing to do a referendum. Pekin Mayor Mary Burress was one of the four people voting to keep the tax.
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Nov 8, 2024 | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Alex Berger |Sara Allen |Tanya Williams
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Peoria mother said she wishes “it would just stop.”Multiple people across the United States have received the same jarring text messages. On Wednesday night, a Peoria teen received a text saying they were selected as a “slave” to “pick cotton.”She forwarded the text to her mom. “I was mad,” the mother, who has asked for her and her daughter to remain anonymous, said, “I was worried. I was fighting mad because who would send something like this to a minor? She’s 16 years old.
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Nov 6, 2024 | 
centralillinoisproud.com | Tanya Williams
MOLINE, IL – Democratic congressman Eric Sorensen won a second term in the Illinois’ 17th Congressional District seat in Tuesday’s election. Sorensen who was a TV meteorologist for two decades, beat his republican challenger, Joe McGraw, 54 percent to 46 percent. “Over this campaign, we’ve traveled to every corner of Illinois’ 17th District, meeting with neighbors and showing our work to make our community safer, healthier, and more affordable,” Sorensen said.
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Nov 6, 2024 | 
yahoo.com | Tanya Williams
MOLINE, IL – Democratic congressman Eric Sorensen won a second term in the Illinois’ 17th Congressional District seat in Tuesday’s election. Sorensen who was a TV meteorologist for two decades, beat his republican challenger, Joe McGraw, 54 percent to 46 percent. “Over this campaign, we’ve traveled to every corner of Illinois’ 17th District, meeting with neighbors and showing our work to make our community safer, healthier, and more affordable,” Sorensen said.
