This newscast aired at 1:04pm on 7-8-2025 on WGLT.
And from the WGLT newsroom, I'm Colleen Holden, a nonprofit advocating for people with criminal records is starting a new Central Illinois group to unify voices for criminal justice reform. Troy Beasley with the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishment is helping establish a fully free blown out chapter. Fully Free wants its members to feel comfortable approaching elected officials.
Can I say to my legislator, I said, share your story.
Because they don't know what you went through, and everybody has a story.
One topic high on Foley Free's list is the Clean Slate Act, which passed the Illinois House in May, but next heads to the Senate. If that were to become law, many nonviolent criminal records would be sealed after a certain time. Three more McLean County zip codes have been added to the state's updated list of areas where kids must be tested for lead exposure. That includes the main zip code in normal 61761.
Along with Downs and Hudson, the Illinois Department of Public Health added 180 zip codes in 47 counties to the list at the start of the month. Universal childhood lead testing will go into effect statewide next year. Miracle League Field in Normal has activities for children and adults with disabilities, including Sunday baseball games. President Steve May says the new agreement with Heartland Community College is expected to improve things for the league. I think they have a network to recruit volunteers.
and do some different things within the league that that maybe we didn't have the opportunity to do. May says the location of Miracle League Field on Heartland's campus provided a prime opportunity to work with them. Heartland will take on the facilities and maintenance, and No will handle registration and scheduling. And the public can feedback about proposed transit route changes during any of the four meetings this week. Connects is considering
to its yellow and pink and blue and purple routes. It's also planning to get rid of the Red Express and replace it with a new route called the Mint that would run in Northeast Normal. You can learn more about these changes during two sessions today, from 12:00 to 2 or 5 to 7 at ISU's alumni Center in Normal. There are 2 more sessions from 12:00 to 2 and 5 to 7 tomorrow at the Bloomington Public Library. Chance of showers this afternoon with a high of 85. I'm Colleen Holden, WGLT.