This newscast aired at 4:04pm on 6-26-2025 on WGLT.
From the WGLT newsroom, I'm Ben Howell. Governor JB Pritzker took aim at the Trump administration in announcing his bid for a third term.
We have big challenges ahead, and while it is certainly tempting to lay all of it at the feet of the megalomaniac narcissist in the White House.
And his malignant clown car in Congress. The hard truth is that we all share some of the
blame.
At a campaign announcement in Chicago, Pritzker said he helped stabilize state finances since taking office following a two-year budget stalemate.
Potential growth areas for Bloomington Normal are largely at the fringes of the community, according to a draft of a new land use document created by the McLean County Regional Planning Commission.
Community planner Anthony Bauman says the key to expanding the southwest side of Bloomington is to extend Rivian Motorway from West Market Street to Six Points Road, though that's a challenge. The transportation project is significant as connecting Rivian and Mitsubishi Motorways can typically not be constructed, uh, relying upon private development. The draft plan is in a public comment period until late next month.
Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin says Democrats have been able to make some changes to the Senate's version of President Trump's tax and spending bill. Durbin, the committee's ranking Democrat, says members on his side of the aisle were able to remove two provisions. One, he said, would have gutted judicial independence, the other would have limited cities like Chicago from being eligible for Justice Department grants if they don't agree with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement.
Bloomington City manager Jeff Jergen says the new massage business ordinance will do more than just help the city shut down illicit businesses, but we're also going to be helping the people within that establishment, and and there's a, there are groups out there that are willing to do that and want to do that. And so that's going to be a great thing for the community. Jergen says City staff is already meeting with two not for profit organizations who can work together to help people rescued from human trafficking operations.
And the McLean County coroner has identified the person who was struck and killed by a passenger train in normal on Tuesday. Coroner Kathy Yoder says 19-year-old James E. Camden of East Peoria died from multiple injuries in the crash. It happened Tuesday afternoon near the train tracks at Tawanda Avenue and Kays Drive in Northeast Normal. I'm Ben Howell.