This newscast aired at 5:04pm on 7-3-2025 on WGLT.
From the WGLT newsroom, I'm Ben Howell. The common room at the Activity and recreation Center was buzzing this afternoon, but few people were talking about Congress passing the so-called Big Beautiful spending bill. Rose Cook of Bloomington said she'd heard very little about the bill, but she says the government needs help.
With being handicapped and being a vet, you see all kinds of little things that get looked over like, excuse
me.
The bill narrowly passed this afternoon, mostly along party lines. Among its provisions are steep cuts to the social safety net, including Medicaid and food assistance.
The annual Bloomington and Normal fireworks show returns for another year tomorrow night. The Sky concert fireworks are expected to begin around 9:15 at both Bloomington's Miller Park and Normal's Fairview Park. There are plenty of activities and live music at both parks throughout the day on the 4th of July. Several smaller communities around Bloomington Normal are also celebrating the 4th. That includes Tawanda where the Let Freedom Ring parade begins at 10.
Illinois's top attorney is once again joining a lawsuit against the Trump administration. This time it's over the sharing of Medicaid data. Kwame Raul and 19 other attorneys general are trying to stop federal immigration agents from using that data to target enrollees without legal status. Raoul says the data transfer is not only illegal, but will have a chilling effect on non-citizens trying to enroll in state healthcare programs.
Fathers and grandfathers enjoyed a father-child fishing fun day over the weekend at Miller Park. The McLean County Fatherhood Coalition organized the event as a fun way to give father figures an opportunity to spend time with their children. Earl Klotman is the program manager at Bright Point, which organized the event.
Early on in our coalition, we held focus groups to find out what do dads in McLean County want, and one.
One of the things was they were looking for more father, child specific events.
The annual fishing day included instruction and supplies, and a new play it again sports store is coming to Bloomington. The used sporting goods store will open sometime this fall at 105 Krispy Kreme Drive. That's near Veterans Parkway and East Washington Street. Played against sports locations typically buy, sell, and trade use sports and fitness gear. I'm