WGLT Newscasts - 6:04pm 5-20-2025

Published May 20, 2025, 11:06 PM

This newscast aired at 6:04pm on 5-20-2025 on WGLT.

From the WGLT newsroom, I'm Ben Howell. Police and prosecutors say they've seen a concerning increase in juvenile incidents involving guns in Bloomington Normal. That contributed to a 43% increase in shooting incidents in 2024 and an 18% jump in gun seizures. There have been 12 more shooting incidents so far this year. Normal police spokesperson Officer Brad Park says crime can be seasonal. These the issues with these juveniles is they're very much more.

Active when it's nicer weather out when, you know, the sun's up a little bit later, you know, just being out and about, both normal and Bloomington police also run summer youth outreach programs. McLean County and much of central Illinois is under a tornado watch until 8 o'clock tonight. The National Weather Service says scattered thunderstorms are expected to push across central Illinois through the early evening. The Weather Service says the primary threats are wind gusts, large hail, and isolated tornadoes.

A homeless services coordinator in Bloomington Normal says a new giving website will help the unhoused get the resources they need. Liam Wheeler leads the Central Illinois continuum of care. Wheeler says well intended people sometimes give in ways that don't help. Just because you believe someone needs, um, another knitted scarf or someone needs a sleeping bag doesn't mean that that is the best.

Resource to be giving them at that moment in time. Bloomington and Normal launched the site BNhesolution.com to encourage people to give to nonprofits that provide homeless services and to discourage panhandling.

High-speed rail service from Chicago to St. Louis would reach speeds of 200 MPH under a plane the Illinois Department of Transportation is exploring. Executive director of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, Raymond Lai says the state's feasibility study includes a survey to see if more passengers would use the service.

It's going to cost a lot of money, uh, a lot of work. Uh, it would take years before it happened, even if there's a strong.

Uh, uh, needs in that identify.

Lai says if the service was popular enough, it would then branch out to other parts of the state, including Peoria and Decatur. I'm Ben Howell.

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