tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42169106462831453652024-02-23T18:01:50.705-08:00Cities 92.9 News UpdatesTom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.comBlogger1988125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-75254674584466013752018-11-05T06:41:00.007-08:002018-11-05T06:41:43.526-08:00Early Voting Numbers Continue To GrowNearly a million people in Illinois will have one less thing to do tomorrow. The Illinois State Board of Elections said on Saturday that 800 thousand people have already voted this year. The state's early voting numbers numbers are certain to grow today. Election officials say more people may vote early this year than they did in 2016.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-56453865487832442942018-11-05T06:41:00.003-08:002018-11-05T06:41:17.394-08:00Normal Proterty Tax UpdateNormal residents can expect to pay less in property taxes to the town of Normal next year. Nomal's levy is expected to remain at $13 million while the equalized assessed valuation is expected to increase from $869 million to $880 million. Next year, however, the town of Normal expects to pay less into the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. That cost is predicted to fall from $1.72 million to $1.4 million which is th primary reason for the offset.<br />
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-16113000727559216682018-11-05T06:40:00.002-08:002018-11-05T06:40:53.043-08:00Lincoln Prison Chaplain Files Federal Discrimination Lawsuit A prison chaplain from central Illinois is pushing ahead with a federal discrimination lawsuit against the state. Colleen Bennett-Houston says she was harassed about her hair and clothing almost immediately after being hired at the Logan Correctional Center back in 2012. She was fired in 2016. An arbitrator ordered her rehired, but Bennett-Houston's lawsuit says the Illinois Department of Corrections was slow to do that, and is still retaliating against her for speaking out about her treatment. <br />
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-63556711953477136932018-11-02T05:12:00.003-07:002018-11-02T05:12:54.950-07:00Northpoint Elementary School is Closed Friday Northpoint Elementary School is closed Friday due to a water main break. The break is near the school's parking lot off E. College Ave.. According to a statement release by Unit 5, "In addition to having no running water or working bathrooms, it would be dangerous to have students in school without a working fire hydrant near the building, which is currently the case."Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-70874617533989711472018-11-02T04:51:00.009-07:002018-11-02T04:51:54.113-07:00Miller Park Zoo Free on Elections DayMiller Park Zoo is offering free admission to everyone on Election Day. Originally, free admission was to be offered to those with "I Voted" stickers. The free admission for was decided upon after the legality of the "I Voted" sticker offer was questioned.<br />
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-35564522049546210512018-11-02T04:51:00.004-07:002018-11-02T04:51:17.285-07:00Teachers To Request $350-Million More For Pension Payouts <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
Officials from the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System say they need at least 350-million dollars more from next year's state budget to make their payments. Officials told reporters with the Illinois News Network this week that the public teachers' retirement fund is only 40 percent funded, and would need almost 74-billion dollars to reach 100 percent. Some state lawmakers say the pension system needs to be reformed instead, and that teachers' benefits have increased more than one-thousand percent in the last three decades, making them unaffordable. </div>
Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-56374708778728909882018-11-01T03:41:00.003-07:002018-11-01T03:41:13.542-07:00Bloomington Shooting Death Victim ID'dOfficials have identified 27-year old Trevonte D. Kirkwood of Bloomington as the man shot and killed Tuesday night in the 1300 block of North Oak Street in Bloomington. Coroner Kathy Davis said he died of multiple gunshot wounds. No arrests have been made in the shooting.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-78372297329821220502018-11-01T03:40:00.008-07:002018-11-01T03:40:48.991-07:00Son Confesses to Killing Parents, Dumping Bodies in Spoon RiverThe bodies of a Bradley University professor and her husband have been recovered from a central Illinois river and their 21-year-old son, who had stabbed them to death, has been charged with first-degree murder. The bodies of Susan Brill de Ramirez and Antonio Ramirez Barron, both 63 of Princeville, were found Tuesday in the Spoon River near Annawan. Jose Ramirez was arrested and charged on Monday after confessing to killing his parents and is being held on a $3 million bond.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-48016655408954545062018-11-01T03:40:00.002-07:002018-11-01T03:40:03.105-07:00McLean County Board Involved in Open Meetings Act Violation According to the state attorney general's office, McLean County officials violated the Open Meetings Act by discussing elected officials' salaries behind closed doors this summer. It centered around an effort to cut Auditor Michelle Anderson's salary in executive session June 6. The review says the committee is to remedy the violation by disclosing to Anderson and making publicly available the verbatim recording of the applicable closed session.<br />
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-73702676761956630832018-10-31T03:31:00.004-07:002018-10-31T03:31:18.447-07:00Bloomington Shooting Death A man has died after being found with a gunshot wound in the chest at about 8:40 Tuesday night on the sidewalk in the 1300 block of North Oak Street in Bloomington. Officers tell us the male was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Police did not release his name or any other detailsTom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-25263890127056238662018-10-31T03:30:00.009-07:002018-10-31T03:30:46.813-07:00Missing Professor's Body Found Police believe they've found the bodies of the Bradley University professor and her husband who were allegedly murdered by their son last week. Investigators said they found Antonio Ramirez Barron and Susan Brill de Ramirez yesterday wrapped in a tarp in the Spoon River in Peoria County. Detectives say the couple's son, Jose Ramirez, allegedly used pepper spray to disorient his parents last Friday before stabbing them and hitting them with a baseball bat. He told police he then dropped them in a river, leading detectives to the bodies yesterday.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-24572853039326079422018-10-31T03:30:00.005-07:002018-10-31T03:30:24.927-07:00Icard Dies Ahead of Sentencing78-year-old Johnny Icard of Bloomington, who was facing 60 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child has died, two days ahead of his sentencing hearing. The Pantagraph reports Icard was transported Friday from the McLean County Jail to Advocate BroMenn Medical Center and died shortly after 10:30 a.m. from a respiratory condition for which he refused medical treatment. Icard was found guilty in July of sexually assaulting a girl in February 2017.<br />
<br />Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-57482455028526293482018-10-30T03:58:00.004-07:002018-10-30T03:58:14.605-07:00U of I's Defensive Coordinator Quits The defensive coordinator for the University of Illinois football team is quitting mid-season. Hardy Nickerson announced his resignation yesterday and said it's due to health problems. The Illini's defense has had a disastrous year so far, giving up an average of 535 yards per game. Head football coach Lovie Smith said yesterday that everyone bears responsibility for the poor performance, and that he wished Nickerson the best.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-43454262207566954252018-10-30T03:57:00.005-07:002018-10-30T03:57:32.363-07:00Davis Londrigan DebateHealth care continued to be the hot topic in last night's debate in Normal between U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis and challenger Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. The two, again, tangled on the issue of pre-existing conditions during their fourth and final meeting before next Tuesday's election.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-47003905909161877592018-10-30T03:57:00.001-07:002018-10-30T04:13:22.544-07:00Cornbelters Under New Ownership, In New LeagueThe Normal CornBelters are now members of the summer collegiate Prospect League and the new owners say they will stay here for the next 40 years. Former team president Steve Malliet is staying with the organization to run the day-to-day operations.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cities929/videos/668681606865696/">WATCH VIDEO </a></div>
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-44579226174988438252018-10-29T06:25:00.003-07:002018-10-29T06:25:07.257-07:00UI Football Player Suspended After Assault Arrest A University of Illinois football player is suspended indefinitely after an arrest for domestic violence. University police arrested Lere [[ LARRY ]] Oladipo [[ oh-la-DEE-poh ]] early Sunday morning after a witness called police and said he was forcing a screaming woman into a car in a campus parking lot. Police said they found the woman with a small cut on her lip and took Oladipo into custody. He's due in court this morning.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-82129691284323172902018-10-29T06:24:00.003-07:002018-10-29T06:24:24.028-07:00Trump Rallies In Southern IL After Pittsburgh Shooting President Trump says he toned down his rhetoric at a rally in Murphysboro over the weekend in light of the deadly mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh. Trump campaigned for local Republican candidates in front of a crowd of about eight-thousand Saturday inside a hangar at the Southern Illinois Airport. He told the crowd he decided not to cancel the rally because he didn't want to let the terrorists win, calling the synagogue attack an anti-Semitic assault that threatened all humanity.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-60762150819080242972018-10-29T06:23:00.001-07:002018-10-29T06:23:50.740-07:00 Investigation Continues into Shots Fired Incident<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 30px;">Normal police say they are continuing to investigate an early Sunday morning incident where shots were fired in the area of University Court near Willow Street. According to Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner, officers responded to a fight in progress with a possibly armed subject on Willow Street near University Court at about 3:20am. Bullet casings were found at the scene, but no suspects have been found.</span></span></div>
Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-22349622970421475882018-10-26T03:28:00.002-07:002018-10-26T03:28:12.777-07:00Zimmerman Trial Date SetPam Zimmerman was found shot to death in her office on Bloomington’s east side on November 3, 2014.. Now, nearly four years later, a trial date has been set in the Kirk Zimmerman murder case. A McLean County Judge tentatively set the trial date for April 1.<br />
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-39889298649800192942018-10-26T03:27:00.003-07:002018-10-26T03:27:26.937-07:00Illinois Appeals Court Wants Governor, AFSCME To Keep Negotiating An Illinois appeals court wants Governor Rauner to keep talking to the state's largest public employee union. The court yesterday said contract negotiations between the state and AFSCME are not an impasse. The governor declared an impasse in January of 2016. The court ordered the Illinois Labor Relations Board to once again look at the contract negotiations. AFSCME and the governor have been at odds over a contract since 2015, the sticking points are work requirements, pay raises, and the cost of health insurance.<br />
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-85695203682627861942018-10-26T03:26:00.004-07:002018-10-26T03:26:59.433-07:00Starved Rock, Matthiessen State Parks To Grow Two of Illinois' most popular state parks are getting a little bigger. Governor Rauner yesterday announced the state is buying just over 26 hundred acres of land to expand Starved Rock and Matthiessen state parks. The state will spend 11 million-dollars on the land. Starved Rock is one of Illinois' most popular parks, the state's Department of Natural Resources says over three million people visited Starved Rock and Matthiessen last year.<br />
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Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-17322678282858959482018-10-25T03:27:00.005-07:002018-10-25T03:27:20.539-07:00Grassroots Push To Save Uptown Normal Buildings There's a growing number of people in Normal who don't want another town-sponsored development in the Uptown Circle. Over two thousand people have signed a petition to save a handful of local buildings that are to be torn down to make way for the development. The petition specifically wants to protect a mural on one of the buildings. Normal Mayor Chris Koos on Tuesday told the Bloomington Pantagraph that can't happen, and that he's pushing ahead with the development that could cost taxpayers 30 million-dollars or more.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-69432898433484113832018-10-25T03:27:00.001-07:002018-10-25T03:27:02.225-07:00Some Folks In Illinois May Lose Their Food Stamps If you don't have kids, aren't disabled, are between 18 and 49-years-old, and are on food stamps, you may soon need to get a job. The Illinois Department of Human Services this week sent a warning to able bodied, working-age adults without children that they may lose their food stamps. Whether that happens depends on if the state asks for an exemption to a federal work requirement.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-81395578772018698812018-10-25T03:26:00.002-07:002018-10-25T03:26:41.058-07:00District 87 and Your Property TaxesA proposed tax levy presented to the District 87 school board at its meeting last night assumes 2 percent growth in the district's equalized assessed valuation. This means that if you own property in District 87, you can expect the school district part of your 2019 tax bill to be relatively flat.<br />
<br />Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216910646283145365.post-51338291110288672352018-10-24T03:24:00.007-07:002018-10-24T03:24:29.895-07:00Illinois Reporting Two New AFM Cases There are now 12 cases of AFM in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health yesterday confirmed two new cases of acute flaccid myelitis. The rare polio-like disease has sickened more than one hundred people across the country this year. Most of the cases are in children.Tom Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12348169174735831004noreply@blogger.com0