Good morning, Normal.

Uptown Normal will host a Fall in Love with Uptown shopping and dining event plus a Shriners Parade that will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Today, Crunch Fitness in Normal hosted a 9/11 Stairmaster challenge where participants climbed 110 flights of stairs to honor the firefighters who sacrificed on 9/11—finishers had their names added to a tribute board and earned a free one-week membership.

The Bloomington-Normal YMCA will host the 2025 Strong Kids 5K-9 walk to benefit its Strong Kids Campaign—supporting the Humane Society of Central Illinois.

The McLean Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 125th anniversary as Charlie Moore explained the organization’s long history and influence on local businesses in McLean County—highlighting its role in driving economic progress.

The McLean County Museum of History will launch Mourning in McLean next week, a three-floor exhibit that shows rare artifacts about death and funerary customs from its permanent collection—items like a memorial ring and funeral clothes tell the story, and the exhibit will feature an Oct 18th talk, a lunchtime cemetery tour, and Day of the Dead events.

Two former students of St. Mary's Catholic School returned as teachers—Veronica Ervin taught kindergarten for her second year and Charlie Adelman began as the new gym teacher.

They both had attended the school and ISU and were eager to help shape young minds in a close community.

McLean County approved a 300-megawatt solar facility in Dawson Township near Ellsworth that represents a $563 million investment to boost clean energy in the region.

Gov. Pritzker signed two cryptocurrency bills today, with supporters saying they protect consumers and critics warning they could slow crypto growth—State Sen. Rezin explained one law requires asset companies to register while the other sets strict rules for crypto ATMs that may burden small operators.

The U.S. Department of Transportation pulled a $675,000 BUILD Raise Grant from McLean County for the Route 66 bike trail because the funding no longer matched its priorities — county leaders say the decision raises safety concerns after six crashes near the trail corridor, including a fatal incident, and county staff will continue to seek alternative grants for the planned engineering work.

Abby Tighe, fired from her CDC overdose prevention job in February due to policy changes and an extended probation period for her disability, spoke yesterday at the annual public health conference in Uptown Normal to urge clearer communication and accountability in public health.

She criticized Secretary Kennedy for neglecting staff and for weakening trust at the CDC following a recent armed attack on its Atlanta headquarters—calls that highlight growing concerns over vaccine guidance and overall public health reliability.

McLean County Health Department received the Public Health Program of Excellence Award from the Illinois Public Health Association for its PrEP for HIV program—an effort that helps people stay HIV negative.

Erin O’Malley accepted the award at a conference in Normal—she noted the program is funded by grants from the Illinois Department of Public Health.