Frontier Airlines Airbus A319.  Photo retrieved from Wikipedia.  

BLOOMINGTON — Less than a month before AirTran ceases its low-cost, non-stop services at the Central Illinois Regional Airport, Frontier Airlines will start a low-cost, non-stop service at the airport.

NORMAL — The Town of Normal and the McLean County Arts Center have formed an art selection committee to select art pieces that will be displayed in the Uptown Station Transportation Center when it opens in July.

BLOOMINGTON — With AirTran Airways ending its daily flights from Bloomington to Orlando, Fla., and Atlanta, Ga., in June, the Central Illinois Regional Airport could lose an estimated 40 percent of its business.

NORMAL — As part of the EVTown effort, the Town of Normal recently awarded 10 free electric vehicle charging stations to six Normal businesses.

BLOOMINGTON — Some people who are immobile or have a disability are unable to take care of themselves during a disaster.

Which is why a panel that includes representatives of the McLean County Health Department, McLean County Emergency Management Agency, American Red Cross of the Heartland, Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, OSF St. Joseph Medical Center and other local agencies recently introduced the McLean County Special Need Registration Form that is being distributed to McLean County residents who have a functional need.

BLOOMINGTON — With the help of a couple of local businesses, Miller Park Zoo is constructing two new exhibits that are expected to open in February.

BLOOMINGTON — To make patrons and business owners in its bar district and downtown business corridor feel safer, the City of Bloomington is developing a wireless camera network.

Artist rendering of new Radisson Hotel.  Image courtesy of Normal Lodging LLC.

NORMAL — Over the next seven months, the site of the former Holiday Inn on the north side of Normal will be transformed into a 158-room Radisson Hotel.

Photo provided by Physio-Control, Inc.

BLOOMINGTON — With the funds from an OSF HealthCare Systems grant, McLean County Area EMS System is equipping its ambulances with the LIFENET System that allows them to transmit electrocardiogram information electronically to hospitals via the Internet and increase the time it takes to diagnose and treat a patient suffering from a heart attack.

BLOOMINGTON — Utilizing a $60,000 grant, the City of Bloomington is studying ways to improve the energy efficiency of its police department facility.

NORMAL — With the State of Illinois no longer able to finance household hazardous waste collections in McLean County, an environmental organization in Normal is taking matters into their own hands.

BLOOMINGTON — For Christmas this year, Bloomington-Normal YMCA is giving its members a gift that will keep on giving.  The week after Christmas, Bloomington-Normal YMCA, 602, S. Main St., Bloomington, plans to open two new wellness centers, including a new family wellness center and a renovated adult wellness center.

BLOOMINGTON — On June 3, 2012, AirTran Airways will stop operating at the Central Illinois Regional Airport, despite accounting for 40 percent of the airport’s enplanements this year.

Artist rendering of planned classroom building.  Image provided by Illinois Wesleyan University.

BLOOMINGTON — As part of its $125 million Transforming Lives fundraising campaign, Illinois Wesleyan University plans to construct a 48,000 square-foot classroom building on its campus.  The $16 million building will be located on the north end of the Eckley Quadrangle on the former site of Sheean Library, which was demolished over the summer.

The Stuart Sports Complex in Montgomery is among facilities benefiting from Fox Valley Park District work.  Photo provided.

-Contributed by Jeff Long

Investing doesn’t have to be complicated. Most of us have the financial wherewithal to understand that reinvesting can reap even greater dividends when done so wisely – and with careful planning.
In other words, you take what’s good and make it better.

Photo provided.

BLOOMINGTON — For a second year in a row, the annual Festival of Trees fundraising event will be held at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

Wes Lane, shown here, generously donated the funds to build this new playground.  Photo provided by Children's Home.

 BLOOMINGTON — In memory of a Bloomington business owner’s late son, the Children’s Foundation of Children’s Home + Aid recently opened Matthew’s Playground, a playground that children in foster care can use when their parents visit them.

Photo supplied by the Central Illinois Drive of the new Premier Basketball League.

BLOOMINGTON — Already the home of minor league hockey and indoor football teams, U.S. Cellular Coliseum will host home games for a new minor league basketball team, starting in January.