Miller Park Zoo will be hosting Sensory Tours through the end of 2025. These tours are designed to accommodate individuals with sensory sensitivities to attend the zoo during quieter times. Tours are held every first and third Thursday of the months of November and December from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The tours will be led by KultureCity-trained Miller Park Zoo Staff and will feature two animals each month. For November, the tours will highlight the Mongoose and Opossum. They also provide sensory bags which have noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools and verbal cue cards to help accommodate those in attendance. Tickets can be purchased here. More information about the event can be found here.

The Town of Normal voted 4-3 to raise taxes to fund a $40.3 million underpass. The vote passed Monday evening, with Normal Mayor Chris Koos as the deciding vote. Increased taxes will be the primary fund for the new underpass. The following are all of the new policies that will be implemented because of this project. In hotels and motels, the tax will be raised from 6% to 8%, and the food and beverage tax will rise from 2% to 2.25%. The city is approving a new version of its grant deal with the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund part of the Uptown Station underpass. With the passing of this resolution, the city is agreeing to pay Millstone Weber, a construction company, roughly $32 million to construct the underpass. The city is hiring Clark Dietz, Inc., a consulting engineering firm, to handle all of the engineering work while the underpass is being built. This resolution approves a contract with WSP USA, a company that provides engineering services for the pedestrian crossing at Uptown Station, to provide support during the construction. The town is giving itself permission to refinance old debts by selling up to $43.7 million in new bonds to replace several older ones already in place.

Illinois State University welcomed Silicon Valley innovator and Appvance CEO Kevin Surace in the Brown Ballroom at the Bone Student Center Tuesday evening. Roy Magnuson, director of emerging technologies for instruction and research and professor of music theory and composition, introduced Surace as “a true Renaissance man.” Surace opened up his speech with a video showing a series of images created by artificial intelligence (AI). These images were from two years ago to show the progress of AI. Throughout the presentation, Surace used images mainly created by AI. Surace’s main focus was to explain how to utilize AI to ensure that one can be as productive as possible. “We need to move faster, always,” Surace said. “We can't move faster without being AI-obsessed. So starting today, the first line in everybody’s job expectation is simply this: default to AI,” Surace continued. Surace was asked about how AI is beneficial to ISU. He described how “employers want graduates that are highly fluent in generative AI.” “Every college and university owes it to its students to make sure that they are using generative AI for everything they can possibly do,” Surace said. Several community members were in attendance. ISU Interim Chief of Equity and Inclusion Officer Byron Craig expressed his content with the speech. “I think AI is beneficial for any university, specifically for ISU,” Craig said. “I think it can help us think about what we can do using AI that can change the world,” Craig continued. Jeff Woodard, director of marketing and community relations at the McLean County Museum of History, also enjoyed the speech. “I thought it was a great speaker for the university to bring in, and I’d like to see the university do more of it,” Woodard said. “This is a great starting point for people of the student age and of my age,” Woodard continued. The next event in the Presidential Speaker Series will take place during the spring semester.

The Normal Police Department has been awarded a federal fiscal year 2026 Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), providing funding to enhance local traffic safety and enforcement efforts through September 2026. Normal Chief of Police Stephen Petrilli said the department applied for and was selected to receive the grant as part of IDOT’s ongoing initiative to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities. The funding will help support both education and enforcement operations throughout the year, focusing on high-risk times such as holidays and weekends. Petrilli explained that the department’s work under the grant is heavily focused on education and enforcement. “First and foremost is public education,” Petrilli said. “If we can educate people in a way in which now they become informed of what we are enforcing, kind of the dangers behind distracted driving, speeding, DUI, the whole point of this is prevention.” Under the STEP grant, Normal police will conduct additional enforcement campaigns targeting speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving and more. Special patrols will also coincide with statewide initiatives like “Click It or Ticket.” “The whole campaign is focused around a few initiatives: seat belt enforcement, speed enforcement, distracted driving enforcement and then we do a lot of DUI driving and influence campaigns around holidays,” Petrilli said. “We really try to do education to encourage people not to drive while intoxicated.” Some of those enforcement periods will align with holidays known for increased travel and alcohol consumption, such as Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day, the Super Bowl, Memorial Day, Labor Day and the Fourth of July. While measurable goals such as crash reduction and citation data are part of the grant requirements, Petrilli emphasized that traffic safety improvements are not always immediately visible through numbers. “When we do aggressive enforcement, you can see at times that we’ll see kind of ebbs and flows in our traffic crash data,” Petrilli said. “It’s not always the amount of tickets that you write … That’s why we lean really heavy on the education side of things, encouraging people to take responsibility for their own behavior.” Petrilli noted that since participating in STEP grants, the department has observed encouraging changes in driver behavior. “We have seen areas that have seen reductions in speed,” Petrilli said. “We don’t see as much distracted driving. Those are always encouraging metrics for us to look into.” Beyond enforcement, the department plans to raise awareness among residents about safe driving habits through community education and visibility efforts. Petrilli said the grant reflects the department’s continued commitment to public safety. “This grant is just another extension of our ability to deliver excellent public safety services,” Petrilli said. “It’s a value to add to the community and an enhancement in public safety. It allows the police to be more active in the community and a greater presence as it relates to traffic enforcement.”

The halls of the David Davis Mansion were filled with mystery, music and masks as the historic site hosted its fourth annual “Mystery at the Mansion” event. This year’s theme —a masquerade ball —invited guests to step back in time for an evening of elegance and suspense. From 7-10 p.m., attendees wandered through the candlelit mansion, dressed in elaborate costumes and colorful masks, while sipping drinks, sampling appetizers, and listening to live piano music. Couples and friend groups mingled in the ornate rooms of the 19th-century home, all while trying to solve the evening’s central mystery storyline performed by costumed actors. The event was organized by the David Davis Mansion staff and offered an immersive blend of theater and local history. Attendee Allen Miller participated in the event with his wife, Lynn, and shared his enjoyment of the event. “We thoroughly enjoyed the event,” Miller said. “The atmosphere was very reminiscent of that early to mid-twentieth century aesthetic, and the mansion itself really helped add on to that.” For many, the live performance added excitement to the night. Normal resident and event attendee, Lucy Purcell, emphasized the mystery aspect of the night. “My friends and I had a lot of fun trying to solve the mystery,” Purcell said. “The actors really brought the story to life and made us feel like we were solving a real mystery.” Guests were also encouraged to dress for the occasion, with a prize awarded to the best-dressed attendee. Bloomington High School teacher Thalia Berrios said the creativity on display was one of the highlights of the evening. “Everybody’s costumes were so elegantly beautiful,” Berrios said. “I went to a similar masquerade ball in France a few years ago, and both that one and this were extremely fun to attend.” The David Davis Mansion, a state historic site once home to Supreme Court Justice David Davis, has become known for hosting interactive and community-focused events that bring history to life. Couple Darrius Fulton and Sophia Rooney said they were glad to see the tradition continue. “I’m glad the organizers at the David Davis Mansion host events such as these,” Fulton said. “I know this is the fourth year they’ve done something like this.” Rooney added that the turnout reflected the event’s growing popularity. “We went on a tour of the mansion a few weeks ago and absolutely fell in love,” Rooney said. “We highly recommend that the organizers continue to host these types of events. There was a big turnout tonight, and everyone enjoyed trying to solve the mystery.” As the night came to a close, laughter, applause and the soft notes of piano music lingered through the halls, marking another successful year for one of Bloomington’s most anticipated fall traditions.

Illinois State University’s Student Government Association held its last meeting of October, and in spirit with Halloween, many members were in costume. The meeting saw the appointment of a new secretary of information technology and interfraternity council ex officio. SGA passed an amendment that exempts those performing military service from attendance and approved $600 to go towards a Rader Family Farms outing. Off-Campus Senator Matthew Rickey later explained that the bill for the outing will cover the ticket costs for the event. He further clarified that they will likely not use all $600 allocated in the bill. The secretary of IT candidate was junior computer networking major Ethan Short. He highlighted his leadership experience, as well as his relationship with the former Secretary of IT Evan Nelson. “I have a lot of experience, I feel like I can bring to the table here at student government. I have a lot of leadership skills from being in the Boy Scouts,” Short said. “I’ve also been attending the School of [IT] Graduate Council meetings with Evan [Nelson] and his team to basically hear what the students want,” Short continued. Off-Campus Senator Miguel Figueroa-Fragoso spoke in favor of Short. “I think he’s very suited for the role,” Figueroa-Fragoso said. “He was talking about some changes that our website could use and other things within our organization to improve IT-wise, so I think he is great for the position.” Short was appointed unanimously. Junior history-social sciences teacher education major Tyler Kropp, the IFC ex officio candidate, was also appointed unanimously. Kropp was originally the IFC ex officio last year, but had to step down after being diagnosed with Leukemia. “I’m back, I’m kicking it and I’m trying to come back like I never left. I’ve already been reaching out to [SGA] to get more involved,” Kropp said. “I’m trying to do a lot more than just fill a seat here; I actually really do want to be more involved with SGA.” Tri-Towers Senator Hassan Hillard highlighted a positive interaction that he had with Kropp. “We met at our homecoming walk that we did, and [he] really, really filled up the room,” Hillard said. “I feel like he could scream at [someone], and they would love it. Like, genuinely, he’s a really good guy, and we talked a lot after the event as well,” Hillard continued. SGA also passed an amendment exempting those serving in the military from attendance. Student Body President Noah Montoya explained why the amendment was necessary. “The [amendment] to exempt military service came from a conversation I had with Secretary Nelson, where, during one week, he had to leave the entire school and go to training for military service, and he had to do an excused absence,” Montoya said. “When I realized that, I realized that taking a look at our attendance bylaws, they are very strict, and that is purposeful … but the issue is that in situations like this, where he has a legal obligation to go to military service training, or else he can face legal consequences, I believe that he has the right to have that excuse,” Montoya continued. The next SGA meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 in the Student Services Building, Room 130.