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 Pride organization held their annual Queertober ball at 6 p.m. in the Aaron Leech Club. On Oct. 25, attendees dressed in formal wear or were encouraged to dress up in costumes for a costume contest later in the night. The ball consisted of a provided dinner, tarot readings, a dancefloor where ball-goers could request and vote on songs that would play throughout the night, mask decorating and a photobooth where attendees could have Polaroid pictures taken and decorated with provided supplies. Attendees enjoyed themselves while talking to others, doing crafts or dancing on the dancefloor. One attendee shared why they attended the event and their overall thoughts. “I attended the event to meet new people in the community. My favorite part was making new friends and meeting new people, and it helped to be in a safe space to find new people to connect with,” the attendee said. One of the most popular attractions at the ball was the photobooth, which always had groups of attendees waiting to take a picture and take it over to the decoration table. Another attendee expressed their enjoyment of the event. “I attended mostly as an excuse to dress up, but everything there made it enjoyable beyond that. I really liked the photo booth and being able to decorate the polaroids,” the attendee said. The ball concluded at 10 p.m. as attendees left buzzing with Polaroids in hand, concluding another successful ball.

The Interstate Center in Bloomington will be holding BloNo Vintage Fest on Nov. 8 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Attendees will be able to browse and purchase vintage products from over 60 vendors. The event will be held indoors and gives people the perfect opportunity to purchase stylish sweatshirts, funky sweaters and jeans for the cold weather. Outside of clothing, BloNo Vintage Fest also has vendors selling vintage toys, CDs, vinyls and posters, which can be great gifts for the upcoming holidays.

McLean County’s recycling rates reached 51% last year. This was the first time that over half of the county’s waste was recycled. This milestone was one of the goals for the first quarter of the Ecology Action Center’s (EAC) 2017 Twenty-Year Solid Waste Management Plan, which was planned to last from 2017 to 2022. In the next phase of the plan, the goal will be raised to 60% by 2027. Although McLean County saw a 5% rise in waste generation last year, there was an almost 15% increase in the amount of waste that was recycled since 2023. Materials that saw an increase in recycling include construction and demolition material, textiles and organics, with food waste in particular increasing 23% according to the Ecology Action Center’s Community Composting program. Paper recycling has seen a decrease. This is most likely due to an increase in the use of technology instead of paper. Materials such as lithium batteries and glass have also seen a decrease in recycling due to improved manufacturing quality at large-scale facilities. There was also a decrease in metal materials being recycled. Along with collecting waste and recycling data, the Ecology Action Center also acts as the solid waste agency for McLean County. They also provide technical support, recycling promotion, help with hazardous household waste and education regarding recycling and its impact. Ecology Action Center Executive Director Michael Brown said that this plan is the result of 50 years of hard work. “It’s a lot of hard work that’s paying off. This is a good 50 years in the making, about 50 years' worth of effort, and so it’s very exciting to see all that hard work paying off,” Brown said. Brown also talked about the next steps being taken in the Twenty-Year Solid Waste Management Plan. “Overall, the goal of any solid waste management plan is to reduce waste generation and increase waste diversion, which means recycling or composting or other beneficial reuse,” Brown said. “That’s a broad generic, but specifically our ultimate goal is an 80% recycling rate, which is very ambitious and yet 50% seemed ambitious several years ago.” Brown also discussed recyclables that aren’t typically mentioned when discussing recycling, such as construction materials and organics. “We started doing this kind of work in 1971, five decades of education, outreach and promoting recycling and, more importantly, promoting proper recycling. That’s a more important topic right now,” Brown said. “It’s reducing contamination and how much things people are putting in curbside recycling drop-offs that are not truly recyclable.” “We’re trying to make better recyclers, but it’s also the strategies and the play out. We’re looking at the big waste streams that were not being properly addressed and among them are construction and demolition recycling and organics recycling, also known as composting,” Brown said. Although 51% of waste is being recycled is still a big accomplishment, but there have still been problems with the Solid Waste Management Plan. Brown said that the EAC is behind on its previous deadline and may not make the next one. “While we’re hitting it, we’re hitting it late. The deadline for that was 2022, so we’re a little bit behind schedule. The solid waste plan automatically bumps up the target goal every five years, whether or not we hit it,” Brown said. “We’re already at a 60% goal, so now we have 10% to improve the recycling rate and yet the target deadline for that is 2027. That’s only two years away. The reality is it’s very unlikely we’re going to hit 60% in just two years, but still, that helps push us to work harder with that goal going up. In 2032, the goal will automatically be 70% and then 80% in 2037.” Brown then talked about what the EAC is doing to promote recycling, which includes programs at schools, public presentations and more. “We’re doing so much and again have been doing it for five decades. We’re in every fourth-grade classroom in McLean County. We do a waste reduction and recycling program almost every year. We’re out at public events. We’re on social media. We’re doing public presentations. We provide consultations to businesses that want to improve their recycling,” Brown said. “We offer the free recycle coach app for residents, which is a really user-friendly app for finding out where to recycle or dispose of virtually anything. It’s accessible 24 hours a day on your smartphone or on our website recyclebn.org.” Brown said that the EAC focuses on more than just recycling. He also talked about areas of improvement for the EAC. “We also work in energy, clean water, air quality and climate issues, but recycling remains our biggest effort over the past 50 years,” Brown said. “There’s always room for improvement. There’s always more people that we’re not reaching well. I think that part of the goal for the next few years is trying to reach more underserved populations.” For more information, call 309-454-3169 or visit ecologyactioncenter.org.