I Like Illinois

Bloomington-Normal finished the year with the lowest unemployment rate in the state

Details: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 09:03 AM

Unemployment MGN The unemployment rate in all 102 counties of Illinois dropped in 2017. Over the past year, the unemployment rate decreased from 5.6 percent to 4.7 percent.

According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), Bloomington-Normal finished the year with the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.8 percent. Bloomington-Normal reportedly added 1,100 non-farm related jobs in 2017.

Athletes from Illinois competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics

Details: Friday, February 09, 2018 10:48 AM

gettyimages 916107108 slide 944d5bcc4549c5fa00c922a806a2f68a0ef616cc s900 c85 The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang South Korea start today and a dozen athletes from Illinois will be competing.

Representing Illinois are:

Celebrate Lincoln’s 209th Birthday

Details: Wednesday, February 07, 2018 09:00 AM

Abraham Lincoln O 77 matte collodion print Abraham Lincoln was born on Feb. 12, 1809 in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. He came to be the 16^th president of the United States and is regarded for his preservation of the Union during the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves.

Before becoming president, Lincoln worked to support his family, which limited his ability to go to school. After settling in New Salem, Illinois, Lincoln worked as both a shopkeeper and postmaster while teaching himself law. He passed the bar examination in 1836 and moved to Springfield to begin his career as a lawyer and later a politician.

Did you know? Golden-Age film star, producer and fashion icon Gloria Swanson was a Chicago native.

Details: Monday, February 05, 2018 03:36 PM

abcc Gloria Swanson was best known for her role as Norma Desmond in the critically acclaimed 1950 film Sunset Boulevard , but she also worked in silent films, television and theater.

Swanson did not initially set out to become an actress. In 1915, at the age of 18, she decided to go to a Chicago movie studio with an aunt to see how motion pictures were made and was plucked off the set of The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket because of her beauty and given a small role in the production. She moved to California in 1916 to appear in a series of comedies with silent film star Bobby Vernon.