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Ben Howell

Reporter · US

Indexed articles, last 90 days
28
Latest publication
Sep 30, 2026
Outlet visibility, for KCCU | Your Public Radio Station
Top 50M sites
Earliest in this view
Jul 10, 2026

Latest articles

  1. Article · Sep 30, 2026 · Ben Howell

    Sharing history: Normal names Terri Ryburn its 2026 Citizen of the Year (opens the original)

    Excerpt · Positive tone · English

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    The 2026 Citizen of the Year for the Town of Normal is a Route 66 historian who serves as an ambassador for visitors from all over the world. Terri Ryburn was honored by Mayor Chris Koos on Tuesday at the Illinois State University Horticulture Center in recognition of the renovation of Sprague’s Super Service and her work documenting the history of the Mother Road. A Bloomington native, Ryburn has lived most of her life in McLean County. She has always been identified by her love of history, spe

  2. Article · Sep 28, 2026 · Ben Howell

    McLean County community solar program offers benefits without the commitment of panels (opens the original)

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    Denver-based PureSky Energy and the Ecology Action Center [ECA] in Normal have partnered to launch the first community solar program in McLean County — and in the state of Illinois. It was developed through the Illinois Solar for All program. The McLean 1 solar farm has reached full operation as of this week. The project aims to bring clean, affordable energy to income-eligible households. It does that by allowing low- and moderate-income households to subscribe to the program with guaranteed sa

  3. Article · Sep 28, 2026 · Ben Howell

    McLean County water capacity is a fluid conversation for data centers (opens the original)

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    One of the most common concerns surrounding the possibility of a data center in any community is how much water one would need. So, how much water would a hypothetical data center need in Bloomington-Normal? No one really knows. Joao Ferreira is acting director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Ferreira, based at the University of Virginia, and the center published a study on data centers in the Great Lakes region earlier this year. Amo

  4. Article · Sep 16, 2026 · Ben Howell

    Environmentalists say proposed McLean County carbon wells are dangerously close to fresh water (opens the original)

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    A proposal by a Gibson City ethanol producer would add three carbon capture wells in McLean County. Environmental advocates say that's too close to a fresh water source which replenishes the county's drinking water supply. Three wells for carbon dioxide sequestration could store up to 90 million metric tons [MMT] of CO2 over a 20-year injection period deep underneath Central Illinois. Carbon capture, also referred to as sequestration, prevents the carbon from being released into the earth's atmo

  5. Article · Sep 15, 2026 · Ben Howell

    Normal Town Council will review plan to expand Children's Discovery Museum (opens the original)

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    A plan approved Monday by the Uptown Design Review Commission of the Town of Normal would allow expansion of exhibition space at the Children’s Discovery Museum. The museum said the plan, originally outlined in the town council’s “Normal Downtown Renewal Plan” from 2000, would allow better engagement with the community and provide more programming. That would be done by enclosing the arcade on the building’s west side — the covered passageway just outside of the museum's doors with the arches as

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