By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal wants you to believe leasing vehicles for 6-12 months saves them money. What they really get is a constant supply of new vehicles, something the taxpayers never get. Use logic folks, how can 6-12 month leases actually cost less than buying? Because depreciation doesn’t have to be listed […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the Bloomington City Council meeting last night Jeanne Hamilton announced the State had given them a grant of over $5.6 million for the expansion. Of course, they won’t be using all of it to decrease the property tax increase. See 4:15. I might have lost track, but I counted 13 comments […]
I have two Council meetings to report on plus Normal’s Work Session, but I have to take a detour for what I received from WordPress this morning. The meetings will be spread out over several days, there is a lot to cover. If I had been able to post on Saturday, the “days in a […]
By: Diane Benjamin At 5:30 last night Normal held a Work Session so the “professionals staff” could tell the Council how the American Rescue Funds should/could be spent – $10,879,113 over 2 years. Half has already been received. None of that money is in the current budget, at least some will be in next year’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin Original story about Department of Corrections employees brawling in Lexington: https://blnnews.com/2021/03/01/thugs-on-the-other-side-of-the-bars/ Below is what happened to those who were arrested: Adam Deal got 24 months probation and credit for 2 days served. He has until next October to pay $1314 in fees. Nicholas Page got 60 days in jail, 24 months probation, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda for tonight: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4163 From the current Budget: https://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/18611/Town-of-Normal-Budget-2021-26 The Town of Normal collects taxes from you supposedly to amass money that allows them replace vehicles with cash. They are sitting on more than $12 million dollars. Remember the fire truck they took out a loan to buy instead of paying cash? […]
I’ve been with WordPress since 2012. WordPress prides itself on customer service and has always responded quickly every time I contacted them. They call their support staff Happiness Engineers. They have ALWAYS sent a 1 click survey to see if their customers were happy with the Happiness Engineers assistance. Note: When this site was restored […]
WordPress canceled this site’s suspension after I sent a 4th note. The suspension was lifted in response to the first note I sent Friday. The 4th note didn’t ask for an explanation, details tomorrow. I will be on Cities 92.9 after the 7:00 am news. This isn’t over! ( Sorry to all the haters out […]
By: Diane Benjamin District 87 doesn’t live stream school board meetings. They don’t post video on their website either. They should do both is they care about transparency. Barry Reilly already resigned (retiring), Board Members should follow if they are intimated by Shane McCurdy. Reilly has no grounds to ban McCurdy from school board meetings […]
By: Diane Benjamin This will be your last chance:
By: Diane Benjamin Follow the money. The link to the information below is available from the McLean County Health Department website. Clicking on the COVID-19 Vaccine tab takes you to the IDPH website – Illinois Department of Public Health. I have been tracking breakthrough hospitalizations and deaths in Illinois which proves the vaccinated can still […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written before about a dangerous crosswalk on Raab Road: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/14/raab-road-is-a-death-waiting-to-happen/ The Town of Normal trains people on Constitution Trail to think vehicles will stop for them just because lines are painted on the road and there is a pole in the middle of the street. The Normal police had to do […]
By: Diane Benjamin This morning I attended a breakfast just to meet the GOP candidate for the new 17th Congressional District: Democrat pawn Sherri Bustos isn’t running again, so this is an open seat. If you want the border protected and sanity restored to Washington DC, I suggest you look at this candidate. She will […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the updated chart based on the Illinois Department of Public Health numbers: https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccine/vaccine-breakthrough.html The last time I updated the chart was November 15th. Click the link – the breakthrough cases are largely in people 65 and over. 27% of hospitalizations and 13% of deaths are in the 18-64 age group. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Government is not capable of Master Planning because they are spending YOUR money not theirs. They use your taxes as a piggy bank to fulfill their wishes. Voters keep electing progressives who promise to make their lives better and of course not raise taxes to do it. Insert your own joke__________________. Proof […]
By: Diane Benjamin There is a Facebook Group called: Save the Uptown Mural and Historic Buildings On November 29th this story was posted to the group:Â Against Master Developers The best lines in the story are at the end: Master planner-based developments, with their large, centralized buildings, inhibit the growth of local businesses and reduce […]
By: Diane Benjamin Good News for most residents of Arrowsmith, Bloomington, Dale, Dawson, and Old Town Townships who are served by Golden Prairie Public Library District: Your property taxes will not be going up if the Bloomington Library property tax increase is approved! These township residents have full access to the Bloomington Public Library without paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin I found two articles yesterday on kids wearing masks. There are no studies that prove wearing a mask reduces COVID transmission. That is ZERO studies! There are studies that show kids wearing masks hurt their development. This is one: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10247315/Face-masks-harm-childrens-development-Study-blames-significantly-reduced-development.html?ito=native_share_article-top Exceprt: One more quote from the story proves “Equity” is just a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington and a lot of Normal got removed from McLean County in the congressional map Pritzker signed: The green is the new 16th district – it goes all the way to Wisconsin. The grey is the new 17th. See where it goes by clicking here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1qfnRiuOZ3yok6WGvBHZ9P6u3EMy_LwRv&ll=41.54370261051701%2C-89.3487176103724&z=8 See the Legislative map passed: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer?mid=1L7I2r4gat9nRWx9wfaizpn7XkA7i1qL4&ll=39.20533781461243%2C-90.51902473426051&z=6 […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/i-feel-very-dark-all-is-not-well-in-normal-america-20211125-p59c3e.html Yes folks, the Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney AUSTRALIA) had a reporter in Normal Il. The story features some people you might know like dairy farmer Ken Ropp. Also interviewed was Mitzi Bell who voted for Biden, a quote from her: Also in the story is Chris Bradley, owner […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on this story: https://blnnews.com/2021/11/26/unit-5s-equity-audit-waste/ As reported, the Urbana School District has and Equity Task Force. That group recommended hiring Systemic Educational Equity LLC. The two people pushing for that hire were Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Ivory-Tatum and their very first director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The Urbana DEI director is none […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 jumped on the Equity bandwagon before looking at where they were jumping to. They hired a company called Systemic Educational Equity, LLC, I don’t have the date they were hired. I do have some of the payments Unit 5 made to them, I’m betting their are more: Unit 5’s payments […]
It has been 400 years since the Pilgrims first celebrated as a covenant people of God in 1621. This Thanksgiving remember the Pilgrims and why George Washington established a national day of thanks to God Almighty. America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Those principles have guided America since it’s founding. We can not help but […]
By: Diane Benjamin Former Mayor Tari Renner often said Bloomington is down 100 employees. The City isn’t down 100 employees as the below shows. Starting in 2013 they changed how they count employees – see the note at the bottom of the page. Ignore the 2012 number because employees weren’t counted the same. Since 2013 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Meeting schedules frequently change during the holidays, but Connect Transit is taking a holiday schedule to a new level: Just skip two months. Connect has reduced service because of a driver shortage. Now they are skipping November and December meetings. https://www.connect-transit.com/documents/Meetings/2021%20-%20Calendar%20of%20Mtgs%20-%20CT%20Board%20FINAL.pdf The Board is planning a two day retreat in December however: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Let’s start with the City finally releasing the financial statements: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/27129/637709284831130000 This note was written by the auditors: Proving yet again laws are immaterial, November 22, 2021 is past SIX MONTHS. The City has now used the same auditor for 6 years. Since the audits aren’t looking for fraud, using the same […]
By: Diane Benjamin THREE real live communists showed up at Public Comment last night. They must be readers since they made a point of saying they aren’t socialists they are communists. (I called them socialists in a previous story) They were at the last meeting too and they plan to keep attending. I hope they […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington Council meeting last night – comment at the end of the meeting from small business owner Alderman Jamie Mathy: Jamie ran down some stats for how much money stays in the local community if you buy from a local business, a chain store, or on-line. He ended with buying on line […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the announcement here: https://www.district87.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=48&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=15650&PageID=1 I purposely stayed out of the discussion because I know there are people at Tri-Valley that wanted David Mouser to get the job. He’s perfect for them since he is a master at keeping bad news a secret. Since the test scores of students are much higher […]
By: Diane Benjamin Three more Performance Fees at the BCPA are on Bills and Payroll tonight: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/27250/637727480979430000 On 11/12/21 there was only 1 show: The Brubeck Brothers Quartet The 11/17/21 was Shake & Holla Only two items are on the Regular Agenda: FY2021 ended 4/30/2021. Seven months later the Financial Statements are released. I wonder […]
By: Diane Benjamin People who read the law, watched the case, and listened to Constitutional lawyers knew Kyle Rittenhouse would be acquitted. Those who listen to fake media believe the lies they were told. How can Kyle be a white nationalist/supremist when everyone involved was WHITE. This had nothing to do with race except in […]
By: Diane Benjamin I FOIA’d the City of Bloomington for communication about the John Butler/CIAM case. That FOIA I have, I also FOIA’d the County. I haven’t received that one yet. I found some interesting emails, the City was thrilled the case was over. I’m not thrilled because no one employed or representing the citizens […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below are screen shots from the Illinois Comptroller’s website. Bloomington data is from 4/30 of 2019, 2020, and 2021. Normal is from 3/31 of the same years. To see the data yourself, start here: https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/financial-data/local-government-division/local-government-data/ From Select Report Name choose Annual Financial Report. Type the government unit you want to see. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Awhile back Unit 5 sent me a list of approved resources. The list is extensive and problematic: https://sdpc.a4l.org/district_search.php?state=IL&districtID=6034 I knew Unit 5 didn’t buy every resource on the list, so I FOIA’d which ones they did buy. The good news is Panorama is on the list but it isn’t on the list […]
By Diane Benjamin District 87 School Board may have already made their choice to replace Barry Reilly, the timeline for making a final decisions shows this week. Here are two of the qualifications they were looking for: The consultant surveyed administration, teachers, students, non-parent community members, support staff, and the Board of Education and then […]
By: Diane Benjamin The new Bloomington Police Chief announced he wants 30% female officers by 2030. Does that mean white males or even black males shouldn’t bother to apply? Ditto Hispanics and any other people that aren’t the right gender? Will transgender females qualify under the 30 by 30 plan? I have zero problem with […]
By: Diane Benjamin I heard a rumor about fire hydrants not working at this apartment fire, so I FOIA’d documents. I will label that rumor untrue, one hydrant broke during the fire and could not be turned off, but that is the only reference to a broken hydrant I found. Keep in mind it was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Your property taxes were raised last night with the consent of the two Republicans on the Normal Town Council. The rate was kept the same (for now) but with rising property values the Town will collect over $300,000 more than last year. The vote last night was sold as “statutory”, another vote […]
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