By: Diane Benjamin Tri-Valley held a school board meeting on January 18th. I attended the December meeting: https://blnnews.com/2022/12/20/tri-valley-zero-transparency/ All I asked of them is post all information the school board members see before meetings. They failed again! The agenda was posted, noting else. The Board has retreat schedule for January 31st. The agenda is posted, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Correction: Early Voting starts February 23. I hate to throw the County Clerk’s office under the bus, but they had it listed wrong. It has been fixed. Since early voting starts February 1st, the below is what I know so far: From Danenberger’s LinkedIn page: This information is important so you have […]
By: Diane Benjamin I would ask him but he didn’t respond to my last email. I heard a request was made to District 87 for John Wyatt Danenberger’s child (children) to attend Oakland School instead of Washington. Since Danenberger didn’t answer my last email I saw no reason to ask him. I asked District 87 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Attorney Tom Devore thinks the Town of Normal will be paying at least $50,000 to the lawyers they hired to keep from complying with being an Incorporated Town. Yesterday Normal has 4 lawyers in court, only 1 was a staff attorney who said nothing the entire time. One of the other hired […]
It is almost 11:15, the case is still being argued. Normal has 4 lawyers in court. Only 2 have spoken so far. Taxpayers will be.getting a huge bill! Those 4 lawyers, at least 3 of them because Brian Day is on staff, likely cost taxpayers $2000 an hour. 9:30 to 12:00. I talked to Tom […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington Parks and Rec are out plowing Constitution Trail on the East Side of Town. A friend lives on a short street that backs up to the trail. After every snow storm she sees the trail get cleared, sometimes more than once, while she can’t get her car out of the driveway. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Citizens of Normal should find out today if the Town of Normal is required to elect offices stated in the law for Incorporated Towns or if they get a pass. 3 people filed petitions for the offices of Supervisor, Clerk, and Collector. All three are listed as SHALL be elected in Illinois […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT employee RC McBride chaired the Vote YES for Unit 5 group that failed to get the referendum passed in November. That should convince you WGLT actively tried to convince you to vote YES, RC is the General Manager. On January 19th WGLT did a story detailing draconian cuts that would happen […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sheila Montney pulled hiring the lobbying firm from the Consent Agenda. I don’t remember the last time something was voted down after being placed on the agenda. Administration knows where everyone stands before it’s placed for a vote – 3 on 1 meetings usually clear the path. Tim Gleason didn’t attend the […]
Tonight they voted 5-4 against paying a lobbyist $270,000 over 3 years in hopes of getting grants from Congress. Details tomorrow.
By: Diane Benjamin Bills and Payroll: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/28905/638096498401870000 806 Employees, remember when the City had 650? Maybe shows aren’t booked because you have to pay up first? Your cost for empty buses: Agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/257b0a83-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-a809f54d-d2d4-4538-9941-6f673252daac-1674252308.pdf National debt is now $31.5 trillion. That doesn’t include all the unfunded liabilities that can never be paid. Our national security is […]
By: Diane Benjamin The hearing Wednesday is at 9:30 AM in courtroom 5D. Tom Devore will attend via Zoom. Citizens can watch on Zoom or attend in person. Either way the judge will know how many people are looking for a resolution. If the Town of Normal is an Incorporated Town, do they have to […]
Tip: Typically, you and I are not on the same side of most matters, but in this case, it’s in the best interest of everyone in the city that this individual not be elected to city council. Redacted has shown himself to be a narcissist and a prolific and pathological liar (making him an excellent […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.boxofficeticketsales.com/grossinger-motors-arena?msclkid=ac4450df0ccf192916d5331304eab1a2 Since the City of Bloomington now running the Coliseum, click on that link and check out ticket prices. It almost looks like every couple of seats has a different price depending on where it is. It must be too difficult just to have a few different prices, this event needs tons […]
By: Diane Benjamin The hearing Friday was delayed by Tom Devore because he needed more time to respond to the filing by Normal’s attorneys on Wednesday. The hearing on January 25th is at 9:30, it will be on Zoom. You should be able to access it at this link: https://mcleancountyil.gov/1422/Remote-Hearings Page down to Judge Fellheimer’s […]
I’ve identified one candidate for Council with something to hide. I wonder if that person wants exposed or will slink away for “family” reasons to prevent it? Could be Bloomington or could by Normal 😉 Stay tuned!
By: Diane Benjamin The case has been continued until January 25th so both sides can review filings.
By: Diane Benjamin’ https://www.usgbc.org/articles/us-green-building-council-announces-2022-top-10-states-green-building Illinois ranks third, behind Washington DC and Massachusetts, in the LEED certified number of square feet per capita. Many of those LEED buildings are in Normal. The new Uptown buildings have it written on the doors, Normal requires LEED construction whenever they can. The Children’s Discovery Museum is one of those […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received what the Town of Normal’s lawyers filed with the court. Normal looks like they don’t care how much taxpayer money they spend fighting citizens. Look at all the attorneys listed in the filing: . This is what they filed: The hearing is Friday, 1:30 in courtroom 5D. The Motion to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/01/18/no-response-to-foia-bloomington/ Shortly after posting this story yesterday I received what was called “a copy” of the extension request they had previously sent. I never received the request, maybe how it was written is why: I have no idea what Titan Virgil means plus the original request is not […]
By: Diane Benjamin I had another meeting to attend last night so I didn’t watch either Normal or Bloomington live. Normal’s was only around 1/2 hour so I did watch it. I heard 2 media outlets showed up with video cameras, maybe they were expecting fireworks that didn’t happen. Mayor Koos wasn’t there, maybe not […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T a reader This picture is of the NEVER used Fire Station #5 on Six Points Rd in Bloomington: I filed a FOIA request on January 4, 2023 for any documents stating why public safety vehicles are parked in this fire station when it has never been used as a fire station. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Colleen Reynolds wrote the WGLT article on the forum held last Saturday: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023-01-14/bloomington-normal-council-candidate-nonpartisan-forum-turns-partisan She never says in the article where it turned partisan. Nice job Colleen. Are you offended the local GOP held the event only 2 far left candidates for Bloomington Council didn’t attend? Does Colleen think only WGLT should hold […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/11/05/how-a-county-election-in-rural-illinois-became-a-referendum-on-wind-energy/ Excerpt: Some question whether Hartke is being paid by or is otherwise involved with national groups with ties to the fossil fuel industry. At a hearing in McLean County, resident Andy Byars raised that question, calling Hartke a “carpet-bagging wind opponent” using “fear-mongering tactics” to spark local opposition to wind energy. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The State of Illinois has taken local control of Wind Farms away from counties. This is a summary of the bill from Rep. Dan Caulkins: Wind Farm developers want to pack as many turbines as they can on the available land. 150 feet from a home is detrimental to Quality of Life […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s fiscal year runs from April to the following March. The below shows why Normal plans to finally fix some infrasture next year. Reserves (Ending Fund balance) are HIGH! The data portal only has 2 years of data, comparison to pre-covid would have been handy. By April 2021 I think most businesses […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did anyone notice calamity because the Federal Government has now been shut down for the third day in a row? It shuts down every weekend, today is just a bonus day off for MLK day. Remember this shutdown when media starts screaming about DEFAULT if the debt ceiling isn’t increased. Tax dollars […]
By: Diane Benjamin Government unions negotiate with friendly politicians over taxpayer’s money putting the public interest at odds with union interests. Private sector unions negotiate with management, public sector unions negotiate with the people they elect. The voice of taxpayers isn’t part of negotiations unless people representing them are elected. I ran across this on […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ward 1 – Jenna Kearns Since she’s unopposed I don’t see a reason to post her video unless someone REALLY wants to see. Ward 2 – Donna Boelen, also running unopposed Ward 4 – Steve Nalefski. His opponent John Wyatt Danenberger didn’t show up. If he had he would have been asked […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t readers Sonja was at the candidates forum yesterday. She made clear who her favorite Normal candidates are on her Facebook page, keep in mind she is the Normal City Manager’s mother-in-law and lives in a $4000+ a month subsidized apartment at 1 Uptown Circle. If you had any doubt who Koos […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s candidates were much more interesting than Bloomington’s because all 6 showed up. Two of Bloomington’s in the only 2 contested Wards did not. More on them later. Since I have a lot of video I decided to start with the opening remarks from all 6 candidates. There is a stark difference […]
By: Diane Benjamin Police pensions are not well funded in Normal: https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/constituent-services/local-government/local-government-warehouse/processsearchresults/?DisplayMode=GETAFR&AFRDesiredData=Pension%20Funds%20/%20Retirement%20Benefits&Code=064/095/31&CFY=2022&Menu=Yes&PrintIt=No Fire Department pensions are a least over 50% funded, the rest have pensions funded at OVER 100%. Pam Reece will be fine, public safety personnel might not. Even with a dismal percent funded, Koos is going to reappoint a current member: Of course […]
I hear lots of highly paid people lost their jobs yesterday at State Farm. Worse, a foreign company is going to run the networks that links 17,000 agents across the United States. What can go wrong?
By: Diane Benjamin Is Normal embarrassed they have TWO unsolved murders of young woman attending ISU? They must be since they refuse to release unredacted documents and most interviews from the 1975 case. What they did release shows leads were not documented as being followed up on. The 5th episode of Carol’s Last Christmas was […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Steve Suess is no longer at Cities 92.9. He’s exploring other opportunities. BIG LOSS to Sunday afternoons, guest host spots, and election coverage. 😲 2) State Farm is selling employees: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230112005620/en/HCLTech-to-Modernize-IT-Operations-for-State-Farm%C2%AE Sources tell me these are 1st and 2nd level support and claims help desk staff. Most are already working remotely. […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Unit 5 is counting on low voter turnout to pass yet another attempt to raise your taxes – that’s after they already raised property taxes. These current School Board members want re-elected: Kelly Pyle Amy Roser Both were appointed in 2018, they are part of the problem. Unions will be running […]
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