Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Midwest Food Bank: Highly Paid Officers

By: Diane Benjamin This story was inspired by the following article: https://illinoisfamily.org/federal/the-hunger-industrial-complex-part-ii-the-six-figure-charity-racket/ You REALLY need to read that story before continuing. One excerpt: When you compare what food-bank executives earn to the work these organizations actually do, the picture that emerges isn’t one of modest, volunteer-driven charity. It’s a professional system of administration and logistics […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Connect Transit – Packet posted 🤦‍♀️🥶

By: Diane Benjamin Meeting is at 4:30 today. February statistics I care about, others are in the packet: See PDF page 11. New Fare Structure! And Evidently how it is collected: PDF page 4: PDF page 15: BUDGETED 2027 loss: Income: $1,752,000 Expenses: $27,632,170 27,632,170 – 1,752,000 = 25,880,170 25,880,170 / 12 = Connect Transit […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Congrats Bloomington!

By: Diane Benjamin Even though Bloomington’s website looks the same, it is now MUCH faster. Try it: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/ Did these guys do something to it? . This was passed at the last meeting. https://blnnews.com/2026/03/26/bloomington-waiting-until-the-last-minute-again/

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tax Increases in Normal Tomorrow

By: Diane Benjamin PDF page 75: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5414 . The underpass is going to be even more expensive when a new contract is proposed for construction later in April. It’s possible the Town is stripping amenities to bring down the cost, all the fancy items will be added back in future years. Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Koos and Brady’s Rome trip

By: Diane Benjamin The story below is the most comprehensive one I’ve seen. Mayors from more than two Illinois cities are headed to Rome on diplomatic mission that includes meeting with the Pope. Maybe Koos and Brady can give everyone a report on what they accomplished – other than site-seeing. What happened to separation of […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Connect Transit – No Documentation

By: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow Connect is holding 2 meetings. The first one is the annual meeting where officers are elected: https://connect-transit.com/file/4099/Agenda_Annual%20Meeting_03%2031%202026.pdf The second meeting is the usual monthly meeting, but this time they didn’t include any documentation: https://connect-transit.com/file/4100/Agenda_Regular%20Session_03%2031%202026.pdf . Was ridership and the monthly loss for February too ridiculous to provide? Are the Audit Results […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

This is what intelligence looks like these days

By: Diane Benjamin The recycle bins behind Walmart In Normal are clearly marked. It’s even marked in 2 languages: . This is what was in this bin today: . It must be too hard to walk 7-8 feet to the east and put cardboard in the bin marked CARDBOARD! There was also cardboard in the […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Weekend Giggles

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

McLean County lost 1082 residents last year

By: Diane Benjamin Quote from the story below: While Bloomington saw more births than deaths, domestic outmigration of more than 1,000 residents led to overall population decline. Why are people leaving? Duh, taxes. We can quit worrying about a housing shortage. People will continue leaving since there is no reason to stay good enough to […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Investigations need to happen but won’t

By: Diane Benjamin Can you look at these numbers and not expect fraud? All of the payments listed were made by the State of Illinois, data is from OpenTheBooks.com Who is Health Care Service Corp? https://www.hcsc.com/documents/hcsc-annual-report-2024.pdf Excerpt from the 2024 annual report: Who handles Medicaid in Illinois? Healthcare & Family Services https://hfs.illinois.gov/ Did HFS pay […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington: Waiting until the last minute Again

By: Diane Benjamin This needs a re-visit: . This spending happened because the City website is not ADA compliant. The Department of Justice is requiring all cities with a population of more than 50,000 to be compliant by April 2026. How long has the City of Bloomington been looking at making their website compliant? I […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Who do you believe?

By: Diane Benjamin If Illinois really wanted to “spur developments and create jobs”, most laws regulating and taxing businesses and their owners would be repealed. The Illinois exodus isn’t for better weather. Since everything is a secret, start connecting dots: 2023 Megasite Investment Press Release: https://www.chicagowestbusinesscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/26898-_Governor_Pritzker_Announces_Recipients_of_Megasites_Investment_Program.pdf Excepts: What company agreed to provide $1,736,501? It’s a […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

New Illinois Convention Ticket Information

New Illinois’ Ninth Constitutional Convention will be held on April 10 & 11 at the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center, 1621 Jumer Drive in Bloomington. The event will be open to the public. If you are a member of a New Illinois County committee, or if you are interested in helping to start one in […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Ever Heard Of the Illinois Migrant Council?

By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t, you probably don’t know you are funding it. This tip came from a reader. Their website: https://illinoismigrant.org/history Even though they claim to have been around since 1966, Propublica states they became a non-profit in 2024: You can see numerous tax returns at this link: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362597070 One thing to note: […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington Pulled it – Plus the Rest of the Meeting

By: Diane Benjamin The item that should never have been on the Consent Agenda as mentioned yesterday got pulled: https://blnnews.com/2026/03/23/bloomington-tonight-3-23-26/ The Clerk read the names of email public comments and many others showed up at Public Comment. Some were opposed to the City paying Flock cameras bills. The documentation claims those charges were for work […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

The Real County Budget Story

By: Diane Benjamin Budgeting low for optics is how government works. That is why many “budget amendments” happen throughout the year. It isn’t departments that budget low, it’s administration cutting budgets to make themselves look good. Since the 2025 County financial statement haven’t been issued yet, look at 2024: https://mcleancountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/30155/ACFR-123120240001 PDF page 122 and following […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

My Nomination for Comment of the Year

By: Diane Benjamin Krystle Able is requiring people attending her April Normal Township meeting to “verify their eligibility to participate”. https://blnnews.com/2026/03/21/krystle-able-uses-township-for-her-agenda/ Meanwhile, the Democrat Party doesn’t want to pass the Save America Act—or just Voter ID—to ensure election integrity. The comment left overnight: Do you have to present ID to prove you are a voter […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington tonight – 3/23/26

By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4114/files/agenda/12519 1) Guess what’s back? 2) Since the PUBLIC isn’t paying attention, few if any will show up to speak: 3) The City of Bloomington will be tracking people using YOUR cell phone data. See 8G. Add that to Flock cameras. 4) This one should NOT be on the Consent Agenda […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Krystle Able Uses Township for Her Agenda

By: Diane Benjamin Everyone know diplomatic relations is a federal issue because they have access to a lot more information – it’s their job. Krystle Able thinks it’s her job. She also doesn’t understand to participate in any public meeting does not require being eligible to participate. Is she going to ban the press if […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Fly on the Wall: Mason City High School Sex

Illini Central High School is a public school located in MASON CITY, IL. It has 190 students in grades 9-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 10 to 1. According to state test scores, 10% of students are at least proficient in math and 25% in reading. Each teacher has 10 kids and that’s called education? […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Weekend Exuberance

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Early votes and Mail-In ballot counts prove why this nonsense exist

By: Diane Benjamin 40 days of early voting is ridiculous unless you understand why this waste of time and resources exists. It isn’t to allow more people to vote. One party wants to bank as many early votes as possible so they know how many more votes they need by election day. It’s going to […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Stop the Lies

By: Diane Benjamin I love when attack dogs show how they think by leaving comments here. This one was last night while I was sound asleep at almost 11:00pm: Yes totally ignore the total corruption coming out of the McLean County Clerk office. Missing money, A guy that worked for the Clerks office had porn […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

District 87 to students: Being American doesn’t matter

By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader See what District 87 wants to take out of the BHS Student Handbook: https://district87.community.diligentoneplatform.com/document/efa9682b-a2e4-467a-ae98-88d95f946fc3/ First page: “Productive citizens” is crossed out in favor of this: . District 87 doesn’t want your kids to know about freedom and liberty. They don’t want your kids to know about American exceptionalism. They […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington’s Road Resurfacing: New Solutions Ahead

By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington has MANY short roads badly in need of resurfacing. See this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/05/10/road-ratings-part-4/ The major roads that have been resurfaced, like GE Road, were contracted. It would be close to impossible to contract fixing all those short roads. Bloomington solved that problem and I don’t think they have made a big […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Area Demographics

By: Diane Benjamin What these 2 charts are saying: FIVE of the area top 10 employers are government while the population isn’t growing. Since government only has money they take from the population, other employers can’t grow. School test scores aren’t stellar while schools are “educating” fewer students with a lot more employees. Remember when […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Paid Consultants: INCCRRA

By: Diane Benjamin Definition: Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA). This is an NGO located in Towanda Plaza. If this organization wasn’t shoveling Federal and State money to consultants and illegal aliens, I wouldn’t be spending nearly as much time on them. The 2024 INCCRRA tax return showed they spent $17,000,000 on […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Some things I found in the budget:

By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington and Normal used to have an understanding both cities needed to have the same tax rates (except property tax). Bloomington Budget – Book 1 PDF page 90: I blacked out the other cities so you only see Bloomington and Normal: This chart is already updated for the Normal increases going into […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington Last Night

By: Diane Benjamin One public comment at 11:05 was by a guy calling for the City to quit burning the brush in parks every spring. He claimed it destroys wildlife habitat. It probably does but it is also the opposite of “being green” because it pollutes. Citizens aren’t allowed to burn brush inside the city, […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Election Day!

You won’t have to wait in lines! County sample ballots: https://mcleancountyil.gov/1600/Ballots Bloomington sample ballots: https://bloomingtonelectionsil.gov/march-17-2026-general-primary-election/specimen-ballot/ Anyone going to prove the Bloomington Election Commission needs abolished soon? 2 election authorities are a waste of money and BEC can’t be held responsible for any problems by the people paying their bills: County citizens, not Bloomington. It’s already […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington Special Meeting Tonight

By: Diane Benjamin Committee of the Whole was switched to special meeting because one item needs a vote: Remember when BNWRD tried to buy 3 properties and one showed it was owned by the City of Bloomington and not the guy BNWRD thought they were buying it from? https://blnnews.com/2025/12/31/bnwrd-story-6/ Tonight: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4376/files/attachment/8566 Bloomington is Quit Claiming […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Meet Krystle Able’s hand picked replacement

By: Diane Benjamin Krystle didn’t have to time to perform two 40-hour a week jobs plus meeting with union rabblerousers all over the state, so she resigned from the County Board months ago. William Bessler is on the far right in this picture, politically he’s a far left tax and spend democrat. Ask him about […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Weekend Top Picks

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

New Illinois Convention back in Bloomington

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Update: Randolph Township pulls the Unit 5 primary scam

By: Diane Benjamin The Randolph Township Fire Protection District put this on the PRIMARY ballot for the same reason Unit 5 put the 1% Sales Tax increase on a primary ballot. They know voter turnout in primaries is low – it’s easy to get what you want when few people vote. You can choose a […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Another Underpass Vote:

By: Diane Benjamin Below was the original vote where the contractor was awarded the contract and later backed out: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5441 . WGLT reported the Town is now going to consider spending $33.7 million to lure the other original bidder to take the project: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-03-11/new-underpass-draft-bid-in-normal-is-higher-than-the-one-approved-in-november More “wants” will probably be cut to lower that price. In […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Five things you need to know

By: Diane Benjamin 1) City of Bloomington has been doing a lot of surveys. The results are dependents on who completes the survey. In the past, surveys had low participation and therefore did not reflect real citizen values. Remember Bring It On Bloomington? https://blnnews.com/2016/10/13/bloomingtons-award-good/ If you live in Bloomington, this is the link: https://engage.thinkconfluence.com/miller-park-plan 2) […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Spiked pensions-IMRF and the Coliseum

By: Diane Benjamin This payment was approved at last Monday’s Bloomington City Council meeting: If you still don’t understand what Accelerated IMRF Payments are: SOME Bloomington employees are still allowed to SPIKE their pensions. Sick Days (possibly others too) are accumulated and then the employee is compensated for unused days when they retire. That compensation […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Fly on the Wall: Underpass

If you thought Chris Koos would abandon the way-to-expensive underpass, you’d be wrong. The cost will be even higher.

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington Recap – Molly tirade

By: Diane Benjamin The Proclamation – https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4101/files/attachment/8470 – was postponed to sometime in the future – See 12:25. How about ending ALL proclamations? The department heads talking about their budgets was delayed until next Monday. Instead of a Committee of the Whole, it will be a Special meeting because they have something they need to […]