By: Diane Benjamin I attended the Normal Township Board Meeting on July 21. I didn’t notice this until I left: . The Pride flag must be permanent. Lowering the flag to honor Sen Lindsey Graham was from July 16-July 18. Maybe the Supervisor Krystle Able can explain why the Township’s still is. I’ve got a […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Remember the local NGO: Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies? INCCRRA. Last year they received $196,245,221 – likely all tax dollars. Directly from their tax return: Briefly describe the organization’s mission or most significant activities: TO PROMOTE AND FACILITATE HIGH QUALITY EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/364096312/202620699349301427/full The […]
By: Diane Benjamin What ideas does Josh have? Keep reading. . Crockett is on the Finance Committee of the Heartland Community College Board. How much have property taxes increased since he was elected? h/t a reader: How do I know Joshua Crockett will raise your property taxes? Because he did as a Heartland Community College […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was contacted this morning by a reader who couldn’t find Lexington financial data and TIF reports on the Comptroller’s website. Local data is difficult to find, it’s even harder when this message appears: . No reports for THREE years? There is a phone number right on the Comptroller’s website: 800-877-8078. Turns […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you love acronyms. this meeting was for you! Start with BHCC – Behavioral Health Coordinating Council. This is the independent group that is not subject to FOIA or the Open Meetings Act. See their website here: https://www.mcleanbhcc.com/#members BHCC is the “experts” who determine the best use of the sales tax dollars […]
Home Sweet Home Mission wants Normal to pull this. I bet it happens. Approving Trail East and West construction could be interesting. Just not to me. By: Diane Benjamin Decisions, decisions. Watch Bloomington at 6:00 and Normal at 7:00? Normal thinks they can regulate the homeless out of Uptown Station: See PDF page 78: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5641 […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT is reporting the Town of Normal doesn’t appreciate homeless people in Uptown. Wait until the underpass is finished and they move in under it. One problem: How are they getting around this? Of course Normal has been known just get a law passed to exempt themselves. Chung and Koehler will help […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Remember the Power Couples: . Every person in this photo voted to raise your property taxes last year. Two County, two City of Bloomington. Corey Beirne wants 4 more years: . Beirne and his power couple wife, Abby Scott, made McLean County less affordable by taking more of your […]
I bet this returns to normal next Saturday
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this? . The Democratic Socialists of America have a new platform: https://program.dsausa.org/ Everything below in BOLD are direct quotes from the website. Private property won’t exist. You will live in housing provided by government. You will never get bills for anything because government provides everything. You can take off work whenever […]
By: Diane Benjamin This County Board meeting took place 5/14/2026. 3 Board members didn’t attend – Ziebarth(R), Cline(D), Farley(D). All 3 will be on the on November ballot. The members present spent close to 36 minutes debating their salaries. The motion on the floor was to go from $4900 a year to $6400. Since the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Media is reporting Perez threatened a public official – as in eat him alive. Nice guy. I have reason to be believe he is here illegally. Of course law enforcement can’t hand him over to ICE since the Illinois ruling party want to keep every illegal, even violent ones. Evidently law enforcement […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sick of listening to politicians who want your vote this November? You still have 3 1/2 more months of trying to decipher lies from truth. If you blindly believe rhetoric the truth doesn’t matter. Remember the local elections few people bother to vote in? That election is April 6th of 2027 – […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council meeting last night was mostly uneventful. Other than Jenna Kearns attended by phone because of illness, John Danenberger was MIA, and Mollie Ward was wearing a Covid mask, the only news was a timeline for a data center ordinance: . The August 26th meeting panel will be the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wrote this story EIGHT YEARS ago: https://blnnews.com/2018/07/07/bloomington-is-at-war-thanks-to-tari/ As of right now it has been read 11,472 times just in 2026. Imagine how many reads new stories get! I found this story while looking for something else: https://blnnews.com/2013/10/18/no-time-today/ In 2013 the National Debt was $17 Trillion. Today is is almost $40 Trillion. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4105/files/agenda/12887 A few of the items on the Consent Agenda and probably won’t be discussed: $5,216,280 of the increased water rates is being spent for Architectural and Engineering Services for the Systemwide Improvement Project. $2,182,950 will be spent on the South Main Booster System which will maintain and enhance the reliability, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nobody cared when Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were deporting illegals. Everyone agreed legal immigration was good, border chaos was bad. Suddenly the progressive ruling class in Illinois pays illegals to come here and charging taxpayers for their care. ICE actually does the job outlined in the law passed by both parties […]
By: Diane Benjamin See that “non-partisan” right in the title? https://bloomingtonelectionsil.gov/about-us These are the 3 commissioners: . Does anyone think Diana Hauman is going to make a non-partisan ruling if there is a ballot dispute between Kevin Lower and Jennifer Brown when she is openly rooting for the Democrat? Can she be non-partisan in ANY […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Does Corey Beirne know it is illegal to ban people from seeing and commenting on his re-election page? Evidently he doesn’t want to hear comments contrary to what he believes. Start by reading the 1st Amendment Corey. 2) https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/illinois-separation-movement-continues-with-7-more-counties-set-to-vote/3958136 Quote: Nearly one-third of Illinois’ counties have voted to potentially explore creating […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) You probably heard about the Ammons family FEDERAL indictments: https://www.wglt.org/illinois/2026-07-08/state-rep-carol-ammons-indicted-for-scheme-to-receive-kickbacks-misusing-campaign-funds I’ve written about Champaign County Clerk – Aaron Ammons: https://blnnews.com/2020/08/13/will-incompetence-run-vote-by-mail/ Aaron Ammons also listed Ted Dabrowski as Tad on the primary ballot and did not correct the error: https://blnnews.com/2026/02/16/champaign-county-ballot-error/ State Rep Carol Ammons was the only House sponsor for a bill that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pop-Up Chicken owner Aaron Francis create a large social media stir over the weekend when he decided not to pay employees time and a half for working on July 4th. If you didn’t see it on social media, read this story: https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/top-stories/pop-up-chicken-shop-holiday-pay-dispute/ He fired 6 employees for refusing to work without holiday […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 video of the June 23 School Board meeting: https://vimeo.com/event/5178329 The sound is horrible as is the camera angle. I wanted to see if parents of Chiddix students would show up in light of the teacher arrests and investigations. Evidently they didn’t. I did hear Superintendent Weikle’s comments. At 1:03:30 she […]
. If you were born in this country, you have inherited the Golden Door — a powerful invitation to create the extraordinary life you dream of. This ‘Golden Door’ comes from the immortal poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, a beacon of hope that still calls to every soul yearning for freedom and opportunity. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Rep Eric Sorensen put this on his Facebook page after the Supreme Court decision. It sure looks like he agrees with the NAACP statement he also posted. Facebook comments weren’t kind to him, it even appears he backed off. Democrats want an Equality Act? Have they read the Declaration of Independence? We […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the $3000 Sister Cities spent at Biaggis? https://blnnews.com/2026/06/22/bloomington-tonight-6-22-26/ The farewell banquet happened on 4/3/2026, nobody updated the Sister Cities website with pictures of this event: https://www.bnsistercities.org/sister-cities-blog Other events from the previous 2 days are there, just not this one. Below is what the FOIA I received shows. 80 people attended the […]
By: Diane Benjamin In April Connect Transit had 236,419 riders and LOST $1,817,763.25. In May Connect Transit had 164,712 riders and LOST $1,513,145.08. Riders decreased by 30.33%. Operating losses decreased by 16.76% with fewer riders. Moral of the story: Quit trying to increase ridership since all that means is losing more money. Since CT has […]
The Immigration Project was busy posting possible ICE sighting in Bloomington yesterday. Enforcing Federal law isn’t allowed in Illinois is it means detaining ILLEGAL ALIENS. Of course the local Democrat “leaders” reposted – Krystle Able, Corey Beirne and others. Not In Our Town allowed Able to post on their Facebook page too. Approve of lawlessness […]
By: Diane Benjamin Democrats have very few “moderates” left in the party. Democratic Socialists have taken over. Democratic only means they win an election, they still believe in socialism that has never worked anywhere in the world. It’s about power and only power. Study history if you don’t know that. Socialism touts equality which means […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T a reader Sure looks to me like Normal thinks citizens dial 911 way too often:
By: Diane Benjamin All this week I likely won’t be posting anything early. We have a huge yard and garden and I will be outside very early to avoid the heat which just hit at 10:00 am today. This week we celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This is a […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of the campaign contributions below were made by the same person. Yes, I asked the person by email if all of these are legitimate. Of course I didn’t receive a response – no surprise. Eventually I will be revealing who it is. Meanwhile, if you have ever made a contribution via […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) A Facebook group exists called No Data Centers Bloomington-Normal. I was not allow to post a comment which means this group doesn’t bother with facts. My comment pertained to newer technology called Closed Loop which means a huge water supply isn’t needed. Water used to cool keeps circulating and doesn’t need […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/departments/administration/procurement-diversity-initiative This policy is also called: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion DEI policies discriminate against white male owned qualified businesses to promote others that may or may not be qualified to do the job. If “oppressed status” is claimed, the City of Bloomington prefers to award contracts to you. Contracting with companies with […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the Normal Township Agendas here: https://normaltownship.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/march-19th-26-meeting-of-normal-township-board-5.pdf Now see January and February agendas: . It used to be possible to watch board meetings from the comfort of your home. See the Zoom link? In March and every meeting since the Zoom Link is not longer an option! . In other words, Krystle […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Code of Ethics was just passed on May 26, 2026 by the Bloomington city Council. Less than 1 month ago. Monday night Abby Scott violated it. I suspect she will again at the July Committee of the Whole meeting where her lack of respect for fellow alderman Sheila Montney will likely […]
h/t a reader See previous story: https://blnnews.com/2026/06/23/20-minute-bloomington-meeting-without-abby-scott/ Obviously the facts presented at the meeting and in the above story are immaterial if you govern as child. McLean County voters in District 10 can rid themselves of this menace in November. Break up the “power couple” gang. See below. Both Beirne and Scott raised your property […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois only has 3 Republicans representing US House districts because the State is HEAVILY gerrymandered. 14 seats belong to Democrats. Statewide Trump received around 44% of the vote in 2024. Obviously only 3 seats doesn’t reflect that vote. If it was up to Indivisible, Illinois would have no Republicans in the House. […]
