By: Diane Benjamin Subscribers: I don’t think the Weekend comics posts was sent on Saturday (WordPress problem!). See it here: https://blnnews.com/2026/04/04/weekend-comic-truth/ Illinois has the highest property tax rates in the country: https://smartasset.com/taxes/illinois-property-tax-calculator Those rates make homes and rental units unaffordable. This year they will be increasing again. The new assessed values for taxes this year […]
By: Diane Benjamin IRS form 990 for Brightpoint, formerly Children’s Home and Aid: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362167743/202521309349300107/full From their tax return: WE ADVANCE THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN BY INVESTING IN FAMILIES TO DISRUPT THE SYSTEMIC AND MULTI-GENERATIONAL CYCLE OF RACIAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC INEQUITY. This webpage shows they operate in 10 counties, but the majority of offices are […]
By: Diane Benjamin Are the electric buses alive now? Are these 12 buses really running? This page lists the bus fleet: https://connect-transit.com/about/our-fleet 6 hybrid. 32 other buses are listed as diesel. This was mentioned at the March 2026 Connect Transit meeting: The Gillig buses that Connect Transit already has are diesel. The documentation for this […]
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 […]
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 […]
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/
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
