by: Diane Benjamin Let’s face it. The City of Bloomington didn’t need to hire a Communications Director, they have the Pantagraph. Have you ever seen an editorial criticizing anyone in power with Bloomington or Normal? Have the Pantagraph ever read the Coliseum Management agreement? No problem there Pantagraph? Have they ever asked why government has […]
by: Diane Benjamin One you probably haven’t heard: A US Post Office employee was arrested for stealing gift cards! Merry Christmas. The Bloomington Police got him – I will try to get more information. Second – they made an arrest in the shooting on E. Jefferson a couple of days ago. Keep up the good […]
The Pantagraph prints a column on Sundays by farm reporter Alan Guebert. Frequently he bashes the do-nothing Congress that hasn’t passed a farm bill. After reading this, I hope they NEVER pass a farm bill and END the current subsidies. Government isn’t working to help family farms, they are setting themselves up with subsidies. What say you, […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve heard the big snow removal in Bloomington may have cost $169,000. Most people think that is the job of government: doing what people CAN’T do for themselves. Out of a budget of at least $169 million, $169,000 can’t be found? Cut a few of the studies recently approved, and there you […]
by: Diane Benjamin This is going to be fun! Every Pantagraph reader will be able to see for themselves who values your right to be personally represented on the Bloomington City Council and who wants to steal it! First liberty thief: Carol Reitan. The spin used to get you to vote YES on the Ward […]
I’m getting lots of questions – mainly: Is the County Board talking rate increases because lethal injection is really more expensive or are they just taking the opportunity for more revenue? County Board? by: Diane Benjamin A few months back the Pantagraph ran a bunch of Letters to the Editor about eliminating the use of […]
by: Diane Benjamin According to a poll by Rasmussen last week: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/right_direction_or_wrong_track 62% think the country is headed in the wrong direction Congress’s approval is at 8% I wish they would do a poll in Illinois, it might be tough though with so many heading for the border permanently. NOBODY in either party is doing […]
by: Diane Benjamin From the Monday, January 13, 2014 Council minutes: http://cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6182 Item 8D. An Ordinance Establishing the Salary for the City Manager. Motion by Alderman Sage, seconded by Alderman Mwilambwe that the Ordinance be passed. The Mayor directed the clerk to call the roll which resulted in the following: Ayes: Aldermen Mwilambwe, Schmidt, McDade, […]
by: Diane Benjamin It turns out the BCPA isn’t getting all of the .25% Sales tax. The Coliseum gets some too, as well as City Funds to cover the operating loses. Since it’s hard to read, here’s a close up: Yes, that’s more than $1,000,000-Click on it to enlarge . . . . […]
From an email circulating: Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.” The young clerk responded, “That’s […]
Police press release
Bloomington Police are Investigating a Monday Night Shooting http://cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=194 Posted:1/14/2014 800 Block of E. Jefferson On Monday, 1/13/2014, at approximately 2205 hours, officers from the Bloomington Police Department responded to the 800 block of E. Jefferson for a report of shots fired.Officers arrived on scene and located a 39 year old female victim who had […]
If you still believe that America is “free”, just consider some of the things that are illegal in America today… -Starting on January 1st, it is now illegal to make or import 75 watt incandescent light bulbsanywhere in the United States. -In Oregon, it is illegal to collect rainwater that falls on your own property. -In New Jersey, […]
by: Diane Benjamin The State of Illinois isn’t any more transparent than Bloomington. I worked with the Edgar County Watchdogs for close to a year to uncover the state’s activities with Medicaid payment processing. Many FOIA requests were returned to us with a “No matching documents” label. The State didn’t know that we have many […]
by: Diane Benjamin I have no idea whether Chris Christie knew his staff created traffic havoc on purpose. I’m sure the investigation will continue. Only the press thinks he is a front-runner for President in 2016, so Christie will continue to dominate the news. Their agenda requires he be taken down. The Christie scandal was […]
Bloomington is requesting comments. Why? Grant money is usually an automatic YES. http://cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=18&recordid=455&returnURL=%2findex.aspx
What to watch for locally: Sustainable Communities = NO private Property Rights Sustainable Communities = means jamming people into dense, urban centers using high-density residential housing and high-intensity retail and commercial buildings near mass transit corridors. Best practices = We have to limit citizen rights “Sustainable” is frequently mentioned by officials in both Bloomington and […]
by: Diane Benjamin First – Thanks to my broad base of contributors who regularly send information they think readers need to know. I can’t do it without you. I also will NEVER disclose where the information comes from, unless the sender agrees. And yes, I do have people inside government disgusted with how taxpayer money […]
by: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner thinks of himself as City Commander-in-Chief. Normally, the media would be kissing his feet. Most still do, but then there are others like me exposing his less than transparent actions. This morning Renner was on with the low information media, Scott Laughlin. Luckily I didn’t hear the whole thing, but […]
Update – Monday City Council meeting
by: Diane Benjamin Governor Quinn’s salary for managing a whole state is: Division Title YTD Gross CONSTITUTIONAL ELECTED STATE OFFICIALS GOVERNOR $177,411.96 Monday night the Rubber stamp 7 will okay a raise for David Hales: The base salary of the City Manager is established to be $176,439.00 effective January 12, 2014. At least he is […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Feds got the brilliant idea to fund expansion of broadband service. Hence CIRBN was born, but don’t plan on using it unless you are part of government, a schools, or other non-profit organization. The service isn’t offered to individuals. In December the Normal City Council approved an agreement to assist them […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Unemployment Rate fell today to 6.7%! But that’s not the story. Around 90 million people have quit looking for work and are no longer counted. Here’s the real story: This is a serious problem on many levels. Total welfare spending was close to $1 TRILLION in 2013, that doesn’t include […]
by: Diane Benjamin I don’t have to file with Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s Office when local government refuses to comply with Freedom of Information Act Requests or when they violate the Open Meetings Act, there are other avenues. The Illinois Public Access Office was created so citizens had an outlet to keep their government open […]
by: Diane Benjamin I have a friend who works auto claims for one of the big local insurance companies. He’s been very busy since snow-mageddon hit last weekend. One of the standard questions he asks is “Did you get a ticket?”. Even processing Chicago claims, nobody reported getting a ticket. The police realized the […]
Update: Mark Pickering Today at 1:30 PM To ‘blnnews@yahoo.com’ Diane, sorry for the delay in responding but I wanted to get with Steve and we did so Friday morning. He will make reference to the relationship when he writes about city government and the mayor again. Thanks Mark Pickering Managing Editor The Pantagraph 301 W. Washington St. […]
Update Interesting timing! I had no idea somebody was re-writing the ordinance! At Monday’s City Council meeting a bunch of changes are going to be made to the Boards and Commissions. It looks like somebody thought adding more was a good idea, but most got scrapped. If you want to decipher what is happening – […]
by: Diane Benjamin Obviously Mayor Renner is behind the plan to take representation away from the people by changing from an all Ward system to Modified Ward: Renner is still hiding behind Alderman Fazzini and claims it’s no big deal! On January 3rd Renner was on WGLT Radio. The interview is only 4 1/2 minutes […]
by: Diane Benjamin Below is a comment posted to an article today. This person has posted several times, but likes to change their made up name each time they post. Some people just can’t stand conservatives on the Bloomington City Council! Life would be so much easier for Big Spenders if the Rubber Stamp 7 […]
I hear County Clerk Kathy Michael is confused as to where her office money comes from. On the last day of the year she orders employees to get on the Internet office supply websites and order whatever they want for their desk, telling them she isn’t giving that money back to the County Board and […]
by: Diane Benjamin I have no idea why Mayor Renner got so upset about Alderwoman Stearns filing with the Attorney General concerning what she deemed an inappropriate Executive Session. When Stearns walked out of the meeting she made it clear to the entire Council that, in her opinion, the topics being discussed violated the rules […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington is being investigated again by the Attorney General – this time for illegally redacting emails. I wrote this post explaining part of my claim: http://blnnews.com/2013/12/27/proof-bloomington-has-no-transparency/ I sent that information to the Attorney General, but there is more to my complaint. The email from Normal City Manager Mark Petersen was not the […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington has approved 2 plans recently without including any money. I believe the Council is told “We have to have a plan!” The first one is the Master Zoo plan. The present zoo isn’t big enough and never will be. Every subsidized agency feels the need to grow or […]
by: Diane Benjamin More than a few of you noticed something strange with the following letter I received from the City of Bloomington. Note who was COPIED – bottom left corner. I asked the City for an explanation, their email is below. Diane: I received your inquiry regarding this FOIA (emails Mayor/Council from Dec. 25 […]
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS & ADMINISTRATORS Sue to keep gold plated pensions Read the lawsuit here _______________ YET… TOP 100 School Administrator Pensions Exceed $180,000 per year,click here. AND… over 4,767 educators have $100,000 plus annual retirement pensions- to search Heat Map click here. This pension lawsuit is about protecting the perks of highly-compensated school administrators who don’t even […]
The Democrats just sent another email – see below. Evidently the economy is really bad since they predict more people will lose jobs by the end of the year. by: Diane Benjamin Politicians obviously stretch the truth. Flat out LYING to achieve some political agenda is now all too common. The Senate is debating whether […]
by: Diane Benjamin Violating the Open Meetings Act is serious. There wasn’t a “dust-up” as Steve Vogel called it in the Pantagraph. If the Attorney General finds the Executive Session didn’t comply with the law, the entire Council will be blamed-minus Alderwoman Stearns who walked out. The Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) is designed to […]
January 2, 2014 By: Diane Benjamin BlnNews is catching up, but Edgar County Watchdogs just hit the 1,000,000 Views mark. Obviously citizens want real investigative news instead of fluff. PARIS, IL. (ECWd) – http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2014/01/1000000-one-million-views/ Today, January 2, 2014, we logged our one millionth article view! Thank all of you for your support over the past 3 years, […]
