By: Diane Benjamin Thanks so much for the contributions! My computer broke, now I can get it fixed. It was a bad day yesterday made better by people who want information and are willing to stand up to the local abusive government. For now I’m using an ancient laptop. It wasn’t a surprise that Alderman […]
I can’t afford to keep working for mostly free. If you want this site to continue, donate now. No, I’m not funded by some rich guy. Diane Benjamin
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight the Bloomington City Council is asked to vote on changes to the Public Comment policy. Mayor AttackMyOpposition will demand the right to declare a speaker out-of-order, thus terminating their time, if he deems them threatening or disorderly. This is the same Mayor who wrote this on my site: NO! Diane! It […]
By: Diane Benjamin First the good news: Pantagraph writer Steve Vogel has temporarily learned that telling elected officials to ignore citizens (check your email instead) speaking during Public Comment was foolish. He also learned that using 50+ people to describe how many attended Alderman Lower’s Town Hall was deceptive on the bird-cage liners part, so […]
Flying around, I heard something interesting: State Farm has told up to 3000 people they can transfer to one of their 3 hubs. Hear any sucking noises?
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the Coliseum will get a new video scoreboard for the low low price of $1,389,605! Less than 1000 people attend hockey and football games, the basketball team may not exist for long, but a new scoreboard is required. My sources tell me this board is not used for concerts, performers bring […]
By: Diane Benjamin From Reboot Illinois: http://www.rebootillinois.com/2014/12/05/editors-picks/kevin-hoffmanrebootillinois-com/25-most-dangerous-illinois-cities/29973/ Bloomington is rated as the 10th most dangerous city in Illinois! Statistics were compiled from FBI reports by Law Street Media. Bloomington did do better than Springfield and Champaign. See the complete list at the link above. Chicago was not included because the FBI believes they under report […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember yesterday’s story about Renner’s Budget Task Force? http://blnnews.com/2015/07/08/bloomington-your-budget-task-force/ It turns out TWO (2) members don’t live in Bloomington! Deanna Frautschi lives at 2802 Hendrix Dr Bloomington IL. The address is Bloomington, but it isn’t inside the City limits! This is the map of Ward 2: http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=88 Look at the bottom right side […]
By: Diane Benjamin This pic is from LAST week, I just haven’t gotten around to posting it. They probably think they are in a City owed parking lot, the public sure does, but it’s a private lot. Note 3 City vehicles, one guy is mowing in the background. The three trucks were in the lot […]
By: Diane Benjamin I keep hearing, especially from Bloomington’s mayor and an alderman, that we need amenities in order to get millennials to stay here or move here. Articles on-line talk about what millennials want in BIG cities. They want apartments with fitness centers, pools, and Wi-Fi. They want health food, resale shops, nice restaurants/bars, and public […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager David Hales isn’t capable of producing a balanced budget. (Maybe he needs more than $200,000+ a year) The Council that you elected isn’t allowed to produce a balanced budget. Instead, Mayor Transparency hand-picked people he wanted to write a balanced budget: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=607 Position Name Term Exp Member – Alderman Sage, David 9/30/2015 […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has been anxiously awaiting what I am going to write about Kevin Lower’s Town Hall last night. If you read their report and attended, it’s easy to see what I spoke about toward the end of the meeting. The bird-cage liner is either intentionally deceiving citizens for their own personal […]
If my internet ever gets fixed, I have stories to write. Typing on a phone won’t work. 4g is the new dial-up. check back later
By: Diane Benjamin Obviously there are a lot of empty big retail spaces. Tax receipts in both Bloomington and Normal are down. I’ve talked to apartment owners who can’t find renters. This morning I got a call from the personal assistant of an owner of a commercial building. She wanted to know if I was […]
(Edgar County Watchdogs) Bloomington, IL. (ECWd) – I recently conducted a survey of cities similar in size to Bloomington, IL., including cities with a population of between 58,000 and 108,000 residents. Bloomington has 76,610 according to the 2010 census, and fall in the middle range of this survey. So this is a good sample of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Every dime that Normal spends comes from somebody’s pocket. Taxes and fees have been constantly raised on the citizens of Normal because your government needs more money. State and Federal grants have been used to fund parts of Uptown – all TAX money from other people. When they build in Uptown they […]
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe a bunch of Bloomington-Normal residents went to Downs for fireworks. Maybe the people of Downs just turned despicable in one year. I don’t know where the people were from, but I won’t be going back to Downs. If used to be great. Patriotic, good fireworks, fun family atmosphere. Not this year. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The bird-cage liner and Tari Renner don’t want to listen to citizens – unless the citizens agree with everything they do. Walking hand-in-hand, the Pantagraph and the City tried to stifle speech they don’t want to hear. Finding out their vile plans were illegal, Renner’s campaign daddy, Steve Vogel, is now encouraging […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington: Alderman Kevin Lower’s Town Hall for ALL of Bloomington. The Mayor and Council aren’t listening, Kevin will. Lafayette Club 7:00 pm – 1602 S Main Street 18th Congressional District: Election to replace Aaron Schock The choice is very easy. If you love John Boehner and establishment Republicans, Darin LaHood is your choice. Boehner threw a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Little Stevie is upset that he was FORCED to disclose his family connections with Bloomington’s mayor. He NEVER would have informed readers on his own if I hadn’t called him out! Hey Steve – If you fail to disclose every time you write about the City of Bloomington that your DAUGHTER was Renner’s […]
Happy Independence Day!
Since bikes have the same rights to the roads as cars, it’s also illegal to ban them! Lawsuit anyone? By: Diane Benjamin New rules at Miller Park for July 4th: No bikes allowed. Celebrate the Land of the Free, just don’t ride there! Will the 100 Bike BloNo people show up to protest? Maybe the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everybody in the County is represented by 2 Board members. These two are mine: Jim Soeldner, District 2 Matt Sorensen, District 2 The possible construction of an east-side bypass would never had happened if one of these guys wasn’t fully behind it. The other voted to take the 10 million dollars to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Lisa Madigan started a Public Access office so citizens and the press can hold their government accountable. Just like Not In Our Town doesn’t hold signers of their pledge accountable, virtually nothing happens when a complaint is filed with her office. Our local State’s Attorney could prosecute cases filed against the City, but […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner signed the Not In Our Town pledge. He even made a big deal about it at a Council meeting. Other members of the Council signed it as well. Evidently Judy Stearns was correct when she called it “window dressing”. The pledge is meaningless when violators, especially signers, suffer no consequences […]
By: Diane Benjamin When Alderman Kevin Lower announced his Townhall meeting, he didn’t set an agenda. He merely listed items that could be discussed based on what citizens were telling him. Tari’s email to supporter(s) makes it clear that spending is his highest priority, regardless of the consequences. Tari is Markowitz part 2 – opinions of citizens […]
By: Diane Benjamin A little history of Tari’s childish behavior: November 2013-Tari tells the council in secret (Executive) session he won’t tolerate dissent. Still waiting for Attorney General to issue final ruling: http://blnnews.com/2014/06/04/absolute-proof-judy-stearns-was-right/ First attack on me December 2013: http://blnnews.com/2013/12/22/mayor-transparency-exposed/ February 2014-Tari attacks Judy Stearns for proposing budget cuts: http://blnnews.com/2014/04/29/mayor-unhinged-the-video/ February 2015 – Tari recruits Brexton Issacs to […]
