From Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2016/10/12/can-you-pay-me-now-cell-phone-tax-rates-continue-to-increase/#ad84c32383e0 Where’s the best place to have cell service? According to the Tax Foundation, the five states with the lowest combined state and local wireless taxes and fees are: Oregon (1.8%) Nevada (2.1%) Idaho (2.3%) Montana (6.2%) Delaware (6.3%) And the worst? The five states with the highest combined state and local wireless […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m busy with other projects today, I might be back tomorrow or the next day. Meanwhile, enjoy this WGLT story: Connect Transit may have to shut down in January. Relying on bankrupt Illinois for money was a big mistake. Loosing more than $26 million in three years was an even bigger one. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Not only is Hauman not qualified to be mayor, she isn’t qualified to be alderman! Why? Because both are supposed to represent the people who elected them. She doesn’t. It is her fault that monthly City Manager reports are no longer published. The Council never voted, she just mentioned it was a […]
By: Diane Benjamin The County Zoning Board of Appeals will continue the hearing on changes to the wind ordinance on November 1st. The hearing earlier this month allowed time for all to speak who signed up, but time ran out of rebuttal testimony. This hearing is only for that rebuttal testimony. No one who didn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner was in Cuba, so Karen Schmidt conducted the meeting. The Coliseum got more of your money and it sounds like much more to come: Evidently the design of the Coliseum is REALLY bad – Hales plans to budget more changes to the building in coming years. Watch the video starting […]
See Part 1 here: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/09/the-end-of-bloomingtonnormal-as-we-know-it/ Part 2 by: Lawrence Butts Illinois State University . The bubble that higher education is currently riding high on is about to burst. The first question that will be asked is “ISU is doing great, they fill their enrollment every year – how are they in trouble?” Yes, for the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Besides the constant maintenance, new video boards and equipment, massive losses, and possible fraud – there’s more. In today’s paper: The City of Bloomington had to get a building permit to fix the Coliseum they own. I wonder what it cost? Maybe failure to comply with ADA is why an occupancy permit […]
Part 1 by Lawrence Butts Introduction . I came to this town in 1970. As you might imagine, there have been many changes since that time. Some of these changes have been for the better and some have been for the worse. This is a much larger community with more to do and with better […]
See this story: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/07/seriously-kyle-ham/ This is an email I received in response – let me know your thoughts: ___________________________ I have seen your article, and contrary to your false accusations, we have been counting on and budgeting for the enterprise zone’s state sales tax benefits on construction materials since we started planning and budgeting for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Most people who care enough about political candidates to put a sign in their yard want to make sure everybody sees the signs. Isn’t that the purpose of having signs? Maybe there is a sign thief in the neighborhood, so she doesn’t want them too obvious. I remember Kevin Lower’s signs disappeared […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local (don’t question) paper is reporting the Enterprise Zone for parts of Bloomington, Normal, McLean County, Ford County and Gibson City has been approved by the State of Illinois. This will allow for a variety of tax breaks for businesses in the zone and those wanting to locate there. Mitsubishi closing […]
By: Diane Benjamin The main job of government is to protect the liberty of its citizens. We EXPECT spending for public safety like Police and Fire. Monday night the police finally get some help. The City of Bloomington found $55,100 to update the police training facility. This facility was allowed to become unusable because it […]
By: Diane Benjamin The bills approved for payment at the September Connect Transit Board meeting are included here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4zAZemF_qQuOUc3ckRxVGZfUWM/view Toward the bottom of the list is this: These card charges total $11,209.28. I did A FOIA request for the last three months of Commerce Bank card charges. See them here: Commerce-Bank-statements These charges are from […]
By: Diane Benjamin A few weeks ago City Attorney Jeff Jurgens and Mayor Renner gave a talk at the Illinois Municipal League Conference. The topic was new media. I, of course, made sure I knew someone who would be in the room. The Edgar County Watchdogs and I were discussed at length. This is not […]
By: Diane Benjamin The narrative Bloomington wants you to believe is they didn’t know about any malfeasance at the Coliseum by CIAM until VenuWorks took possession of the building. Forget for a minute that I’d been writing about CIAM since 2013. VenuWorks took over at the end of March 2016. This agreement was signed was […]
The sound system at this meeting was NOT the new system. I heard at the meeting it was, that information was false. The new system should be installed in the next 10days to 2 weeks. _______________________________ A reader commented that the Pantagraph “corrected” the story in today’s paper. Unless another story is done and posted […]
By: Diane Benjamin No, I haven’t talked to Mary Goveia. Mayor Mike James and Kenneth Adkisson need to stop blaming her for their names showing up here. There are other citizens in Downs that want what’s happening in Downs exposed. Get used to it. The August minutes were approved at the September meeting. See them […]
By: Diane Benjamin Instead of controlling pension costs and the Medicaid spending bankrupting the State of Illinois, lawmakers want you to think locking in spending for infrastructure is a good idea. The unions love it – they will have security if it passes, the rest of us will pay dearly. Just like Bloomington set up […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video from last night’s Normal Council meeting is now available. People speaking during public comment are not required by law to give their address! Chris Koos told them they did, 3 speakers complied. Don’t comply in the future – it’s intimidation. No representatives from the Police and Fire unions showed up […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos CAN’T stop spending your money. A new library is on the way, not for books – he’s creating a social and fun club and expecting all of you to participate. Think Uptown events. Government controls your life – you aren’t allowed to make independent decisions because he is abolishing capitalism. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night Normal voted to waste more taxpayer money on consultants. They already know they want an expensive underpass, but they are spending $1.4 million+ on another study anyway. As of March 31, 2016: http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/LandingPage.cfm?code=064/095/31&searchtype=allunits&originalSearchString=Normal%20-%20a%20Town%20in%20Mclean%20County%20-%20064/095/31&CFID=11824458&CFTOKEN=2f4040be3c789a16-9F1393A4-5056-93B5-5E7A726C9A88D866 From the link above – click View Data – Indebtedness 2014 Total Debt: $86,788,630 2015 Total Debt: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today the Edgar County Watchdogs, Kirk Allen and John Kraft, are receiving a NATIONAL honor. They will receive the award in Nashville at the SPN Annual Meeting: http://www.cvent.com/events/spn-24th-annual-meeting/event-summary-17582afac7254eb881abfc15f0efe30f.aspx SPN 24th Annual Meeting SPN’s Annual Meeting is the leading conference in the freedom movement aimed squarely at advancing state policy reforms essential to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The good news is Judge Foley is still hearing the case. She is familiar with the settlement discussions, so I’m much more comfortable with her in charge. Since both the City of Bloomington and CIAM filed motions to dismiss, we had to set another hearing date for those arguments. I was ready […]
By: Diane Benjamin I thought about writing on this topic, but posted it on Facebook instead. Sunday the Pantagraph had an Editorial: Newspapers are proud of what they do. This was in the first paragraph: We use different vehicles, but we’re all committed to the same thing: Sharing stories and information about the people and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note: I could keep posting links – but I’m severely bored. Besides, it’s obvious from the ones I have linked who votes to fleece taxpayers! Note #2: One name is missing from every Yes vote: Kevin Lower See this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/02/renner-vrs-lower-vrs-hauman/ Below is the list from yesterday’s story. The nice […]
By: Diane Benjamin Some regimes hold their populations hostage at gun point, other do it with debt. Normal is using debt for your entertainment. The Town must not appreciate their public safety personnel. If you missed it, police and fire pensions are seriously underfunded while the staff has plenty of room to collect their retirements. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Alderman Kevin Lower announced he is running for Mayor of Bloomington. Alderman Hauman declared citizens now have 3 distinct choices. Really Diana? The only difference between you and Tari is you want even MORE spending downtown! I believe you mentioned a downtown dog park, green space, and a fountain during your […]
By: Diane Benjamin Poor Stevie doesn’t think it’s fair that some people make A LOT more money than others. Jealous? Today his column is on income inequality in McLean County using data from what he calls a left-leaning site.. He claims the top 1%ers in McLean County earn $365,000+ per year. Yep, that’s a lot of […]
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