By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday a hearing was held on Kevin Gerrard’s challenge to Tari Renner’s petitions. WJBC has a report on their website: HERE As usual, they left out some facts. The email below was sent to the writer last night by Kevin Gerrard: . Eric, It always amazes me that you and other reporters […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back in June the Village of Stanford Board approved a contract to tear down a house after a presentation by a relative of two board members. The presentation and vote were not on the agenda, so that vote was illegal. See two stories: HERE On the agenda under Legal – Mark McGrath […]
By: Diane Benjamin I did this story about illegal campaign signs two days ago: https://blnnews.com/2016/12/11/illegal-signs-all-over-town/ This sign appeared today anyway: There is a driveway behind the sign, it’s definitely obstructing traffic and placed illegally on City property. The person who saw the sign this morning reported it to Code Enforcement at 9:30am. At 4:00 pm […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s assault on the private sector continued last night. Last week they attacked the profits of local restaurants by subsidizing a competitor. Keep in mind Portillos isn’t locally owned so the profits won’t stay local. Many other restaurants will be hurt, their owners live and pay taxes here. The local government they […]
I survived 2 hours in the cold. Thanks to the readers who came out! The kettle was almost full when I left! Nice job! Even though I’m highly allergic to winter (I hate being cold!), I’m going to be ringing bells for the Salvation Army at Walmart on Greenbriar from 12:00 pm to 2:00 […]
Update: A FOIA request has been filed for the original story By: Diane Benjamin The ISU newspaper recently did a story on the challenges to Tari Renner’s petitions: http://www.videtteonline.com/news/citizen-petitions-renner-campaign/article_13ba946a-bfb8-11e6-884d-7350b8e0cc9d.html Don’t bother clicking on the link though, the story has been taken down. The problem is they included lots of quotes from Renner and very little […]
By: Diane Benjamin A project took place locally last year that I knew nothing about. Start with this information: Last year, the Tool Library distributed a housing assessment survey to the West Bloomington community. We discovered that, in West Bloomington alone, over 300 children between the ages of 3 and 15 are sleeping on the […]
By: Diane Benjamin WJBC allows a few people to spout anything they want on their “Forums”. Yes, “Fake News” does exist – Mike Matejka used his forum platform back on December 1st to proliferate it. See his comments here: HERE Matejka is upset that Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the electoral college. His […]
By: Diane Benjamin PCard Spending for approval tonight: Why are taxpayers forced to fund holiday gifts for a Museum? Anybody know where these Christmas lights are? The Fire Department did the traveling this time: The minutes from the November Council retreat are included in the packet: HERE They start on PDF page 38. EVERY retreat […]
Below is research complied by college student Christian Prenzler. What is Rivian Automotive? Taking a look through the brief and unknown history of the start-up vehicle development company On Thursday afternoon, The Pantagraph broke the news that Rivian Automotive Inc. would be purchasing the plant in whole. Rivian is a Michigan based automotive engineering firm […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m getting reports of illegal campaign signs all over town. Per the City Code: Call and demand they be removed: . . Do you really want to elect anyone who breaks the law to win? . . .
By: Diane Benjamin Normal threw away up to $2.5 million last week to get Portillos to locate in Normal. The Normal Town Council was told Portillos would be a destination – people would drive from 100’s of miles away. Meanwhile, Champaign got one for free. Who is at fault? Listen to Kyle Ham, CEO of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Local elections pretend to be non-partisan. I remember Renner claiming that everybody wants to make Bloomington the best it can be (or something to that effect). The problem is that his ilk think government, more taxes, and more spending will make Bloomington great. Most citizens believe IT’S THEIR MONEY and they make […]
This video should be done processing around 2:15. See this story for what the video is: https://blnnews.com/2016/12/09/3-of-4-hearings-canceled/
By: Diane Benjamin I attended the 9:00am hearing this morning on the challenge of Bruce Meeks to the petitions filed by Tari Renner. As I reported earlier (HERE), Meeks was incorrectly served for his 4 hearings today. This appears to be the fault of the Sheriff’s Department. Paul Shannon reported BEC gave them 4 packets […]
December 9, 2016 These hearing are scheduled for today: Bruce Meeks objections to Tari Renner petitions – 9:00 am Bruce Meeks objections to Diana Hauman petitions – 10:00 Bruce Meeks objections to Joni Painter petitions – 11:00 Bruce Meeks objections to J Balmer petitions – 12:00 Bruce was served the wrong documents for the Renner, […]
Update #2: After checking numerous sources, this looks like a reasonable deal. Rivian is not getting any money unless they meet requirements that have been preset – like the number of employees and investments completed. Update: See the link in the comments – maybe NOT! Pantagraph story not allowing comments! By: Diane Benjamin After paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent an email to Paul Shannon at the Bloomington Election Commission detailing Bloomington’s Public Comment policy. He asked Paul why the Election Commission doesn’t have the same policy. This was Shannon’s reply: We are not funded through the city of Bloomington, but operate from funding with an intergovernmental agreement between […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Town Council provided 2.5 million reasons to replace whoever is up for election in April. Start with Chris Koos. Portillos won’t be a destination for long. Champaign is getting one of their own. http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-08-18/portillos-inches-closer-champaign-announcement.html The story is from AUGUST and clearly states they are looking at locations all over Central […]
By: Diane Benjamin The integrity of elections matter. The reason for filing petitions to run for public office is to show support from voters. If any part of the petitions are falsified, signed by citizens not registered to vote, or not properly notarized the election becomes a joke. The Bloomington Election Commission is required to […]
Update: The challenge to Tari Renner’s petitions has been rescheduled for 2:30 Friday. Hopefully, this meeting will be posted in their office by 2:30 today. Thanks everybody who called or emailed. __________________________________________ I sent the email below to the Bloomington Election Commission this morning. Their office phone number is: 309-888-5136, demand this meeting be canceled […]
December 7, 2016 BLOOMINGTON, IL. (ECWd) – We have already pointed out two recent examples of the Bloomington Election Commission violating the Open Meetings Act, and have also found another one – from 2014. The Commission admitted in a letter to the Attorney General’s office that it had violated the Open Meetings Act in February 2014 by […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Open Meetings Act was created to make sure citizens are informed about actions their government takes. Imagine what would happen if all government actions took place in secret and you got the bill for whatever they dreamed up! The Edgar County Watchdogs wrote an easy to understand version of the Open […]
December 6, 2016 BLOOMINGTON, IL. (ECWd) – In a day when adherence to the law is a revolutionary act, this one drives that message home. An objection was made to the nomination petitions for Bloomington’s Mayor, Tari Renner – and he accused those wanting the law followed of being “fringe right-wing” people who are “trying […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hear David Hales and Patti-Lynn Silva will be talking about raising property taxes! This meeting is open to the public. Detroit Drive is off Towanda Barnes Road just north of the theater. I can tell you how they decide your taxes. They need X dollars, they go to the Assessor and […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is a link to Town of Normal policy: http://il-normal.civicplus.com/854/Addressing-the-Council The Attorney General’s office needs to hear from a lot of you today. The policy is illegal and violates the Open Meetings Act. The AG is required by law to resolve all Requests of Review within 60 days. The ONLY way to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the video shot by John Kraft of Edgar County Watchdogs at the meeting to hear the protest to Renner’s petitions. John kept the video running after the meeting was recessed. At 6:48 Jason Chambers, State’s Attorney, announced he was not going to intervene because his office would be responsible for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the video from the beginning of the meeting – up until when the police were called. Almost everything you need to know about what happened this morning at the Bloomington Election Commission hearing is in this video. I have more video I may post later. The Edgar County Watchdogs also […]
By: Diane Benjamin Before the hearing this morning at the Bloomington Election Commission started, Kirk Allen of Edgar County Watchdogs informed the Commission that the meeting was illegal because it violated the Open Meetings Act. The meeting time was not posted on the BEC website and no agenda was posted. The agenda was important because […]
The petition hearing was shut down by the Edgar County Watchdog. More to follow plus video. Laws matter, this meeting violated the Open Meetings Act.
By: Diane Benjamin Our Democratic US Senator Dick Durbin is a frequent guest on the WJBC morning show. Unfortunately he is allowed to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the truth unchallenged. Yes, fake news does exist! Add this story to the long list of ones I never got around to writing last week. The interview was on 11/29. Listen […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since I’m still appalled at the comments made by Tari Renner on WGLT, I want to make sure you saw them too. See the WGLT story here: http://wglt.org/post/update-attempt-filed-knock-bloomington-mayor-ballot#stream/0 “I think it’s unfortunate that some people, frankly on the extreme fringes of the right, want to cheat their way into elections,” said Renner. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Keep in mind Cuba is a communist country. Keep in mind human rights don’t exist in Cuba, especially if you are gay or oppose the government. Keep in mind most of the population makes less than $20 a month. Keep in mind, Cuba would love to have our tourist dollars – but […]
By: Diane Benjamin I started BlnNews 4 1/2 years ago because the local media has an agenda. Items against their agenda aren’t allowed. I’m sure I’m not saying anything you don’t already know. In case you need an example, WGLT made the case for me this week. They did a story about Tari Renner’s petitions […]
Monday is the last day to file a protest. Let me know if you are going to file. Update #2 – Her petitions ARE been examined for a possible challenge! By: Diane Benjamin Diana Hauman’s petitions should also have been challenged. Today might be the last day to do so, not sure. If you want […]
By: Diane Benjamin Metcom Stanford Police list: Metcom activity report for 11/28 – 12/12 Note ST1 only worked 1 day for 7 1/2 hours. What did ST1 – Ed Petrey get paid for 11/28/16 – 12/12/16? This gets a little tricky because his pay stub doesn’t include […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Motel 6 is being torn down to make way for yet another restaurant. Last year they paid $38,462.80 in property taxes. The taxable value was $451,106 meaning the market value was about $1.5 million. http://mcleanil.devnetwedge.com/view/RE/1426179019/2015 What is the new restaurant going to pay in property taxes? Less than a hotel? It […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the packet for the Town of Normal Council meeting Monday night here: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2249 Portillo Summary: The project is being done by a developer – Bloomington Landmark Development Inc Despite the name, this company has a Chicago agent and address: CT CORPORATION SYSTEM Normal is rebating Sales taxes of $1,825,000 PLUS interest […]
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