By: Diane Benjamin See this Edgar County Watchdogs story for background: http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2017/09/stanford-village-attorney-falsified-original-easement/ Click on any images below to enlarge. Short recap: A homeowner in Stanford signed a temporary easement for drainage work on his property in 2010. In 2015 the Village of Stanford attorney, McGrath, filed a document changing the status from temporary to permanent […]
Dear Readers: This week I broke the record for page views in one day TWICE! That’s thanks to you for sharing stories. Today I will also cross a huge milestone for one month! I can’t thank you enough – and NO I don’t collect any money for page views! (That’s a whole different story that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Real journalism isn’t dead yet! The Joliet Herald News just proved it with this story: http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2017/09/29/da82d31d3ccc4697970889c2a58349a5/index.xml?page=1 This paper isn’t done writing because my interview is not in this story! See this story for context if you missed it this morning: https://blnnews.com/2017/09/29/hales-if-a-perfect-fit-for-joliet/ Some tasty bits: “That’s the guy you want,” Regis said. “If somebody commits […]
No pics this time
I was asked by the Sheriff’s department to take the pictures down because they have rules! Media must be credentialed through a lady at the Pantagraph. Of course the Pantagraph doesn’t consider me real media, so I was never informed of this credentialing process. A report is being written and sent to the State’s Attorney […]
The Illinois State Police are still investigating! If you have information applicable to the case call them. 815-844-1500 Follow the prompts to Investigations – Leave a message I’m posting this at their request! . . .
By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t think it was possible to find people with even less desire to serve the people they are supposed to represent than the local propagandists. But, they do exist – in Joliet. Speaking with no facts is acceptable operating procedure. Believing every word uttered by people playing CYA is required. Then, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Tari had to have a hotel downtown to “benefit the Coliseum”? Remember when he said over and over developers were lining up to get projects started downtown? Today Tari’s Downtown Task Force has the brilliant idea of moving the library and creating a bus transfer station. Neither will be private […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a FOIA request with the Illinois State Police for the investigative documents pertaining to the Renner/Japan/PCard investigation in the purchase of Margot Erhlich’s ticket. I just received a denial: _______________________________________________________________________ 09/28/2017 . Bloomington Normal News Ms. Diane Benjamin . Re: FOIR #17-2327 . Dear Ms. Benjamin: . Thank you for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yep, Tari was on time out. “Medical related” meant he can’t handle his type A personality. See the interview he did with WMDB yesterday: http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/exclusive-bloomington-mayor-tari-renner-opens-up-about-leave-of-absence/819831555 Tari was never on medial leave, he never quit being mayor! Tari claims he only took a couple of weeks off, that explains a lot about why […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington ignored what Bend Oregon said about David Hales, I wonder if Joliet will make the same mistake? See this link: http://www.theherald-news.com/2017/09/27/joliets-new-city-manager-leaves-behind-brewing-financial-scandal/at26tcc/ This media source and City employees appear to be as clueless as ours! Quotes: “If there’s a pending criminal investigation, I don’t know who knew,” O’Dekirk said. “I don’t think […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today the dead tree, as Ben Yount calls it, stated the City hired the Bronner Group back in 2015 to audit the Coliseum. Instead of “there’s an app for that”, my new saying is “I’ve got a story for that”. From September 17, 2015: https://blnnews.com/2015/09/17/bronner-group-getting-your-money/ Bronner “discounted” their rate to $145 per hour! […]
By: Diane Benjamin Attn: Council If your information on ANY topic, especially the Coliseum, is from David Hales or Tari Renner you are getting “Fake News”. Jamie Mathy is quoted in today’s paper saying the Management Agreement with CIAM “literally forbid the city from having access to the raw numbers”. SOURCE Jamie, why did the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Your elected aldermen in Bloomington really have guts! On the same day they found out at least $1 Million was stolen from you – they voted to slap higher sewer and storm water rates on the victims of their ineptness! Yes, that would be Bloomington taxpayers. The conversation was really amusing. Scott […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are some of the stories I’ve written about the Coliseum. Some are opinions, some questions, and some proven facts. This isn’t everything, but it’s enough to prove the 5 Coliseum employees would NOT be under indictment of I hadn’t started investigating in 2013! Each link has a quote from the […]
Listen to the interview here: http://www.wjbc.com/2017/09/26/bloomington-officials-react-to-alleged-arena-fraud/ ________________________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin Of course the Council will do nothing to David Hales for extreme S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g of the truth this morning on WJBC. Of course Scott Laughlin didn’t know enough facts to confront him. When a podcast is created I will add it to this story. Hales wasted […]
By: Diane Benjamin Celebrate! Tari is returning from his “medical related” leave October 1st. Just like everything the City of Bloomington does, his return will have NO Transparency. Does he still have his government credit card? If he does, Freedom of Information Act requests are about to spike! Remember the citizen survey a few weeks […]
By: Diane Benjamin The oldest story I wrote about the Coliseum is from December 2013: https://blnnews.com/2013/12/11/coliseum-bleeding-bloomington-taxpayers/ But, look at this story from February 2014: https://blnnews.com/2014/02/06/is-coliseum-management-giving-bloomington-their-share/ First lines of the story: Operations of the Coliseum are extremely complicated. Management hired by the City is operating some functions without any over-sight or accountability. The taxpayers deserve to […]
By: Diane Benjamin I knew the lies were going to be instant! The City of Bloomington did NOT uncover the fraud at the Coliseum. They were warned many times. David Hales did not do his job – I hope Joliet is thrilled with their choice for City Manager. The fraud could not have happened if […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph Opinion Page continues to be an endless source of entertainment. Orchestrated Letters to the Editor are claiming voting rights locally have been violated. The election is more than a year away and normal everyday people are writing letters asking you to vote for their candidate? Keep in mind: Repeat a […]
By: Diane Benjamin If I hadn’t been out of town this weekend, I would have written A LOT more on the Pantagraph story that attempted to make you believe the Bloomington roads are getting better. It’s really difficult to compose story on a cell phone, so I left a lot of details to readers: https://blnnews.com/2017/09/24/more-pantagraph-conspires-with-city/ […]
By. Diane Benjamin Today the Pantagraph lauded the $3.8 million Bloomington is spending on streets. Seems like rewriting history so people think the streets are getting better is the goal of both Bloomington and the so called press. Why? Because both want downtown spending, not silly things citizens want like the roads fixed! See their […]
the Connect Transit bus take out a fire hydrant at St Joseph drive Friday? Evidently the road was poorly designed for large vehicles attempting to turn into St Joe’s coming from the east. The Council wanted congestion-Success! Maybe buses should drop passengers on Washington. They force riders elsewhere to walk long distances, seems fair. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois increased income taxes again! The stack of unpaid bills increased! Since Illinois has “been there-done that”, and the unpaid stack still got bigger, that’s proof government doesn’t exist for anybody but itself. Monday Bloomington will do the same! PDF page 281. The City needs $136 Million over the next 20 years […]
A. Aldag is either a current or former IWU student of Renners. So, what’s the public purpose here Tari? https://www.iwu.edu/news/2015/aldag-surveys-foreign-investments-in-DC-internship.html _____________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin PCard spending starts on PDF page 124: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14720 This is Tari’s “business lunch” as caught by a reader on 8/9 at Rosie’s. Tari is in the shadows. Maybe this explain why […]
By: Diane Benjamin You already know that Tari Renner’s handpicked committee doesn’t represent the interest of anybody outside their tiny group who think downtown is the future. (Decades of facts to the contrary are immaterial) https://blnnews.com/2017/05/03/taris-downtown-task-force/ I know you don’t need proof, but: You can see what they have been up to here: http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-552 I […]
By: Diane Benjamin Continuation of this story: Did Village of Stanford’s Attorney File Fraudulent Easement Documents? New Problem: The original TEMPORARY easement contains this statement: Temporary Easement The Village of Stanford President and Village Clerk signed the document in the presence of a Notary. So, what’s in the May 20, 2010 meeting minutes? FOIA […]
By: Diane Benjamin Actually the City Council meeting lasted 13:26 minutes, that included 2 public comments – Ron Ulmer and Marc Tiritilli. Guess what got about SEVEN SECONDS before a vote was taken? Normal has such severe financial issues they are offering early retirements to cut expenses and there is no discussion? Start watching the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City Manager is the only employee of the City Council. When David Hales leaves, another guy just like him will magically appear. The voters elected a progressive left-wing mayor and compliant Council, so citizens shouldn’t expect a sudden lurch to fiscal responsibility. Your taxes will continue to rise because the guy […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve contacted the States Attorney’s office several times about public corruption cases. I recently received this email from one of their interns: Got that? Seems pretty clear – the States Attorney’s office doesn’t do investigations! Now see this Pantagraph story about the tragic deaths yesterday: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/police-chief-fatal-fire-appears-intentionally-set/article_77246b93-85ee-5e69-a96b-6de3fbc09d18.html Excerpt from the story: Maybe Jason […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jim Karch knew. The Planning Commission knew. The Council knew. Putting bike lanes on E Washington was going to create congestion. All of the above wanted congestion because you drive too fast. Yes – your government attacked your ability to drive safely because they wanted to. From a reader: Don’t know if […]
The deadline to apply for a child’s bed is the 21st! Volunteers are needed for the build!
By: Diane Benjamin The Council is going to vote next Monday to raise your sewer and storm water rates much faster than originally presented. After all, this Council is fixing what previous Councils ignored – essential services. Even though voting on items not on the agenda isn’t allowed, the council took a “straw poll” on […]
Looks like the Council vote is Tuesday: http://www.theherald-news.com/2017/09/15/joliet-council-could-vote-tuesday-on-city-manager-contract/alcxm1o/ https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/new-joliet-city-manager-could-be-bloomingtons-david-hales Should I disable comments so readers don’t ruin anything?
By: Diane Benjamin I find it hilarious Normal must offer early retirement to employees because Bloomington broke the MetroZone agreement costing them $1.2 million. The total budget is $107,133,177. (Tiny percentage of the total!) I wonder if the Soccer Complex is now dead? $1,400,000 was spent on yet another underpass study! Normal should be […]
By: Diane Benjamin When the Pantagraph appears to do a study of anything, it usually means Bloomington is up to something and using them to gauge public opinion. Today it was legal expenses and justifying the outrageous amount the City sends to Springfield every month while telling you not to buy on the internet – […]
Unbelievably busy!
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story: https://blnnews.com/2017/09/13/it-keeps-getting-funnier/ Just who was this day for? The kids are in school. People are at work, so did they expect the downtown lawyers and staff to love the idea of losing parking spots? Should San Francisco stay in California? I wonder if Bloomington is trying to compete with Uptown […]
