By: Diane Benjamin Today the Pantagraph printed a Letter to the Editor submitted by Roger Hellman. I’m purposely using his name. Although he doesn’t say what kind of gun legislation he wants to see, it’s obvious he would be delighted if every gun was confiscated. See it HERE Is the Pantagraph this clueless? Roger thinks […]
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Fred is upset I thought he might be Tari, maybe all leftists speak alike. Why would somebody who claims to not be in Illinois care about a local site? Mental illness? By: Diane Benjamin This comment was left on one my Facebook pages: Only one person has ever called me a human cancer – Tari […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3339 This statement is in the minutes for approval from the last meeting: Koos had 7 people interested, 3 that had filled out the on-line form. See this previous story: https://blnnews.com/2019/06/27/more-koos-fib-and-kevin-mccarthy/ Normal allows spiking too. CDM (Children’s Discovery Museum) Foundation Board has 13 Board members. Since the Board is a non-profit, why did […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal Mayor Chris Koos posted this on Facebook: http://honolulu2019.com/climate/ Tari must not have been invited. He is going to the US Conference of Mayors that starts to tomorrow in Honolulu: https://blnnews.com/2019/04/18/off-to-hawaii/ One would think true believers, like Koos, who think we are destroying the world with carbon emissions would: Not fly to […]
By: Diane Benjamin I read more of the massive FOIA request I received from the Town of Normal concerning the failure of Chris Koos to appoint a representative to the Connect Transit Board. In addition to the FIVE people listed in this story: https://blnnews.com/2019/06/26/koos-fib/ I found a few more forwarded to Koos by Judy Buchanan […]
By: Diane Benjamin I logged on this morning and found the previous stories about Justin Barr had been read a zillion times overnight, so I need to post the new charges against Barr in this County. He has been charged in numerous others. The top stories read overnight: https://blnnews.com/2019/01/12/lexington-guy-arrested-in-joliet-he-has-history-here/ https://blnnews.com/2019/01/15/are-you-a-victim-of-justin-barr/ https://blnnews.com/2019/03/27/justin-barr-arrested-again/ New McLean County Charges: […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Regional Planning Commission is notorious for doing surveys nobody knows about and then using those results to justify things like bike lanes. They are about to wrap up a survey on how Community Development Block Grant money should be spent. Take their survey, the numbers they have now don’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the last Normal Town Council meeting Mayor Chris Koos claimed only one person has asked to serve on the Connect Transit Board and that person is currently unavailable: https://blnnews.com/2019/06/18/the-connect-disconnect/ He must not realize his statement might cause someone (like me) to FOIA the information. I received 122 delicious pages, more than […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2019/06/24/is-rodriguez-illegal/ Rodriguez was bailed out last night. I don’t know by who. He is not represented by a Public Defender, somebody is paying his lawyer. A grand jury will probably hear testimony next week, the police are still investigating. Will Rodriguez still be in the country by then? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nashville Tn. is a lot bigger than Bloomington-Normal and growing rapidly. Their transit system serves around 1.9 million people, including areas outside of the City. Their system is publicly owned but managed by a private company. I have a friend who escaped Illinois to Nashville. He sent this pic: Nashville’s bus system […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to the paper, Alderman Julie Emig has been named Executive Director of the Multicultural Leadership Program. https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/mclp-names-emig-as-executive-director/article_f62cf167-1366-568a-8882-b239c781b9cf.html She sits one person away from the racists mayor and says nothing. Don’t forget, Not In Our Town hasn’t said a word either. According to the article: “A program designed to develop leaders […]
Link to WEEK TV story: https://week.com/news/bloomington-normal-news/2019/06/24/black-chamber-of-commerce-member-addressed-bloomington-mayors-racial-comments-at-council-meeting/ By: Diane Benjamin Public Comment during the Bloomington City Council meeting featured two speakers from outside of Bloomington who felt they had to travel area to confront the mayor. The first guy was Cornel Darden representing the South Suburban Region Black Chamber of Commerce. Hear his comments at […]
By: Diane Benjamin I believe this guys court appearance has been delayed until tomorrow. His immigration status is still trying to be determined. He turned himself in with a lawyer. This is a picture from the victims Facebook page, unless there is more than one Corey Cottrell living in Normal. His death if tragic, […]
There is more to this story: The homeowner has informed me their brush was the only stop on the street today. The truck drove past many other piles to get to their house. This likely happened because they demanded a refund for service they never received. Instead of a refund, they sent a truck out […]
By: Diane Benjamin I reported in May Dan Brady voted YES on HB 2040 – the bill (now signed into law) bans private immigration detention centers. https://blnnews.com/2019/05/11/dan-brady-isu-local-democrats-more-slbb-and-pay-to-play/ I asked him why he voted YES, he told me it would’t affect the Dwight location. It sounds like Dan is the only person who believes that, the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Alderman Jenn Carrillo posted a video on her Alderman Facebook page instructing illegals on what to do if ICE comes to their house or business. She claims she has been advocating for illegals for 10 years. She must think illegals all speak Spanish, she used both Spanish and English. Jenn is […]
By: Diane Benjamin In June of 2018 the City Council approved buying two Knuckleboom trucks: PDF page 300 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=18156 I was told they were delivered late last fall. The total cost was $308,819.96 This note is included on PDF page 317: These two vehicles were not used for the May bulk pickup and they haven’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hear public comment will be worth watching at this meeting. Bring your own camera if you attend. Film the Council instead of the speaker. http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=22075 Note this is ONLY for the hotel: What is BEDC? BASIC Economic Development courses. Was there a course on government getting out of the way to create […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was forced to cross Veterans Parkway today – and later drive it. During this brief foray into population density far worse than around my house: I saw no bikes in the bike lanes downtown or on E Washington The C2 East building continues to be the downtown eyesore. Weeds in the […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last Monday’s Council meeting Citizens to Ensure Fair Transit had representatives speak during Public Comment. They have legitimate complaints about route changes, ADA compliance, and fare increases. They are being heard, but may not in the future if the Jenn tactics continue. As reported yesterday, Scott Black did not approve of […]
By: Diane Benjamin I asked District 87 for missing receipts. Asking is a waste of time – they evidently don’t exist. One policy I’ve had from the beginning, screw with me and I will post what I have. I don’t care if the offenders have an explanation, District 87 had a chance to comply and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://wordpress.com/post/blnnews.com/67411 That story has pic from last Friday of brush that was scheduled to be picked up last Tuesday. This pic is from yesterday, the brush is still there – 8 days after it was supposed to be picked up. It has to be in the street to […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader I hear the owners of the new restaurant downtown have renamed it from The Gypsy Room to The Mystic Kitchen & Tasting Room. If you remember, Jenn Carrillo took to social media demanding a name change because Gypsy is a racial slur. Leftist are always changing the meaning of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Just for fun, watch a Bloomington Council meeting without the sound. Observe what the people who aren’t talking are doing. Some of the facial expressions are priceless. The speakers do some entertaining things too – like this: (just two examples, there are more) Think Jenn and the Mayor are a little cozy? […]
By: Diane Benjamin FYI: Scott Murphy was one of my representatives on the County Board. Today Scott submitted his resignation: June 18, 2019 Chairman McIntyre, We are in the process of moving from our home in District 2. Residency rules preclude me from continuing to serve as the representative of that district. It has been my […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jenn Carrillo still had her illegal gay pride flag in front of her. Being divisive is why she ran for Council. Keep the popcorn ready. it’s only a matter of time before she makes a fool of herself again.. The can’t miss speech at Public Comment last night came from Gary Lambert. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Connect Transit appeared at both City Council meetings last night. Isaac Thorne, General Manager, didn’t hang around the Bloomington meeting for long. He rushed off needlessly to Normal since he wasn’t on the agenda until after public comment and regular business. He could have answered more questions from the Bloomington Council. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Original story: https://blnnews.com/2019/05/23/the-lake-bloomington-fire/ I filed this FOIA request for additional information on the Lake Bloomington fire: Below are answers to two of the three questions: Four months after the fire the City has received zero from insurance. I believe they have bought everything they plan to replace except the building. I have […]
By: Diane Benjamin For May 2019 the BCPA has only posted one report: http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-1702 More proof government isn’t capable of “entertainment”. The poor are forced to subsidize losers at both the BCPA and the Coliseum. When is the Council going to figure it out?
By: Diane Benjamin Start on page 69 Same procedure as the previous article, if you missed it read it first. You won’t want to miss how much Barry Reilly spends on coffee: https://blnnews.com/2019/06/13/district-87-how-about-some-current-spending/ See what was received by FOIA for this month: 04-2019 Buying local doesn’t apply to District 87. Some of these charges do […]
The Dateline report was a puff piece. It dealt mostly with family members and the children. There was very little information on the trial, no interviews with jurors. So – no – we didn’t learn a thing. By: Diane Benjamin Dateline on NBC is reporting on the Pam Zimmerman murder case Monday night at 9:00 […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve never understood why so many locals think their garbage would never be picked up if it was privatized. Most of those who don’t agree are transplants who came from towns where garbage was privatized. Most are appalled they have to pay the government monopoly to get garbage picked up. Competition always […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=21989 Issac Thorne will be at the Bloomington Committee of the Whole meeting Monday too. He won’t stick around long since he has to be in Normal at 7:00. Again, there is nothing on the agenda to allow a vote to reject the Connect Transit budget. Tari’s “Armageddon” claims were just fear […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3322 Isaac Thorne from Connect Transit will do a presentation. He will tell you it’s your imagination the huge buses are empty. Have you noticed the newer buses have dark windows so it’s hard to tell? The rider numbers will be ridiculous, they either have no idea how many people use the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are the charges made in April and May 2019 – by person. I’m going to dissect each one. Sam’s Club – no receipt Lowes: The receipt is labeled “Skills USA”. It includes Sales Tax of $33.92. Home Depot: $598, the receipt doesn’t say what the “miter” equipment is for. No sales. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Start over folks! The City didn’t just buy the Jumer’s Conference Center. The original lease for the Conference Center was dated in 1987. Documents from that long ago are not on-line, but I imagine they did what Normal did with the Marriott: The hotel is owned by the operators and Normal owns […]
