By: Diane Benjamin Committee of Whole meeting 5/18 http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1076&Inline=True Alderman Mathy doesn’t understand people don’t want to pay for parking. That is why strip malls and other shopping options are where people go – not downtown. Mathy has 3 Council initiatives for the Council. They will vote Yes they want to hear more or NO […]
By: Diane Benjamin Executive Orders are not law. We don’t live in a dictatorship, the only power government has is what you let them get by with! The Illinois shutdown has morphed from “bending the curve” to tyranny. The Edgar County Watchdogs have been leading since March by simply reading the law. The State and […]
by: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Remember back in 2017 when elected Council members in Bloomington were sworn in using an oath that didn’t mention the Constitution? https://blnnews.com/2017/12/07/illegal-oath-of-office/ After I pointed that out they were sworn in again using the legal oath. I was told at the time somebody just pulled an old oath […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nikita Richards, failed candidate for McLean County Clerk, was recently elected to lead the McLean County Democrats. When the economy was shut down we were told it was “to bend the curve”. The purpose was to prevent massive numbers of hospitalizations that would overwhelm the system. Overwhelming never came close to happening, […]
By: Diane Benjamin With threats from Pritzker, Koos, and Renner to call out law enforcement to keep people and businesses from exercising their Constitutional Rights, it is time to remember your oath of office. It wasn’t to Pritzker, Koos, or Renner. The only power government has is from the Consent of the Governed. See the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Tari Renner participated in a video conference led by the Peoria’s mayor. There were MANY other mayors on the call, Chris Koos was not one of them. Below is a clip of just Renner. He starts by thanking Mayor Ardis for his leadership, he asks a question, then expresses his appreciation […]
By: Diane Benjamin Somebody in this picture thinks the City of Bloomington should “gift” property to him/her. I’m watching. I know the City likes to pick winners and losers, but it is illegal to give away City property that has value. It obviously has value to the person wanting it. I received the email below […]
By: Diane Benjamin WEEK held a Facebook live event with the numerous area mayors this morning. They have constructed their own re-open plan. They were experiencing many technical difficulties trying to get all the mayors to weigh in. It will be posted at peoriagov.org eventually. Completely missed is the governor has no power to say […]
By: Diane Benjamin Regardless of what the local mayor’s claim, Governor Pritzker’s Executive orders expired 30 days after he wrote them. That was well over a month ago. Since the media allows JB to continue acting like anything he says is valid, that speaks volumes about their ability to be called a “free press”. Our […]
By: Diane Benjamin City of Bloomington employees held another birthday party parade today. This time is was for a 12 year old girl – golden birthday. She is also the daughter of a City employee! The vehicles were staged on private property, they didn’t ask permission before using it. Isn’t that called TRESPASSING? Maybe the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pritzker has no power to shut down businesses. Neither does Renner or Koos. Local governments are graveling at Pritzker’s feet instead protecting your rights. They are probably afraid of losing State grants. Not living within your means makes them captive to the overlord Pritzker, Has anybody read the Illinois Constitution? Where does […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Twitter can be a great place to express your true feelings thinking nobody will notice, especially when you respond to a Donald Trump tweet. A reader of mine did notice. WJBC has always been at least suspected of leaning left, maybe it was really FAR left: Former morning host […]
By: Diane Benjamin When Shayna Watchinski ran for the McLean County Board she told people she worked in “healthcare”. See this WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/post/facing-primary-challenge-left-segobiano-touts-bipartisan-record#stream/0 Excerpt: Professional? According to the Illinois License Look up website, Shayna Watchinski has never held a professional license of any kind: https://ilesonline.idfpr.illinois.gov/DFPR/Lookup/LicenseLookup.aspx That didn’t stop Watchinski from posing for campaign photos […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve reported before that Justin Boyd will be running for something on the Bloomington City Council in less than a year. Boyd is best buds with Tari Renner. Boyd was Tari’s campaign manager, appointed by Tari to the Downtown Task Force, appointed by Tari to the Planning Commission, helped collect signatures for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Chris Koos posted this statement to his official Facebook page yesterday: Did he bother to read the Emergency Order # 20-008 he signed on April 4th? http://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16503/Emergency-Order-20-008—Stay-at-home-enforcement-?bidId= Excerpts: Did somebody forge your signature Mayor? One or more of the below is true: Koos is intentionally deceiving citizens Koos knows his order […]
By: Diane Benjamin It probably isn’t possible that you missed yesterday’s story, but in case you did: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/09/chris-koos-taunts-protestors/ If you need more proof that Not In Town Town is a joke to silence free speech, keep reading. From the NIOT Facebook page – written by Matejka himself: Mike’s mission isn’t to stop bullying if the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filmed WEEK interviewing Liz Gruber at the protest in Normal. At times it is hard to hear because of the traffic and wind, but most is fine. I filmed it because I know the media can twist words if they chose. WEEK quoted Liz but didn’t use any of the footage. […]
In response to citizens peaceably protesting yesterday” Normal Il mayor taunted “nonessential” struggling citizens and business owners while his business is OPEN. The banner proves he has NO compassion for his own community. He knew people were coming to protest, his message to those NOT ALLOWED to work: his middle finger! Worse – Koos told […]
By: Diane Benjamin Both Bloomington and Normal are closing the pools, canceling fireworks, and other OUTDOOR event for the summer. Yahoo News from the middle of April: https://news.yahoo.com/sunlight-destroys-coronavirus-very-quickly-new-government-tests-find-but-experts-say-pandemic-could-still-last-through-summer-200745675.html Koos and Renner don’t let science get in the way of their ideology! Since fireworks are at night, but still outside, they don’t trust people to be safe […]
By: Diane Benjamin Excerpts from the story below: Illinois State Police say Waynae Massey, 22, of Chicago, crashed his car in Grundy County on May 4th, and then hijacked a vehicle at gunpoint on I-55. Police located the vehicle on Arsenal Road and attempted to stop it, but Massey fled, crashed near Wilmington, and ran […]
By: Diane Benjamin Total Bills and Payroll approved at the first meeting in May of 2019: Total Bills and Payroll for approval Monday: Employees are getting paid as usual, other spending is WAY down. This wouldn’t exist if the Bloomington Election Commission had been abolished FYI Either the fireworks show is going to be a […]
Kirk is one of the founders of the Edgar County Watchdogs. He did a radio interview with a Springfield station. It starts with some history of how ECW got started. Then Kirk spells out the law many businesses in southern Illinois are using to re-open. The same rules apply to McLean County. If you want […]
Read the story on the Edgar County Watchdogs site: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/madison-county-board-of-health-to-vote-on-return-to-normal-resolution-friday-at-3-p-m Where is McLean County? MIA? Add Clark County: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/clark-county-to-vote-friday-on-return-to-work-resolution
By: Diane Benjamin READ all the way to the bottom please! The tyrants keeping Illinois shut down have no basis in the law to continue doing so. Start with Chris Koos – his original ordinance #5804: http://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16424/ORD-5824—Emergency-Authorization—032320?bidId= That ordinance references: Koos is basing his Executive Powers on the Governor’s Executive Order. What does the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the TWO properties Normal has been paying property taxes on FOR YEARS that should be exempt? See this story from August of last year: https://blnnews.com/2019/08/11/normal-like-paying-property-taxes-you-dont-owe/ Surprise! The Adelaide property is still listed as taxable (14-32-279-011), the Town now owes another $9,591.86. Previous bills totaled $36,485.88. New total: $46,077.74 The Town owes […]
By: Diane Benjamin Keeping Illinois shut down is a violation of our Constitutional Rights. Pritzker doesn’t care. Since the Republican Party is doing nothing but begging at his feet, We The People need to demand action by the Department of Justice. The DOJ has been filing lawsuits against states that continue to violate religious liberty […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pritzker isn’t using science or law. He is violating due process rights of citizens not able to open their business, travel where they want, or not where a mask. The Edgar County Watchdogs have documented in two stories the Illinois Department of Public Health is the only authority to shut you down, […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hope you haven’t forgotten the Town of Normal billed Stan Nord for fees they “forgot” to charge 3 or 4 owners previous for tapping into the sewer system. The Town had no liens on the property, he was told to pay when he started publicly speaking against Town policies – like […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pre-meeting: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/05/normal-incompetence-and-more/ A 10 minute break was taken after the pre-meeting. The Live Stream was supposed to be fixed. It wasn’t. The incompetence continued. Listen at 1:20:00 for Vasudha Gadhiraju claiming she will fix it. She didn’t, At 1:27:50 she claims it will be fixed today. 12:35 pm, still waiting: Most of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s IT staff continues to show their incompetence. The Live Stream video and the posted recorded video are TINY. Early in the meeting the audio would go out, reappear, and go out again. Why does the Town of Normal tolerate employees who aren’t capable of doing their job? I’ve lost track of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal Trustee Kevin McCarthy is President of: This information is from the Illinois Secretary of State’s website Kevin had a local triathlon scheduled for June 6, it was finally rescheduled to September within the last day or two. Kevin must have hoped he had special powers to change reality by waiting so […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Chicago Sun Times reported yesterday Judge John Lee of the U.S. District Court denied The Beloved Church of Lena’s motion for a temporary restraining order that would’ve allowed them to host services with 80 people. See the story: https://chicago.suntimes.com/stay-at-home-order-constitutional-us-district-court-john-lee-beloved-church-lena-illinois Lena, Il is in Stephenson County where only 63 cases of COVID […]
By: Diane Benjamin Part 1: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/01/rivian-back-for-property-tax-abatement/ Part 2: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/03/normal-monday-5-4-2020/ Part 3: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/03/normal-part-3-5-4-2020/ Payments that aren’t supposed to be discussed (per Chris Koos) start on PDF page 9: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3621 This is the second meeting in a row where the Town has refunded money. At the last meeting over $12,000 was refunded including what appears to be […]
By: Diane Benjamin Media was quick to report East Peoria is moving forward with reopening their City. WEEK Live streamed Mayor John Kahl’s press conference on May 1st. The only place I have been able to find it is on the East Peoria’s Facebook page. What I have not heard in any media report is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Some people are more special than others. If Koos appoints you to a Board or Commission it’s because your ideology aligns with his. That is why one Normal seat on the Connect Transit Board is still empty. Koos must have run out of people who think like him. On the agenda for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday’s meeting is going to take more than one story! This is already #2. Previous: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/01/rivian-back-for-property-tax-abatement/ Normal will be holding multiple meetings Monday. At 5:30 two items will be discussed: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3619 If Normal claims the budget is fine when close to half of the population is missing they are either lying or […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ever seen kids throwing a fit in a store when mommy won’t buy them what they want? Ever seen mommy buy it just to shut them up? The local babies won’t get “mommy” to comply. Our leaders know giving into terrorists only makes them stronger. The mom who buys them something to […]
