By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal scheduled ONE day for the Council to review next years budget put together by staff. So far they have met for a little over 9 hours and they aren’t done. They will continue Monday before the Council meeting. Note: 9 hours all at once with a few breaks. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Government’s job is first to preserve and protect freedom for future generations. How is that one working for you? Next, government should only be doing what citizens can’t do for themselves: police, fire, water, sewer and roads. Maybe citizens need to start building their own roads and charge a toll to use […]
Press Release: MCLEAN COUNTY REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN CONNIE BEARD RE: Normal Township races Wednesday evening the drawing for ballot placement took place for the Normal Township races slated for the April 6 Consolidated Election. The Democrat candidates drew first place in order for the Normal Township Races. I wish to congratulate both Amy Conklin and Ray […]
By: Diane Benjamin The law was changed in 2012 to require additional contributions to IMRF retirement fund if employees received large payouts that increased their pension at retirement. (accelerated payments) That law was badly needed because cities and employees never contributed to the higher payouts. Since the spiking practice should now be over in Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course Stan Nord knows taxpayers got fleeced to rent the second floor of 1 Uptown Circle only to fill a hole in Uptown. The Council that approved paying $35000-$36000 a month simply did as they were told. Chris Koos wanted the hole gone and obviously the private sector wasn’t going to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Obviously Connect Transit isn’t building a simply downtown transfer station with your tax dollars. Those State and Federal grants they received are TAX dollars even though that term is never used. All a transfer station needs are lanes for buses to enter and exist and some building to protect riders who are […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, Scott Preston, and Chemberly Cummings want your vote April 6th, does this look like something they would do to get it? The Normal Council held a 9 hour budget session yesterday. Surprise! They aren’t going to raise property taxes this year. Instead they are rearranging money they […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.wglt.org/post/final-coliseum-defendant-pleads-guilty-misdemeanor-agrees-restitution#stream/0 The last Coliseum theft case was settled last week. The two main culprits got off with misdemeanor convictions while 2 low level employees who couldn’t afford to pay lawyers for years now have felony convictions. All 4 received plea deals, another defendant had all charges dropped. The City of Bloomington received […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT and the League of Women Voters are teaming up again for local debates. Nothing is scheduled for anybody running except mayoral candidates: Former County Clerk candidate and current employee of the City of Bloomington thinks all of you who sacrificed to send your kids to college should pay the bill for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Only one Public Comment is worth listening to. Go to 39:40. A guy is upset the Bloomington police post pictures of people of interest on social media hoping the public can help locate or identify the person. Worth listening to for another perspective. This re-zoning got sent back to the Planning Commission. […]
This is Kiplinger, not some conservative outlet trying to play politics: https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/state-tax/601614/least-tax-friendly-states-for-middle-class-families?rid=EML-today&rmrecid=2482908579&utm_campaign=20210126-today&utm_medium=email&utm_source=today Before both Bloomington and Normal decide to raise property taxes, and Unit 5 does again – these were the rates: District 87: 5.144810 City of Bloomington: 1.090100 Unit 5: 5.355410 Town of Normal: 1.032630
(Does Lawler know the Democrats screwed Bernie twice because they know he isn’t electable?) Typos immaterial as well as facts?
By: Diane Benjamin On Bloomington’s agenda tonight Jenn Carrillo wants the Council to petition the Federal and State governments to replace Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous People’s Day. https://blnnews.com/2021/01/22/cancel-culture-back-at-bloomington-monday/ Evidently Jenn doesn’t know the entire month of November is Native American People’s month. Maybe she doesn’t know that’s another way of saying Indigenous People’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Connect Transit Board didn’t meet in December, so January 26, 2021 the Board will review November and December 2020. They finally achieved breaking through the $1,000,000 operating loss and did it both months: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pH-FJxYfLWtjHzbnh98Ge3P6El4HURHu/view November 2020: December 2020: EVERY DOLLAR for “Assistance” is money government took from somebody who earned it. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received a tip for an impeccable source that the Assistant Principal below removed a profile file a student had on his Unit 5 computer because it contained a “thin blue line”. I’m sure you know that represents support for law enforcement. I emailed Mr. Caffey about the incident and got this […]
By: Diane Benjamin A country without history is no longer a country. Since the local socialists want to destroy capitalism, the basis for America, history must be re-written. Instead of studying the foundations of our country and the world it must all be erased. Countries around the world celebrate Christopher Columbus as a great explorer […]
Flying around I’m hearing unsettling information about an Assistant Principal. Details needed! [email protected]
By: Diane Benjamin Tweet from Ward 5 socialist candidate Patrick Lawler: Going to go to their homes Patrick? That is what the radical left does – it’s called intimidation! Poor Lawler only got 5 likes to his tweet, here’s who “liked” it, the first two are also candidates: Communists and socialists Don’t forget Lawler is […]
By: Diane Benjamin At Tuesday’s Normal Town Council meeting Kathleen Lorenz asked why the Intergovernmental Agreement with Connect Transit says both Bloomington and Normal are required to review the CT budget yearly. They never do, but it is in the agreement. Kathleen: Maybe because CT loses $1 MILLION a month and local taxes were raised […]
By: Diane Benjamin While the new president is calling for unity, Tari Renner missed the message. Remember what he called me clear back in 2015? https://blnnews.com/2015/02/10/does-tari-know-that-judy-isnt-running/ “Human cancer” must still be his go-to term for people who have the audacity to have a different opinion, the below were sent to me by a reader. Tari […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the good ol’ days when nobody on the Normal Town Council questioned anything? Those 10 minute meetings have turned into a “justify staff” fun fest where the formally silent must spew forth speech to squelch what they think are rumors. The Council needs to spend at least half of their time […]
By: Diane Benjamin Public comment was only people demanding illegal aliens get the full rights of citizens. At least one comment threatened the Council if they don’t pass a Welcoming Ordinance. Congrats residents! You are labeled racist, a xenophobe, and a white supremist if you don’t agree. One speaker claimed Illinois enacted Home Rule so […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Executive Committee of the McLean County Board met on January 11th. I received a tip about the meeting. First the members: The tip involved text messages sent by Democrat Laurie Wollrab to (fake) Republican Josh Barnett during the meeting. Barnett is part of the “Responsible Cities Pac” with the leftist elites: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Franzetti’s Pantry on East Washington: All I know is the winner is a woman who plays regularly. She won with a $20 scratch off. I hope Illinois has the money to pay her! This happened a couple weeks ago, evidently winning big isn’t news anymore. h/t a reader
By: Diane Benjamin This guy is running for the Decatur City Council: He also posted this: Girdler’s pic shows he could have been high when he wrote the above. Truth is immaterial since the local group wasn’t at the capital when it was attacked and democrats have questioned electors 3 times since 2001. Pesky facts! […]
By: Diane Benjamin Want the Jenn’s running the Bloomington City Council? Her buddies are running as a team. Here is a little of what you can expect if they win: Must not be too popular, that was the only response. They had to respond to themselves. . . . .
By: Diane Benjamin It is only a short time before McLean County will be taken over by Democrat Socialists. The Republicans are doing nothing to stop them. The GOP believes in working together. The local democratic socialists don’t want to work together, they want to control everything. McLean County will soon be run just like […]
By: Diane Benjamin Koos must think lots of people approve of what happened at the US Capital. Hint Chris: They don’t. The videos released over the weekend are outrageous and every participant should be prosecuted. If Koos’s real intent was to vilify the locals who went to DC on January 6th he doesn’t support the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course you didn’t. At least 50% of Bloomington-Normal won’t know there is an election on April 6th either. If you go to the Bloomington Election Commission website (becvote.org) you still won’t know there is early voting going on now for Ward 7. Five people are running which triggered a primary on […]
By: Diane Benjamin The State of Illinois passed police reforms to make us less safe and coddle criminals. Monday night Jenn wants the Bloomington Council to do the same – make sure you read the fine print: PDF page 24: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1100&Inline=True Estimated cost is ZERO? Who is paying staff for the more than 10 hours […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve questioned for YEARS why CIRBN employees are considered Town of Normal employees entitled to all the benefits every other employee has. CIRBN is a direct competitor to other internet providers who don’t have that luxury. The Town of Normal has subsidized CIRBN by using their service and paying them to run […]
By: Diane Benjamin Long time readers will recognize ICMA – International City/County Management Association. For close to a year taxpayers have been spared funding trips to conventions they organize because of COVID. ICMA sends out a newsletter everyday with links to stories about the actions of governments around the country and sometimes the world. Member […]
By: Dian e Benjamin Tari Renner has repeatedly said Bloomington cut staff. He doesn’t mention in 2013 they changed how employees are counted. See the footnote at the bottom of the employees list. What we do know is the budget vastly expanded since 2013 and the number of employees has crept up while the population […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve spent a little time jumping around the new 764 page bill reforming the police nobody who voted on it had time to read. Debate was also cut off. The elected democrat representatives played bobblehead for leadership voted as they were told. Sound familiar? You can see the entire bill here: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/10100HB3653sam002.pdf […]
By: Diane Benjamin Long time followers of the City of Bloomington will remember Bruce Meeks for his frequent public comments. He endlessly fought for transparency. This is Bruce in 2017 at public comment: Bruce was diagnosed with cancer over a year ago. He has been treated in Wisconsin ever since. He has a very short […]
By: Diane Benjamin Do not attend upcoming state capitol protests. This article at the Gateway Pundit explains there is a national alert put out and it smells to me like a false flag or the next step of a playbook to make conservatives look violent and to take away firearms. It only takes a handful […]
