By: Diane Benjamin So far I haven’t commented on the financial statements Normal released a few weeks ago. It is much easier to show you facts when the Illinois Comptroller gets around to posting the information in a way it is easier to understand. They finally did today. Debt: Look at the Original Issue Amount […]
By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t get around to posting this after the September 20th meeting. Since Normal will be meeting next week, Pam Reece can apologize to Stan Nord then. During comments at the end of the meeting Reece stated that Nord doesn’t agree with spending local motor fuel taxes on sidewalks. Here is her […]
By: Diane Benjamin I talked to a Bloomington resident yesterday who lives in an area that was severely affected by sewage spewing from drains in his basement. He is more interested in getting the problem fixed than financial help. I sent him the links below to information to share with his neighbors. Amazingly most citizens […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of the information below came from the Illinois State Board of Education website: https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Annual-Statistical-Report.aspx During the 1969-1970 school year 2,324,516 students were enrolled in Public Schools. During the 2018-2019 school year 1,984,519 students were enrolled in Public Schools. That’s a 14.63% decrease. Note the increase in bilingual education, see if you […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) 2 more things from Bloomington Council meeting last Monday: Tim Gleason thinks he has to obey whatever Pritzker utters, of course getting money is involved. Gleason is going to require all fire department personnel to be vaccinated or test twice a week. No mention of people who have had COVID and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting, including Township before Council, was over 3 hours. Your representatives look ridiculous behind masks. Normal doesn’t wear them at Council meetings, citizens deserve to see your faces! Of course the camera operator makes seeing faces difficult since it always isn’t in the right location. It was much more fun seeing […]
I emailed Mboka last night about this vote. He answered a few minutes ago. This is the explanation he provided on why a re-vote will be taken: The Illinois Municipal code requires 5 votes one way or another for an ordinance and that’s why it will come back. Had 5 voted against it last night […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jamie Mathy was not at last night’s Council meeting, Ward 6 is still vacant. Therefore, only 7 alderman took part in discussions. The Council had 3 options for how to assist residents that suffered flood damage: (copied from the documentation) Option A: A Resolution in Support of Utilizing the Illinois Housing Development […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/26961/637679239022670000 Evidently what is charged on Credit Cards in Bloomington is now a secret, details used to be listed: The BCPA event report tab doesn’t even have a spot yet for this year. When do we find out how much each show lost (or made)? In 2 days there is a show […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight Bloomington will increase funding to help defray the cost to residents for installing an overhead sewer system. Current funding is $40,000, it will increase to $250,000. Residents are eligible for up to $4,500 after navigating the bureaucracy: https://www.cityblm.org/government/departments/community-development/overhead-sewer-grant-program-application What is an overhead sewer? I found this article from a plumber in […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is always a great event! If you are Pro-Life, here’s your chance to prove it: If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time!  Go to www.bnprcevents.org today!Â
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1134&Inline=True The 2.5% raise is on the Consent Agenda which means nobody will talk about it unless it gets pulled: Tim Gleason’s new salary isn’t reported unless you go to the ordinance to be approved: One more change: Instead of receiving the $550 a month car allowance, the City will be paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night I attended the preview performance of the Evergreen Cemetery Walk. It is a fabulous event that brings local history to life. The acting is superb! The dress worn by the lady portraying Mary Ann Marmon (Jennifer Maloy) is worth the price of admission. Jennifer said it was made by a […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a FOIA request with the Illinois Department of Public Health last week. The data I really want they don’t track! They can’t tell me how many COVID infections today are in fully vaccinated people. That means they also don’t know how many of the cases are in unvaccinated people. IDPH […]
By: Diane Benjamin Racism is so prevalent at ISU you are expected to forget this guy used to run the place: Yesterday the ISU Academic Senate passed a recommendation to require all students to take a course on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in U.S. Society in order to graduate. These courses are classic Karl […]
By: Diane Benjamin Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston claim to be Republicans. This story proves they are fakes. First a quick review of what Enterprise Funds are. Local government decided years ago people need to pay for what they use. Hence, Enterprise funds were created to specifically tax you based on usage. Water is one […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Since I don’t read the Pantagraph, a reader told me what Bill Flick wrote in a column last Sunday. https://pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/flick-from-jimmy-fallon-to-jay-janssen-in-no-time/article_af765d10-bbb8-5b2a-8412-bf30d1fd8685.html Maybe Flick can be forgiven for not knowing the truth since his paper dutifully printed the bogus Profit/Loss numbers reported by the former managers and NEVER the audited numbers […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the residents with damaged property due to flooding last June didn’t show up at Council. They have been to every other Council meeting since June making Public Comments. Maybe they were too appalled the Library would claim $20 million+ was all they need for GLORIOUS while their homes remain damaged […]
WGLT fixed the story, Normal annexed the property years ago. They don’t own it I’m leaning toward WGLT has the story wrong. No records indicate Normal owns the land. By: Diane Benjamin WGLT has a story about last night’s Normal Town Council meeting: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-09-20/council-approves-loves-truck-stop-rv-park-on-30-acre-normal-site I didn’t make it past this paragraph: The Town of Normal […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington reports monthly to the Council and citizens on financial trends. We all can see exactly how much money has been collected for various taxes. Normal doesn’t! Normal dumps all tax revenue in the General Fund, including Local Motor Fuel Tax. Pay attention Kevin McCarthy, you obviously missed City Manager Pam Reece […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal held another meeting that lasted close to 2.75 hours. It will obviously take more than one story to cover it. I’m starting at the end. For the second time recently a citizen had to wait until the end of the meeting to offer Public Comment. This is because of Normal’s ridiculous […]
By: Diane Benjamin This meeting will take more than one story, it was another 2 hour assemblage. The expansion to the library has been taking shape for years, it will not be stopped by this Council. Tari Renner made sure the library stayed downtown, he appointed people to the Library Board who believed it should […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the Financial Trends and Conditions Report? Chris Koos stated he always has it handy. Kathleen Lorenz has stated she can’t wait until it gets published every September. Want to know why the roads never get fixed? https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/19250/2021-Financial-Trend See PDF paged 30. Last Fiscal Year Normal spent the same percent of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4080 Hey Normal: Do you allow the Town of Normal to pick out your clothes? Pick your food? Pick your friends? You are letting them decide your entertainment, these are all people they picked: Normal does this to get people in Uptown. How many taxpayers never participate? They are forced to pay […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1133&Inline=True Committee of the Whole is meeting tonight. Expanding the Library is the main focus. Like true Progressives, all facts don’t matter. The population is immaterial because the Internet didn’t exist in 1976. People do not need to go a library to do research anymore. People don’t need to go a library […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t readers! The Town of Normal thinks it can silence free speech. Of course we knew that, they certainly don’t want to hear from citizens at Council meetings – unless you are going to take their side. Even if you take their side they might make you sit through hours of jibber […]
By: Diane Benjamin I never got around to reporting Connect Transit had a great year! Instead of losing the budgeted $12,825,000, they only lost $11,939,195. They saved taxpayers almost $886,000! Between regular buses and Connect Mobility ridership was down 12.4% from the previous fiscal year. Connect reports Congress is going to throw them more money […]
By: Diane Benjamin Happy Constitution Day. Find a copy and read it before all copies are required to be burned! Thanks to you readers I crossed 8,000,000 page views today. It was less than 2 years ago when I got to 5,000,000. That 89,811 views is for one day. It was a story that went […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s really sad when government thinks they have the right to force people to comply based on a façade of fear. Is Reece just trying to get more Pritzker money? Want to know why Pritzker hasn’t allowed the legislature to make laws concerning COVID? He doesn’t want Illinois to find out the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when the Normal Town Council told Pam Reece to make getting the Town out of the $36,000 a month lease for the 2nd story of 1 Uptown Circle a priority? Remember, that building would have never been built if the Town hadn’t agreed to rent an entire floor. Remember too the […]
McLean County property taxes – 2nd installment is due today. Not everyone who read The Chemberly Chronicles story watched her speech. It is vital that you do. It proves what she will be saying to the kids who sign up for her “government class”. Your tax dollars should not be used for her propaganda. Remember […]
By: Diane Benjamin I actually heard this story from two readers. Chris Koos had a small hole in the street right in front of his driveway. He not only got the hole fixed, but the entire approach to his driveway was torn out. One reader told me the sidewalk in front of his house was […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a FOIA request before this story came out, but it proves why the data is important: https://www.sj-r.com/obituaries/i0039023 A lady from Springfield died, this statement was in her obituary: I didn’t redact her name because the story is all over Facebook. I’m sure her family is devastated, but how can they […]
By: Diane Benjamin The three second clip I posted earlier this week of Chemberly Cummings throwing Martin Luther King under the bus is from the June 1, 2020 Council meeting. Her entire speech is below as well as Karyn Smith’s tearful response and Chris Koos stating we have to agree with Chemberly’s lived experience. No […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader FOIA’d the Town of Normal over their “sympathy flowers” policy. The Normal taxpayers are paying for arrangements to be sent in sympathy to people Normal chooses to send them to. Picking Winners and Losers Normal? Are the people paying the bills ever told who flowers or plants are sent to? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is an email I received from a taxpayer in Normal. The name is redacted but this person is pretty sure Normal will know who sent it. This confirms what Stan Nord has said over and over, Normal doesn’t care what citizens think. Add this to the list of homes with dirty […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder how many of the people with sewage in their basements bothered to vote in past local elections. I’m betting many didn’t because turnout is despicable. City Councils are the ones who destroy you the fastest, think Coliseum, BCPA, a never used fire station, and a water tower built to short […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder if all those forced to wear masks want some facts? https://www.justfacts.com/news_face_masks_deadly_falsehoods?fbclid=IwAR3w0hYCTSU4_Dpkpdxg4O08gaAjTZLtpDnTro5Q1HuuWrcKoHPmdgO6meY Where do local communists come from? Public Schools? College? The history of how many people died and continue to die under communism must not be taught. Maybe this guy just wants everything handed to him instead of being self […]
