IEA tracks Covid – must see

By: Diane Benjamin IEA is Illinois Education Association. According to their website 135,000 teachers are members. Check out this link: https://ieanea.org/resources/iea-degrees-not-debt/. (Hint: They want you stuck with their college debt) IEA created a graph of COVID problems around Illinois, they want teachers to be safe. See it here: https://ieacovidtracker.org/ This isn’t current data, it’s data […]

In case you thought local schools were making mask decisions:

By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Fieldcrest posted their mask policy on Facebook. I broke their letter into 3 parts and below each posted parts from the letter Tri-Valley wrote. Somebody (Regional Superintendent of Schools?) wrote a template and sent it to schools, the two are way to much alike. I bet you will find […]

GOP Accountability – Your questions are needed!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDATE: February 7, 2022CONTACT:       Connie Beard, Chairman                        McLean County Republicans                        Email: [email protected]                        Cell: (309) 824-9394  MCLEAN COUNTY REPUBLICANS CREATING CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE McLean County Republicans have created a Candidate Assessment and Accountability Review Committee (CAAR). The Committee is seeking public input into a questionnaire that will be provided to prospective and incumbent candidates for local office. The first round of […]

Government Logic: Normal

By: Diane Benjamin The big controversy at last night’s Normal Council meeting was borrowing $2.5 million over 10 years from a local bank to build the East Side Fire Station. Facts: That $2.5 million becomes $2,703,939 which means Normal is redistributing $203,939 from your pocket to Busey Bank. Kathleen Lorenz claimed this is good for […]

Normal tonight

By: Diane Benjamin Town of Normal doesn’t think they have to un-pass the resolution the council passed on 1/4/2022: Resolution Authorizing Participation with National Fitness Campaign for Installation of a Fitness Court Just because the “grant” was rescinded doesn’t mean NFC is dead. The resolution needs rescinded. If it isn’t rescinded the issue isn’t dead. […]

Evil

By: Diane Benjamin Did the local school district’s leadership even blink when Judge Grischow ruled masking kids EVIL? “Statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of Executive Orders and Emergency Rules … This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain.” Her statement called Pritzker EVIL! We are […]

5 things you need to know:

By: Diane Benjamin 1) Pritzker has instructed his Attorney General to immediately appeal the judge’s ruling yesterday calling masks “evil” and making them optional. https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/judge-blocks-schools-enforcing-pritzkers-mask-vaccine-mandates-refers?utm_source=breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter Dictators don’t go down easy/ 2) Somebody in Old Farm Lakes was tired of waiting for a snowplow, they used a snowblower to make a path. The Bloomington website shows […]

Travel the trail in Normal? Bring a shovel

By: Diane Benjamin Remember last year when the trails in Normal were plowed before the streets? https://blnnews.com/2021/02/18/fly-on-the-wall-trail-snow-removed-before-streets/ I remember staff saying Parks and Rec had special equipment just for snow removal on the trail that can’t be used on the roads. Trust is earned, does the Town of Normal earn yours? That special equipment must […]

Bloomington Fireman #6

By: Diane Benjamin I don’t know if it’s Bloomington who has a criminal problem with their firefighters or if other departments are just better at hiding malfeasance. Number 6 was charged with domestic violence last December. The charges aren’t for beating up his wife, they are for beating up his girlfriend the wife evidently knew […]

Bloomington pushed BEC out of the Government Center

By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Election Commission got their space in the Government Center downgraded when Bloomington offices moved in. Now they got pushed out so Bloomington’s Legal Department can move in. BEC (which shouldn’t exist because it duplicates the services of the County Clerk) is moving to the building next door: https://www.instantstreetview.com/@40.479618,-88.993312,178h,-2.59p,0z,wpb1CabIaO1Ad8groyQ-XQ The address […]

Scott Preston’s positive change (ugh)

By: Diane Benjamin Just re-elected Normal Trustee Scott Preston has announced he wants to dump Normal for a higher office: He doesn’t live in the District now: Preston didn’t bother to tell voters last April he wasn’t planning on staying around if he wins. Worse, Preston claims to be a Republican while voting at least […]

What Departments are still at Bloomington’s Old City Hall?

By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/01/26/no-vote-bloomington/ I received two responses to my original FOIA request wanting a list of what departments are at the Olive Street address, luckily both gave me the same information: Human Resources, Parks & Rec, Legal, Finance, IT Now you know everything I know! Other than the “Hub” and […]

Unit 5 – Unlocked links

By: Diane Benjamin See this link on the Unit 5 website: https://www.unit5.org/domain/3645 Go to the bottom of that page: Recognizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work in our Schools Formerly some of the links inside the recognitions didn’t work – they said request access. I FOIA’d that information, the links now work. What were they hiding? […]

McLean County: Cannabis tax?

By: Diane Benjamin https://mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/8520 The McLean County Justice Committee is meeting this afternoon. One item on the agenda caught my attention: PDF page 236: This item was placed on the agenda by Cassy Taylor, County Administrator. I emailed her yesterday morning for an explanation, no response yet. Appropriation means spending or possibly transferring the funds […]