By: Diane Benjamin’ Update to your electric bills skyrocketing: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/27/expect-painful-bills/ The Ecology Action Center put out more than Bloomington did about the increase: https://ecologyactioncenter.org/aggregation2022/ The shortened version is government shut down coal fired power plants with no way to replace the electricity they generated and what is replaced is more expensive. Government declared war on […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader (I can’t find everything myself!) Central Catholic High School will have a new principal: https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/mcgraw-named-principal-at-central-catholic-high-school/article_1a2cc2ca-c749-11ec-99f0-9309f7f83754.html The article states Chris McGraw works for Unit 5 now. It doesn’t say what else he does at Unit 5. https://www.unit5.org/domain/3645 Page down, his name is there. He’s part of the District EQUITY team […]
By: Diane Benjamin Documentation for Normal Monday night: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4283 Start on PDF page 40. Is Pam Reece going to take another job and relocate if Normal doesn’t give her a raise? Doubtful since her husband is a local lawyer. Since staff prepares the budget, Reece budgeted her own raise: PDF page 41 claims Reece’s salary […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Health Department hasn’t updated their cases page since 4/22/2020: They probably will now: https://health.mcleancountyil.gov/708/CORONAVIRUS-COVID-19 Note: Total cases: 50,506 Total deaths: 366 In other words, people in McLean County that caught COVID had less than a 1% chance of dying. Start listing the ramifications now.
By: Diane Benjamin Don’t feel sorry for the Pantagraph if Connect Transit decides to use Bloomington’s parking garage on West Market for their new downtown transfer station. They sold it in 2016. Feel sorry for Oak LLC, they own it: From the Recorder’s website: Bloomington is tired of repairing the Market Street garage and they […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Commerce Bank location at 104 Broadway in Uptown Normal is closing in just a few days. If you have never heard of ESG scores, it is here and detrimental to everything American. Start getting informed here: https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/esg-definition-meaning/ Large corporations are being forced to adopt ESG. Commerce Bank is all in: https://www.commercebank.com/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility/esg […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you forgot, the State of Illinois passed and Pritzker signed SB 818 last summer. This bill enshrines in law the sexualization of your children: https://blnnews.com/2021/06/15/sb-818-sexualizing-your-kids/ Schools are ordered to teach and groom your kids with information that should be between parents and their children. If your neighbors were caught with […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.cityblm.org/government/city-council/municipal-electric-aggregation I’m only posting this section of the Bloomington website because it will soon disappear. It shows the electricity rate residents are paying now if they didn’t opt out of municipal aggregation: Remember .0433 (4.33 cents) Since this agreement expires in June the City negotiated a new 3 year contract: https://www.cityblm.org/Home/Components/News/News/8945/18 The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mboka should be ashamed of himself for re-appointments made last night. Instead interviewing candidates that I know applied to fill expiring terms, he re-appointed Tari Renner’s picks. It’s a sad day for Bloomington when people who haven’t been involved aren’t allowed to even meet with the mayor. How about some people that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yes folks, the Bloomington Council meeting was 4 hours last night. I heard a radio person say something astounding yesterday: We have never been a nation of laws, we are a nation of wills. That explains why some people get away with crimes the rest of us would get life sentences or […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 has held 2 events with citizens because they want a tax increase. The last one is virtual tonight: Question that needs answered: Why did salaries increase in 2020: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/01/unit-5-did-esser-funds-inflate-salaries/ The number of employees and students decreased from 2019 but salaries increased over 7%. Was that a planned increase to push […]
By: Diane Benjamin March reports for tomorrow’s meeting: https://www.connect-transit.com/file/571/04%2026%202022_Board%20of%20Trustees%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf . Revenue: $115,067.82 Expenses: $1,131,101.01 Operating loss: $1,016,033.19 .Revenue Revenue didn’t even cover Group Health Insurance for the month: $123,949.81 Fixed Route: We don’t know how many people were counted twice because they had to change buses. Connect Mobility: Remember when I reported on “microtransit” from […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1166&Inline=True Bloomington has elevated water storage that has never been used: https://blnnews.com/2015/08/04/more-ineptness/ Maybe in December it can at least be decorated for Christmas. It stands as a monument to incompetency by the designer/engineer and the failure of City officials to hold whoever did it accountable. Monday night the Council will approve just […]
By: Diane Benjamin Local GOP leadership: Remember when this group voted FOR a Candidate Assessment and Accountability Review Committee? https://blnnews.com/2022/02/08/gop-accountability-your-questions-are-needed/ That new committee was flooded with volunteers because grassroot Republicans are tired of democrats running as Republicans. See the ILGOP, at a Lincoln dinner in Sangamon County the only representative allowed to speak was Richard […]
By: Diane Benjamin The BN Economic Development Council should be using their own tools to improve Bloomington-Normal instead of supporting taxpayer subsidized housing in Normal. A calculator to compare the Cost of Living is right on their website: https://www.bnbiz.org/coli Did you know the Cost of Living is higher in Bloomington-Normal than other cities? Both Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin Every time Normal wants something big they recruit local elites for Public Comment to praise the project. Last Monday was no exception. Former mayor Paul Harmon spoke both at the beginning of the meeting and the end. Patrick Hoban, the President and CEO of the local Economic Development Council was first up. […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you browse the Illinois Board of Education website, they have plans for your kids FROM BIRTH. The below shows the kids belong to them, the parents do not have a right to know anything that happens at school. One things is clear however. Kids struggling with any identity issues are much […]
By: Diane Benjamin In 2020 District 87 spent $21,700 on: Social-Emotional Learning is now law in Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Education keeps changing the standards, see this link for the current plan from Kindergarten through 12th grade: https://www.isbe.net/Documents/sel-stds.pdf#search=social%20emotional See the bottom right-hand corner of page 1. These standards don’t expect teachers to be […]
By: Diane Benjamin Earmarks are a way the elected officials in Washington DC claim to bring federal dollars back to their district. Often bills can’t get passed unless these “gifts” are tacked on to bills. House and Senate members tell leadership they will vote for some ridiculous bill is you give me X. Earmarks were […]
By: Diane Benjamin Local election are early next year. Those who think you should pay for the below need replaced: The slide below was shown during presentation at Bloomington Council on Regeneration/Preservation of older neighborhoods. It was part of the staff presentation: Since Hawthorne Hills doesn’t need Regeneration/Preservation, what area of the City are they […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal meeting was almost 3 hours long. The Council voted to accept the MOU for building Trail East and West, the only no vote was by Stan Nord because of the subsidies it will require. The land will be given away. Just hit play below to hear the most […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1164&Inline=True Bloomington will hear from Connect Transit tonight concerning their budget. You will hear it’s essential to lose at least $1 million a month. Next the Council will contemplate 4 Council initiatives. Brought by Jamie Mathy who is no longer on the Council. He wanted incentives from the City (your money) to […]
Meet the Prince of Peace now or when you die. Either way, you will still meet the risen Savior. The story of this painting https://akiane.com/product/prince-of-peace/
By: Diane Benjamin What’s missing? In case you haven’t figured it out, nothing on this card says Preston is a Republican. The Illinois GOP picked Scott Preston because he is just like Dan Brady. The ILGOP wants to permanently be in the minority because they make a lot of money and get blamed for nothing. […]
By: Diane Benjamin In a representative government elected officials represent the people, not the organization they are elected to. Pam Reece wants meetings fixed in advance which is why 2 on 1 meetings are held. It’s embarrassing for her to actually have Trustees do what they were elected to do – represent the people paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 will be holding 3 community meetings to convince citizens to give them more money with a property tax increase: Saturday, April 23 -11:30 am to 12:30 pm – Normal West High School, 501 N. Parkside Road, Normal Monday, April 25 – 6 to 7:30 pm – Kingsley Junior High School, 303 Kingsley […]
By: Diane Benjamin Community meetings by Unit 5: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/14/unit-5-community-meetings/ Board President Amy Roser tearfully explains why the District needs more of your money in this video. She claims they have deficits of $13 million which will grow to $26 million in 5 years. She doesn’t mention how it will double in a short time. Things […]
Is State Farm internally sponsoring a Drag Queen contest or did some employee post the notice without permission? (it has been removed) Policy holders need to know how WOKE State Farm is and whether to keep policies with them.
By: Diane Benjamin 63% of District 87 students need remedial education at Community College after spending $12,000 per student per year: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/district.aspx?districtid=17064087025&source=trends&source2=postsecondaryremediation 35% of Unit 5 students also need it after spending $12,000 per student: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/district.aspx?districtid=17064005026&source=trends&source2=postsecondaryremediation Note: Those are the percentages for students who choose to go to college, not every student. Covid is the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received numerous responses to this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/10/anybody-have-a-problem-with-park-hill-cemetery/ Since many stories like the below are on-line in reviews, this should come as no surprise to those who research Park Hill. Short of a group lawsuit it appears these people will not care about service. Reviews show a pattern of Park Hill not […]
By: Diane Benjamin Both Bloomington and Normal will be honoring Gold Star Families with banners along Main Street from Memorial Day through Veterans Day. This link has information about honoring your loved one who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom: https://www.americasgoldstarfamilies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AGSF-Order-Form-Artwork-2022_compressed.pdf See 5:50 on the video below for more details and the proclamation at the […]
April 12th is the 10th anniversary of BlnNews. Seriously, 10 years of writing! I only started writing because local media was already failing 10 years ago. If local politics can’t be fixed, nothing can be fixed. That’s why MOST of what I write is about local issues. I don’t expect people to agree with me, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s brand new budget: https://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/19729/2022-23-Final-Budget PDF page 122: How much is on Line Item 19-90? Flip to PDF page 95: Temporary Detour: Hey Normal: It isn’t difficult to believe you would spend that kind of money for retirements when you bought 1.69 acres $450,000 to build a new fire station! You have […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington could have a short meeting tonight: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1163&Inline=True Some highlights: Is anyone going to ask why businesses keep leaving downtown for the East side? Is anyone going to admit the City Core is Veterans Parkway not downtown? Sick Leave Buy Back is still being paid, it just can’t be used to spike […]
By: Diane Benjamin Before I do I story, I want to see if others have problems with this NOT locally-owned cemetery. Either comment below or email me: [email protected] As a preview, this is a picture of a recent grave. Obviously it doesn’t have enough dirt, flowers were just thrown on top of it:
By: Diane Benjamin BNWRD (Bloomington Normal Water Reclamation District) is holding a meeting on Monday. They send their packet to me every month since documents aren’t on line. I have NEVER seen mention in the minutes of a citizen making Public Comment. That isn’t stopping them from making their policy legal however. Maybe McLean County […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t to Doug Fansler again! Follow-up to this story from a few days ago: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/07/making-evs-affordable-free-electricity/ Tesla owners might have to pay to get out of the Uptown Parking Garage, but they don’t pay for electricity. So, people can spend about as much as we paid for our first house for a car […]
