By: Diane Benjamin Loss: $4,084.85 I give up trying to figure this one out! From the below it appears a group rented the BCPA: Why did the City of Bloomington write them a check for the same amount in May? Maybe they paid it twice, maybe they didn’t. My FOIA didn’t help clarify. I’m waiting […]
By: Diane Benjamin I never got around to reporting May 2023 numbers. June is year-end so that loss isn’t available yet. May report: https://www.connect-transit.com/file/1590/06%2027%202023_BoT%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf $3,524,229 for more electric buses! Operating deficit was $1,261,135. (new buses not included) May 2023 Total Fixed Route Ridership: 146,647. Year to Date riders are up 18.36% Don’t get excited. Compare […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Normal bought the two Rivians? The pickup was $73,631. The SUV was $77,931. Both numbers include $1000 down payment. Council thought the two vehicles would be added to the fleet so they could be used as necessary. The pickup has regular plates that no one has ever explained. The SUV […]
By: Diane Benjamin One Public Comment was given at the last School Board meeting by the mom of a bullied student who was punished for defending himself. See 30:55 https://vimeo.com/event/3579210 When the Unit 5 School Board approved contracts on July 19th there was NO DISCUSSION. No recap for the public – nothing. Various Board members […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you want to see all previous stories, click here: https://blnnews.com/?s=Justin+Barr I was contacted yesterday by another alleged victim. The emailer wished she had seen all those stories before signing a contract with him. I referred her to the State’s Attorney and another victim who has a criminal and civil case that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Freedom of Information requests wouldn’t cost near as much if the Town of Normal Clerk wasn’t trying so hard to hide information. I FOIA’d information pertaining to BOTH Rivian vehicles they purchased, I did not receive everything I FOIA’d. It appears the second Rivian vehicle has government plates. The first one doesn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin The most under reported statistic is crimes committed by people who illegally crossed the border. Immigration status is rarely reported. h/t a reader A 24 year old women in Springfield was allegedly stabbed to death by her DACA boyfriend. The person who sent this to me claims she worked for Sen Tammy […]
By: Diane Benjamin Despite the City of Bloomington Information Technology budget being over $6,000,000 this year, last night’s relocated meeting to the BCPA wasn’t live streamed or recorded. Since I opted to picked green beans instead of attend in person, you will have to take WGLT’s word for what happened: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023-07-24/bloomington-council-oks-major-housing-development-near-rivian One thing I’m sure […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why meetings are long: Public Hearing on a new west side development: The annexation will be voted on later in the meeting. Going solar by spending money on design: See the entire packet here: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/25972410-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-d854eb82-3702-4140-9de6-ac3a8e3f379d-1689879654.pdf
By: Diane Benjamin Congressional earmarks were brought back this year by the REPUBLICAN HOUSE. WGLT did a story detailing how Rep Eric Sorensen is bringing home the deficit spending: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023-07-19/b-n-project-grants-advance-in-u-s-house Of course WGLT didn’t mention DC’s money printing is destroying the value of the dollar. Seen inflation? The rate of increase is slowing but it […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent this snip from questions parents are asked when registering their child. There is NEVER a need for a school to talk to your child’s doctor! Answer NO. You are the parent – not the school.
By: Diane Benjamin Have you heard somebody say obscene books for kids were approved by the American Library Association? I sure have. The people who follow that logic may or may not know who is in charge of the ALA. Parents need to know! This is who was elected last year to lead the ALA: […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t opted out of electric aggregation in Bloomington and Normal you are paying than than you could have because both councils chose the higher “green energy” rate. At the last County Board meeting they did the same thing. The Board voted 16-3 to pay $41,776 more for “green” electricity than […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is a glorious beautiful morning! The Canadian smoke is gone for now. Since there is close to NO wind the turbines aren’t turning. I found a newspaper yesterday from October 8, 2006. Then Gov Rod Blagojevich flew in via helicopter to announce a $2.2 million grant to build the first 120 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when the Normal Town Council gave themselves a raise? Koos is making $32,000 a year, Trustees make $6,800. The meeting last night was less than 10 minutes. Andy Byars and Chemberly Harris didn’t show up. It sure looks like that raise wasn’t needed. They will claim they spend a lot of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight the Downs Fire Protection Board is meeting at 7:00 pm. I have no idea what is on the agenda since it isn’t posted online. They have a Facebook page, it would be nice if they would use it for posting agendas! The people of Downs agreed to a tax for local […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4698 Another $1,050 in performance fees for Make Music Normal are on PDF page 11. That brings the total to over $37,000, not including staff time. https://blnnews.com/2023/07/05/how-much-did-normal-charge-you-for-make-music-normal/ There are lots of other performance fees listed the taxpayers get charged for. Call it government approved entertainment. A reader FOAI’d the performance fee for […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) The smoke from Canada is back: 2) The company Bloomington hired to do the $750,000 downtown study is all in on DEI. https://www.cmtengr.com/dei/ The report is due in August. The City keeps using recommendations from old outdated reports like Bring It On Bloomington and the Downtown Bloomington Task Force. How many […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington is allowing yet another PrideFest downtown. Pride month is over, calendars too difficult to navigate? At least Normal had the sense to hold their drag show indoors and after 10:00 pm: https://blnnews.com/2023/06/19/free-drag-show/ Bloomington’s is outside at 7:30 pm and billed as “family friendly”. Why do the performers need […]
By: Diane Benjamin Performance Fee: Profit $5,302
By: Diane Benjamin I’m not going to reveal who is doing this – the Town of Normal knows and refuses to take any action against the property owner. This guy brings bulk waste from rental properties in Bloomington and dumps it in Normal where the Town picks it up for free – eventually. It might […]
By: Diane Benjamin If the citizens of Normal want to believe their government works for them, go for it. The below is from the World Economic Forum website. They are pushing a Smart City plan for cities worldwide. They have “experts” who plan for cities and then members fall in line with the plan. FYI: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mboka Mwilambwe wasn’t there – he’s out of the country. John Danenberger was AWOL. So was Cody Hendricks. Tim Gleason was MIA, of course he has TWO assistants, so Billy Tyus did his job. The only Public comment was Scott Stimeling who once again raged about fireworks. He seems to think whatever […]
By: Diane Benjamin City is handing out ARPA money tonight – American Rescue Plan money is a driver of inflation. Handing out money that has to be borrowed/printed increases the money supply and therefore inflation. There is nothing on the agenda for action other than the Consent Agenda. https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/2595281e-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1688669950.pdf There is a Public Hearing on […]
H/T a Reader Green Top in 2020: “To show our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement we will get permanent signage for our store. We are going to get a Black Lives Matter banner that will hang outside of our store facing Washington Street. We will remove the paper signs taped to the windows.” […]
Steve Deace is a Blaze Radio host and podcaster. If you want to hear a biblical culture view you need to listen to Steve Deace. Spotify site: https://open.spotify.com/show/2pJ9TfiD74kY2oqSYj5186 Steve posted his rules for winning elections on Twitter. He helped turn Iowa redder than Texas, so his opinion is worth posting. So you truly want to […]
Seats for Soldier will happen again this year on July 20-July 21 at the Corn Crib. Details: https://www.cities929.com/2023/06/05/6th-annual-seats-for-soldiers/ The goal this year is to raise $23,000 for Hope for the Warriors. Volunteers can sign up to place flags on seats. You can also donate at the link above. Much more information is available at the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Taxpayers won’t, but I do. The video is 25:28 minutes long. Around 5 minutes is a Liquor Commission meeting before the Council meeting. Around another 5 minutes is Trustee comments, only Chemberly Harris mentioned Make Music Normal, it shows she doesn’t care what you think about a taxpayer funded drag show, just […]
This is across the street from me in rural Ellsworth. It didn’t look like this last week!
By: Diane Benjamin I hope you were able to take Monday off, the Town of Normal was supposed to meet since that was the first Monday in July. Of course they needed a 4 day weekend instead. Agenda and Packet: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4685 I was in Normal on July 3 to see The Sound of Freedom at […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of the below are payments made to performers (MMM). This is likely not the complete list. Not included is the staff time it took to hire and pay all these performers. It also doesn’t include advertising. Government entertainment means government gets to pick your entertainment, not you. Normal doesn’t want to […]
Read Original Sources, not re-imagined history being taught to your kids. If you don’t teach your kids the truth they will hate America. No leaders had ever made this declaration before July 4, 1776: We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with […]
Central Illinois Housing Network is holding another fundraiser at Casper Brewing Company from 3:00-9:00. They are raising funds to help vets in our community with much needed home repairs. This story is one example from last September: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/02/this-group-is-helping-veterans-and-worthy-of-support/ Food and LIVE music will be available. Please consider supporting this worthy organization! Home Repairs for Heroes […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m posting this fundraiser because finding and prosecuting people who traffic in child porn and abuse children need removed from society. I also trust the guy trying to raise money – Chad Berck. He sent this information to me: I’m currently raiser money for Operation Underground Railroad. I’m trying to get $10,000 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Read WGLT’s version: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023-06-30/former-town-council-member-sues-normal-over-high-haven-cannabis-dispensary-permit Jeff Fritzen would get a lot more support if he hadn’t sided with the Town of Normal against the citizens who wanted representation according to Illinois law. He sided with the Town instead. If you haven’t heard, Pritzker signed the legislation making Normal the only Incorporated Town that […]
