By: Diane Benjamin I lost trust in Tri-Valley a few years ago when they paid off some bonds and then put another bond issue for the same amount on the ballot. Evidently TV taxpayers don’t ever want to see their property taxes decrease because they approved it. In the next few years they are plotting to do it […]
By: Diane Benjamin All previous electric bus stories: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/30/3-more-shocking-emails-electric-buses/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/30/foia-emails-from-rivian-to-connect-transit/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/24/connect-transit-random-finds/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/23/one-more-connect-transit-for-now/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/23/proterra-is-solyndra/ From this story: How much of your money has been wasted on Proterra buses? Since ADHD is both a blessing and a curse, I could have missed some payments. Note, Proterra filed for bankruptcy in August of 2023. The oldest electric buses are two […]
By: Diane Benjamin 3 more Connect transit emails I received via FOIA: 1) This one is from Proterra, the writer appears to be joking that a new bus made it to 900 miles. 2) Proof the electric buses are a joke – a many millions of dollars joke. The problems existed long before Proterra filed for bankruptcy. 3) I […]
By: Diane Benjamin I know some of you read stories on your phone and emails I post can be difficult to read on a small screen. Here’s the recap: A Rivian employee wrote an email to Connect Transit because she considers them “experts in the Electric vehicle industry”. The email is dated November 28, 2023. Rivian was having problems […]
h/t a reader See petitions in this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/29/its-not-the-states-job-to-parent-your-kids/ Why do schools need to know your child’s sexual orientation? To exploit the answer? From Unit 5’s 2021 Equity Audit, feelings change daily especially in kids. Unit 5 wants to affirm self-identities with no guidance from parents: (note developing – what did they develop?)
By: Diane Benjamin Public Schools in Illinois are a threat to your job as parents. A group called Parents Matter Coalition wants to put this on the November ballot: Advisory Question of Public Policy on the Right to Parent . See this website for more information: https://www.parentsmattercoalition.org/ You can download petitions with instructions at that link. Get involved! Schools should not […]
By: Diane Benjamin Something you probably didn’t notice: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/f2efd24f88047e9277e32f4da448e4460.pdf You might know him better from this:
By: Diane Benjamin See this story: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/5-illinois-metro-areas-await-pandemic-recovery-most-add-jobs-in-december/ Can anyone explain why Bloomington is losing jobs? Are business owners leaving this wonderful town because it can’t suck enough money out of your pockets? Are illegals working for cash and taking jobs away from citizens? Imagine how much worse it would be without Rivian!
By: Diane Benjamin One Earth Energy is now courting Gibson City for Co2 sequestration. See this article: https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/environment/gibson-city-companys-proposed-co2-pipeline-concerns-environmental-group/article_60f24002-2192-589e-a42a-4d3824f3707d.html Excerpt: Pamela Richart said a number of companies are eager to proceed with such projects because of the tax credits available from the federal government. “Developers can get $85 a ton for this and make billions of dollars,” she […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s getting more difficult to match event reports with artists fees because the dates listed are frequently wrong. I don’t know if all the performance fees stating 12/15/23 are actually for that date. I haven’t found an artist fee dated 12/20. If all apply to 12/15 that show lost a lot of money. Look at the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sometimes people deserve to be laughed at. Start with this meme from Able’s Facebook page: . Israel is a foreign country that was attacked on October 7th. They don’t care what Chicago’s mayor says! Maybe Israel should call out Chicago for all the daily violence and schools that don’t educate – just babysit. Progressives just want chaos. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Council met yesterday afternoon after canceling Monday night’s meeting due to ice. It was short even with 3 Public Comments. Just hit play below to hear the first two. The new hockey owners made a brief presentation with slides that aren’t on video. The person who films at night usually switches the view so people […]
By: Diane Benjamin How did Rep Sharon Chung and Senator Dave Koehler write the exact same letter on the same day?
By: Diane Benjamin The vote to confirm Chris Koos to the Amtrak Board was 91-7. Two Senators didn’t vote. Seven Senators voted against him: See the vote here: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1182/vote_118_2_00014.htm#position I wish Mike Braun, Josh Hawley, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Eric Schmitt, Rick Scott, and Tommy Tuberville would state why!
By: Diane Benjamin The Connect Transit Board met last night. The only mention of their electric buses was in connection to a new propaganda campaign that will be launching. (They call it marketing) Goal: You will proud of your local bus system! Part of the campaign will be wrapping all the buses – except electric ones. Only one is running so why […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader It’s going to be hard to see, but this is a City of Bloomington truck dumping salt at a private gas station – corner of Main and Oakland. Did they salt your business or is this just a “government friend”?
By: Diane Benjamin I have not finished reading everything I received. There is likely more to report. Make sure you read to the bottom. Connect’s General Manager doesn’t want you to know any of this. Refer back to the HUGE November loss: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/23/connect-loses-more-than-the-coliseum/ Salaries were almost twice normal. I thought Connect had a hiring spree of drivers and were no longer […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Connect Transit Board meets at 4:30 today. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFica7k-pGY Will any of the below be discussed? 🤣😂 Remember when Solyndra was supposed to create a ton of solar panels, got tons of federal money, and then declared bankruptcy. Of course no one was ever held accountable, so this “making friends of government […]
By: Diane Benjamin November is a new record loss. See wages and stay tuned. This is going to take more than one story. I have proof the Proterra Electric buses are junk. Connect has 12. One might still be operating, the count of working electric buses changed weekly. It never went up – only down. Many millions of your tax dollars were […]
Meeting was rescheduled for Wednesday because of the ice. By: Diane Benjamin Payroll for the last meeting showed 1009 employees: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/08/bloomington-employee-increase-are-they-making-your-life-better/ Tonight’s payroll shows many less: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30014/638410997409630000 4 years ago for the same payroll period the City had 783 employees: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/23757/637153013415300000 Is your life better now? Growing government is what progressives do (you pay!) Tim Gleason will announce […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/20/more-coliseum-event-reports-%f0%9f%98%ab/ I didn’t have the artist fee for this one: Now I do: -$20,988.67 A clean losing sweep!
By: Diane Benjamin We know Connect Transit bought electric buses from Proterra – they PAID for them: https://blnnews.com/2023/08/25/did-connect-transit-throw-away-9-million/ Those buses were paid for in 2022 and 2023. Maybe staff didn’t have time in the last 2 years to update the website, but under Connect Transit Fleet no electric buses are listed: https://connect-transit.com/about/our-fleet There are 39 diesel buses and […]
Anybody else hear the elites are trying to house illegals at Eastland Mall? (your tax dollars at work) If Bloomington-Normal is so prosperous, why did most of the stores close?
By: Diane Benjamin If you missed the update to this story – see it now: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/19/bloomington-threw-themselves-a-party/ Lesson: Government isn’t capable of BIG things. They regularly waste your money on things you didn’t ask for while not doing the things your expect them to do. It’s seems safe to assume payments for the artists are NOT reflect on this reports. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos’ 3rd nomination to the Amtrak Board is finally happening. Note the quorum requirement had to be waived to move it forward, it looks like the whole Senate will vote next week. Voiding rules makes this nomination perfect! https://www.congress.gov/nomination/118th-congress/15?loclr=cga-nomination
Only ONE person noticed this happened in 2017? By: Diane Benjamin I was looking for something else when I found this: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/14804/636432458496930000 . Chris Koos throws a party too, since he spends many thousands of dollars that made me wonder how much this party was. I FOIA’d the cost. Of course staff time isn’t included, invitations if Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin I don’t comment on NextDoor but reading the comments is interesting. Somebody posted this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-01-16/bloomington-mayor-says-migrant-arrivals-are-an-opportunity The comments below prove the immigration extremists showed up at the County Board meeting to protest Chuck Erickson’s ordinance. The opposite side stayed home and vented on their keyboard. Which side affects votes by elected officials? Obviously, not most of these […]
By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t get a chance to watch Bloomington’s Committee of the Whole meeting until yesterday. The City has the same goal they’ve had for decades: Get people downtown. All the empty buildings will never be developed until you comply, so your tax dollars will be “invested” yet again. If at first (or second or third) you don’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin Public Access issued a ruling yesterday finding the County Board Executive Committee violated the Open Meetings Act on November 13th when they didn’t let Jackie Beyer speak. The County policy demanding people sign up 24 hours in advance to speak violates OMA. The County tried to claim that even though the written policy on […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-01-16/bloomington-mayor-says-migrant-arrivals-are-an-opportunity?fbclid=IwAR3sk1vSuXaYjJpAoVD7JzKIiefInecaDL3F2HE4CZuaX7RlA2UXXaVG24Q_aem_Ac-7erlnSRtzkVEj2ctv7mKVdaRhb_7AO3U0opqMbcMf0h77UtpKx_QX-t_C6tOdMA0 Elections for local offices – like Bloomington Mayor – will be early in 2025. Since few vote Mboka could easily be re-elected by the majority who vote socialist. He won’t run as a socialist because that’s a loser, he just needs to act socialist. Read the story, he welcomes people illegally in this […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ever hear old socialists claim socialism works, it just hasn’t been “done right” yet? https://indyfuelhockey.com/news/2024/01/echl-approves-expansion-team-for-bloomington-illinois?fbclid=IwAR0DUNbpdJRU-hb_t0NIK5p_tgmb_tv_VRZTwX0WuamFTEAcZIf43UKQ7zc Hallett Sports & Entertainment out of Indianapolis will be bringing a hockey team to Bloomington later this year. That story is still calling the Coliseum Grossinger Motors Arena. Grossinger quit paying years ago when they went out of business […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the Menu at the top of BlnNews.com – I added a tab for BNWRD docs. Since the Bloomington Normal Water Reclamation District doesn’t have a website, you won’t see the docs anywhere else. The Board is meeting today. Of note is an RFP they will issue for solar. See PDF page 95. SPPA stands […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is the official talking points the Connect Transit General Manager posted on Facebook: I received a tip that had NOTHING to do with a parts shortage, I filed a FOIA request on January 8th. It was due last Monday but Connect extended the request until the end of business next Monday. (1/22/24) The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why are water mains in newer subdivisions breaking? If 30 year old pipes break the City will never catch up replacing lead and older pipes before they break. Where is the press release or Social Media post? Lots of citizen chatter, I haven’t found anything official. Maybe everybody is off today. Say a prayer for the people […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video is linked in this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/14/pritzker-we-dont-have-places-for-more-migrants/ If you listen to the whole interview, around 24:00 Pritzker claims Trump didn’t sign the optional loyalty oath. He claims that means Trump doesn’t believe in the Constitution. That must mean local Democrat District 8 candidate Eric Hansen doesn’t either. He didn’t include a signed and notarized copy […]
By: Diane Benjamin The only “political games” being played are by the Biden administration who opened the borders to create chaos. Pritzker blames Republicans, specifically the Texas governor who has sent a tiny percent of his illegals north to states and cities who SAID they are sanctuary cities! Who is lying JB? Did JB remove Illinois sanctuary status? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Beginning the path to being REAL NEWS started when WGLT reported this: https://blnnews.com/2023/11/17/3-things-you-need-to-know-4/ . Unit 5 won’t tell you how many of those students are ‘immigrants”, they claim they don’t ask. This week WGLT did journalism again: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-01-11/immigration-advocate-says-dozens-of-bused-migrants-are-already-living-in-mclean-county Bused illegals from the southern border are already here! The Immigration Project can’t say exactly how many however: […]
