By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4120/files/agenda/15111 Another retiree was allowed to spike the lavish pension non-government employees will never see. This is on Bills and Payroll for tonight: PDF page 8 https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/33157/639256856095570000 Bloomington taxpayers will be paying the retirement fund (IMRF) a penalty to fund this. . Only one item is on the Regular Agenda: . […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader who obtained the below from a person who filed a FOIA BEFORE Ty Carlton filed a lawsuit. When I filed a FOIA for it I didn’t get it. Review the Carlton case if you forgot: https://blnnews.com/2026/08/13/remember-ty-carlton/ Defendants in this case are: City of Bloomington Chief Simington Chad Wamsley – […]
By: Diane Benjamin I can’t wait to see how many anti-semites will be voting against Israel in Bloomington and Normal. I’m sure the local Jewish community will want to see how many enemies they have locally. Where is Not In Our Town? MIA. I bet the YES voters would be happy living in Gaza where […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/109/Filing-an-Assessment-Complaint I copied and sorted the Equalization Factors from that page. They are listed from highest to lowest. Some townships are getting hit really hard. This website has a good explanation of what is happening: https://www.cutmytaxes.com/what-is-illinois-equalization/ The Illinois Department of Revenue conducts their own sales ratio tests on all 101 counties […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader If you live in Bloomington or Normal and haven’t opted out of electric aggregation, you are pay more. Winter will be even worse – Ameren just lowered their winter rates: . The aggregation rate both cities opted you into is: Direct Energy will be the new supplier starting with […]
By: Diane Benjamin On Facebook Beirne is accusing McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael of being deceptive about the number of employees in her office. HR has told him and others how many full time employees are in that office, he evidently is having trouble reading. He really wants a democrat running local elections – anything […]
By: Diane Benjamin Campaign signs are being stolen, the only ones I’m aware of are Republican signs. I suggest candidates attach an Apple Air Tag on one likely to be stolen and track it’s demise. 😊 Far left radicals found out they can get Advisory questions on the ballot by going through Township Annual Meetings. […]
By: Diane Benajmin I know people who regretted voting early. The next month will produce a lot of information that isn’t yet available. Foreign governments will be interfering in national elections. 40 days is ridiculous and only meant to bank votes so one side knows how many votes they need to produce before election day. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video below was sent to me by a reader. Comments that reader included: This is video from my dashcam on Locust in Bloomington at the trail crossing. A car stopped in front of me and waves the runners on. The other lane of traffic had no idea of what was going […]
By: Diane Benjamin What was learned at the Committee of the Whole meeting: The State usurped local control over regulating E-Mobility. A local consortium will develop rules so people don’t have to worry about inconsistent laws anywhere in the County. E-bikes etc are allowed on Constitution Trail, probably subject to speed limits that no one […]
By: Diane Benjamin Krystle proudly declares she is a progressive. She knows most people think that means she wants to make life better for you. It doesn’t. It means redistributing taxes to who she deems are worthy. If that means everyone else needs to pay more, she doesn’t care because the collective good is essential. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4133/files/agenda/15090 Two items are on the Agenda: Both presentations are scheduled for 10 minute presentations and 15 minutes Council discussion. Isn’t it nice the people’s business has a time limit? Of course they can always vote for more time if needed. Of course they can vote to not allow more time […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you saw some on-line geniuses claims the $2,000,000 BNWRD gave to the Children’s Discovery Museum wasn’t really $2,000,000 – the real story is worse. BNWRD borrowed that $2,000,000 so with interest the real cost is higher: PDF page 37: https://blnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/September-2026-Board-Packet-reduced-size-1.pdf . You probably know the local Boys and Girls Club […]
By: Diane Benjamin How many students did Unit 5 have last year? I don’t know because the Illinois Report Card website hasn’t been updated since the 2024-2025 school year. Once again, government transparency doesn’t exist. I do know 2 years ago the district had 12,219 students: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/district.aspx?source=studentcharacteristics&Districtid=17064005026 I FOIA’d Unit 5 for how many they […]
By: Diane Benjamin If Bloomington wanted to be transparent, ALL costs pertaining to shows would be on the event reports. They believe booking future shows would be affected if bookers knew how much was paid for previous shows. Therefore, if any of the below is incorrect – blame the City. A new fiscal year started […]
By: Diane Benjamin Read this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-09-15/bnwrd-steps-in-to-solve-colonial-meadows-water-woes The Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District (BNWRD) charges monthly and on property tax bills. Both will go up because they need your money. Meanwhile, BNWRD is giving the Children’s Discovery Museum $2 million for an exhibit. Slick move! One unit of government taxes you more so another unit of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Bernie Sanders could have been the Democrat nominee for president before the process was “fixed” against him? Democrats used to know he could never win. Krystle Able would vote for him. . Labor didn’t create a 40 hour work week, Henry Ford did 12 years before the Fair Labor Standards […]
By: Diane Benjamin Please note that Not In Our Town doesn’t care about hate speech from the left. It is a fraudulent organization created to stifle the right’s free speech. NIOT has said nothing about this. I have reason to believe the author is a local elected official. If he thinks I’m offended by this […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4107/files/agenda/15071 Nothing is on the Regular Agenda. Upcoming elections have a way of stopping nonsense spending and tax increases which might affect the outcome. The Council will be meeting in private however: , The Council only has one employee – City Manager Jeff Jurgens. Is he due for another raise […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Township Supervisor has two 40 hour a week jobs. This is Krystle Able’s other job: . The lesson Krystle Able never learned: . Anyone who attends didn’t either. Why? Look at who has 45 minutes at 2:00. . This is the ISU communist: . From the 2025 tax return for […]
. Property Tax Crisis in Illinois Like a fierce thunderstorm with tornado-force winds, the property tax system in Illinois forces tax payers to take cover wherever they can. Insurance companies scramble to avoid paying claims after a major storm is like JB and his super-majority refusing any and all discussion of property tax reform. In […]
By: Diane Benjamin The population of the McLean County jail has been higher that usual for about the last week. The increase wasn’t related to a long holiday weekend. This morning it shows 251 inmates, it had been closer to 120. If you download the McLean County Sheriff’s Office App, you can see who is […]
By: Diane Benjamin We have AI—Grok, ChatGPT, etc. Ask them any question and you will get a far better answer than Google. Ask more than one if you have a complex question. Compare the results; the difference might surprise you. Many think we now have AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).AGI is generally understood as AI capable […]
By: Diane Benjamin This Labor Day celebrate local governments stealing your hard earned dollars. A home in Bloomington property tax history: . In 10 years, 2016 to 2025, property taxes increased 47.2%. The assessed value in 2016 was $75,995, in 2025 it was $119,493. That is an increase of 57.24%. The left side is taxes […]
By: Diane Benjamin The first class by Carl Hinshaw teaching homeowners how to protest assessed values was well attended. Carl is doing it again. Whoever set your property value doesn’t get the last word. You can object and win. Carl will show you how. Wednesday October 7th 6-8 pm GOP office – 202 S. Eldorado, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thursday a reckless driver hit a Bloomington fireman directing traffic at an accident scene. Gratefully, he wasn’t seriously injured. The driver was identified because of Flock Cameras. https://www.25newsnow.com/2026/09/03/bloomington-man-arrested-after-allegedly-hitting-firefighter-with-vehicle/ No, we don’t want to live under constant surveillance. Yes, we want crimes like this solved. There has to be someway of regulating use […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Unitarian Universalists Church website: https://uubn.org/wp They call themselves “progressive”. Keep reading, I think the below shows Progressive is the same thing as communist. I was sent this recently: . I wrote about this flyer in April: https://blnnews.com/2026/04/07/who-is-the-arbitrator-of-hate/ Note: The church abbreviation (UUBN) and their address is on the flyer. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Does ISP think FOIA laws don’t apply to them? You decide. If records can’t be found for a recent local investigation, does that mean the investigation was closed? You decide. If it is closed, shouldn’t they announce there is no investigation since it was VERY likely initiated for use as a campaign […]
By: Diane Benjamin This post was made by Unit 5 music teacher and County Board member Corey Beirne who is running for reelection: . A music teacher is teaching kids about sexual identity? Why Corey? Because behind closed doors you can? A US Court of Appeals issued their ruling on August 30th on a case […]
By: Diane Benjamin This WGLT article misses a huge point taxpayers should notice: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-09-01/path-to-resolution-of-shared-sales-tax-dispute-remains-unclear The County, Bloomington, and Normal can’t agree on funding local mental health initiatives. Keep in mind your SALES TAX was increased to fund it. It is your money they are fighting over. Quote: Bloomington City Manager Jeff Jurgens said even after […]
By: Diane Benjamin Rick Perez is a Democrat running for McLean County Board District 3 – the seat George Wendt held. From his Facebook page: . From his LinkedIn – notice it’s the same picture: Perez lives here: Just to verify, this is his statement of candidacy showing the same address: . . He bought […]
By: Diane Benjamin Connect Transit August Board meeting: https://connect-transit.com/file/4587/20260825_Meeting%20Packet.pdf Large expenditures: . Did Connect find a way to get rid of the non-functioning electric buses or are they still parked as a memorial to failed policies? June 30, 2026 report – the fiscal year end: . Operating loss for the fiscal year was $19.5 million. […]
By: Diane Benjamin A new website tracks the amount of JB’s own inherited money he has used to buy Illinois: https://pritzkermoney.org/ In 2022 Pritzker bought Illinois Supreme Court justices – $2,000,000 From 2024-2026 JB funneled $12,000,000 to PACs – $10,000,000 of that want to Juliana Stratton’s Senate primary In 2022 JB spent $350,000 on candidates […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader . Fake history got turned into a musical. Town of Normal Trustee Karyn Smith promoted this event on Facebook. It is being pushed by Unit 5, the Normal Human Rights Commission, Normal Parks and Recreation, and the Normal Public Library. Tax dollars anyone? I’m pretty sure it won’t mention: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Midterm elections are November 3rd. Closely following are local primary elections on February 23rd (if needed) and local supposed non-partisan elections on April 6th. Turnout for that election is aways ridiculously low since most people don’t even know an election is happening. It’s almost like the people who established election dates did […]
By: Diane Benjamin I did attend part of the data center meeting last night. I was told it was filmed and would be on the City website today, so far I don’t see it. The crowd was large, parking was ridiculous, and out-of-town agitators were present waiving red cards is they disagreed with anything a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Five things: 1) See 54:12 – Molly Ward is still upset that she lost the ability to offer amendments or changes at Council meetings. At least several months ago that chaos was cancelled. The new policy is changes have to be made by noon the day of meetings. A change was made […]
By: Diane Benjamin A comment was made on line from a local far leftist about Rivian a couple months ago. He claimed Rivian is an emerging technology and therefore deserves government subsidies. In other words, he believes government is entitled to use your tax dollars to pick winners and losers. What Constitution, laws, or commons […]
By: Diane Benjamin . Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4119/files/agenda/15011 Regular Agenda – 2 items: 1) Consideration and Action on a Resolution Approving a Contract with Teska Associates, Inc., for the West Bloomington Quality of Life Road Map (RFP #2027-03), in the Amount of $99,700, as requested by the Community Impact & Enhancement Department. This agreement with Teska looks […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington wants people to report storm damage. If the County does, a drone will be required to see it. Some corn fields show damage like this one: . The extent of this damage can’t be seen from the road. Many other fields have standing corn along the road but you can see […]
