By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader The tax levy is the total amount each government board wants to collect the following year. This amount is usually set in late fall. Boards do not set the tax rate but they know about what it will be based on the amount of money they want to collect. […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Below is a screenshot from Corey Beirne’s campaign website: https://corey4mcboard.com . Know why Corey said “tax rates” instead of “taxes”? Because he voted to raise your property taxes last year! Let’s look at part of a property tax bill in his district: Paid in 2026: . Paid in 2025: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Review the details here if you forgot: https://blnnews.com/2024/11/02/whats-the-real-ty-carlton-story/ . I looked the case up yesterday to see where it is. It looks like all the preliminary actions will be out of the way soon. The case was filed TWO YEARS ago this month. . The case pertains to employment discrimination. If you […]
If the Bloomington City Council can cancel meetings at will, I can take a day off.
By: Diane Benjamin 1) The State of Illinois budget is “balanced” on the backs of local taxpayers. https://mayorscaucus.org/legislative-priorities/restoring-lgdf-revenues/ Budgets aren’t cut. Local government raise taxes instead. This contributes to Illinois being the highest taxed State in the country. Congrats. 2) If Pritzker signs this bill, Normal Township will raise your taxes: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-08-05/change-could-give-illinois-townships-more-ways-to-help-people-who-are-financially-struggling The Karl Marx […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of these prices come from https://www.gasbuddy.com/gasprices/ These are all the cheapest gas prices in each State, the local price isn’t close to Rock Island. The cheapest price in McLean County is Sam’s Club at $3.99. Who you vote for matters, unless you like being fleeced.
By: Diane Benjamin This is a case of: Tell me who you vote for without saying who you vote for. The re-invent Veterans Parkway Plan: https://mcplan.org/plans-and-programs/transportation-planning/veteranspkwy Quote: The most critical employment and commercial corridor in the region, Veterans Parkway is also the most dangerous road in Bloomington-Normal. In 2024, the McLean County Regional Planning Commission […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Below is the solar RED Light added to the Stop Signs at Route 9 and Leroy-Lexington blacktop: . The first time I saw it it was solid red, when I saw it again it was flashing red. Will drivers finally notice it now and quit killing people by running the it? […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://library.municode.com/il/springfield/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITIIIAD_CH30GEPR Quote from the Springfield City Code: Elected officers. The city’s elected officers shall consist of ten aldermen to be nominated and elected from ten single-member districts on a nonpartisan basis, and a mayor, city treasurer, and a city clerk to be nominated and elected at large on a nonpartisan basis. Elections shall […]
By: Diane Benjamin Connect Transit didn’t report their loss for June because 6/30/26 is their year-end. They always delay that reporting. https://connect-transit.com/file/4510/2026%2007%2028_BoT%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf It doesn’t matter how thick the bus wrap is to cover the windows. We still know those huge buses are empty and confirmed by what Connect reports monthly: . . For June 2026: […]
I was going to tell you tomorrow – The Rest Of The Story. Local GOP did a good job though. No, they didn’t lead the effort.
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Redacted email response from the McLean County Trial Court Administrator – William Scanlon: . Why is any County employee adding a message to every email? Why would anyone quote an anti-capitalism libertarian socialist? It’s a nice quote, the meaning behind it isn’t what should be conveyed on government email. […]
By: Diane Benjamin What is the New Americans Initiative? It isn’t the people who love open borders spending their own money. It’s every taxpayer in Illinois: . I don’t know if the Illinois Department of Human Services provided the money below or if they spent even more with other nonprofits. Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and […]
Diana Hauman has resigned from the Bloomington Election Commission Board to avoid getting kicked off for cause. Evidently being a partisan hack isn’t what Judge Foley thought she was appointing.
By: Diane Benjamin . . .are known by the company you keep? Keep reading: . . .
By: Diane Benjamin Elections in Bloomington aren’t nonpartisan because the violators during the last local election faced no consequences. If your kids swipe cookies with no consequences, do they keep swiping cookies? Duh. The City Code needs changed since it pretends candidates are nonpartisan. Pretending is over. Cody Hendricks, Jenna Kearns, and Abby Scott made […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yes Day Care is expensive. Yes it is HEAVILY regulated by the State which means they contribute to making it expensive. Did you know Milestones Early Learning Center & Preschool was a non profit? Click that link to see their 6/30/2025 tax return. That tax return states they received $723,411 in government […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is one story I will never forget. High school kids at BHS proved they were indoctrinated by a teacher who told them the 1619 project was real history. They were lied to with your tax dollars funding it. The original story: https://blnnews.com/2021/06/11/2-district-87-kids-1619-project/ Did you know Abraham Lincoln was a White Supremacist […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois is #1 in property taxes because the people elected at all levels in Illinois think government “needs” outway your right to keep the money you earned. This is the result of electing progressives or not bothering to vote at all. You get to pay for your house twice: . Assessed Values […]
By: Diane Benjamin I don’t spend much time on LinkedIn, but I received this notification from Unit 5’s superintendent: . Since I’m just naturally curious, I clicked on the Inclusive Schooling link. That got me to the document below. Let me interpret it for you: Schools must teach to the bottom of the class so […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Remember the Wisconsin bar that offered free beer on the day President Trump is assassinated? https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2026/07/28/minocqua-brewing-loses-license-n2680214 . Guess who was there having a beer? The guy who thinks he deserves your vote in November: . The good news is: 2) If the local League of Women Voters doesn’t want to be […]
By: Diane Benjamin This lady sent me a message: . Printing her message is probably really going to upset her! She didn’t like me posting the last picture in this story on Facebook: https://blnnews.com/2026/07/27/meet-state-farm-employee-megan-weidman/ She evidently doesn’t understand social media. Once posted it’s fair game which is the point of social media. Besides, it was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s Bloomington city Council meeting was uneventful until the Finance Director’s Report. Remember last November when property taxes were increased? How about last September when the 1% grocery tax was passed? The City finances were in DIRE shape! Multi-million dollar deficits were expected. What’s the result of tax increases other than […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below was sent to me by a reader. Weidman’s Facebook page says she is: Research Director at State Farm Megan and her husband attended Pridefest last weekend. She posted the below: , Keep that last line in mind while you read more. . Megan is very inclusive unless your politics are […]
By Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4118/files/agenda/13925 Bills and Payroll: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/32747/639203237356830000 Below is a payment to the Bloomington Election Commission which is paid by County taxpayers, not City of Bloomington: Of course no one has oversight over this office, especially not the people paying the bills. Taxation without representation! The only item on the Regular Agenda is […]
By: Diane Benjamin See yesterday’s story: https://blnnews.com/2026/07/24/are-wglt-and-the-league-of-women-voters-holding-debates-again/ Since their previous lies were easily debunked, the LWV tried again with a new video. It still calls the Save America Act the Save Act. Is truth to difficult? This one features 4 people. First is a lady who has her birth certificate but somehow not her marriage […]
By: Diane Benjamin Who are vote for matters. https://ides.illinois.gov/newsroom/2026/june/five-illinois-metro-areas-add-jobs-over-the-year-in-june.html I’m pretty sure Bloomington means Bloomington-Normal. This report is as of 6/30/26. Unemployment is up .2%. This area lost 900 jobs since last June. The State of Illinois is even worse. Persecuting businesses means they leave (and have). Illinois lost 7,000 jobs in one year and […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is Beirne’s second violation of the County’s Ethics Ordinance. First violation: https://blnnews.com/2026/06/24/abby-scott-and-corey-beirne-failed-the-ethics-test/ The lady who talked Bloomington and Normal into passing the same Ethics Ordinance mentioned the County has previously passed it. Since the County “Search” doesn’t work well, I couldn’t find when they passed it. I think it was in […]
By: Diane Benjamin They have before: . The League of Women Voters claims to be nonpartisan. Want proof the League isn’t? . Read the document: https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/league-women-voters-strongly-denounces-president-trumps-false-claims This was posted BEFORE the New Jersey governor admitted 6600 illegal aliens were registered to vote and around 400 did vote. Those votes canceled the votes of citizens. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin William Bessler was appointed to complete Krystle Able’s County Board term when she became Normal Township Supervisor. See the original post on her Facebook page. Coping is easier to read than several screenshots: See what Bessler wrote below, his faulty un-American logic starts where the RED is: Homelessness shouldn’t be a crime. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below is printed in response to State Rep. Brad Halbrook’s reply to Carl Hinshaw of Heyworth. Carl is very knowledgeable about assessed values and is actively challenging the property tax system. FYI: Your assessed values will again be higher, and so will your property tax bill. This is because taxing unrealized […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Remember the local NGO: Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies? INCCRRA. Last year they received $196,245,221 – likely all tax dollars. Directly from their tax return: Briefly describe the organization’s mission or most significant activities: TO PROMOTE AND FACILITATE HIGH QUALITY EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/364096312/202620699349301427/full The […]
By: Diane Benjamin What ideas does Josh have? Keep reading. . Crockett is on the Finance Committee of the Heartland Community College Board. How much have property taxes increased since he was elected? h/t a reader: How do I know Joshua Crockett will raise your property taxes? Because he did as a Heartland Community College […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you love acronyms. this meeting was for you! Start with BHCC – Behavioral Health Coordinating Council. This is the independent group that is not subject to FOIA or the Open Meetings Act. See their website here: https://www.mcleanbhcc.com/#members BHCC is the “experts” who determine the best use of the sales tax dollars […]
Home Sweet Home Mission wants Normal to pull this. I bet it happens. Approving Trail East and West construction could be interesting. Just not to me. By: Diane Benjamin Decisions, decisions. Watch Bloomington at 6:00 and Normal at 7:00? Normal thinks they can regulate the homeless out of Uptown Station: See PDF page 78: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5641 […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Remember the Power Couples: . Every person in this photo voted to raise your property taxes last year. Two County, two City of Bloomington. Corey Beirne wants 4 more years: . Beirne and his power couple wife, Abby Scott, made McLean County less affordable by taking more of your […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this? . The Democratic Socialists of America have a new platform: https://program.dsausa.org/ Everything below in BOLD are direct quotes from the website. Private property won’t exist. You will live in housing provided by government. You will never get bills for anything because government provides everything. You can take off work whenever […]
By: Diane Benjamin This County Board meeting took place 5/14/2026. 3 Board members didn’t attend – Ziebarth(R), Cline(D), Farley(D). All 3 will be on the on November ballot. The members present spent close to 36 minutes debating their salaries. The motion on the floor was to go from $4900 a year to $6400. Since the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Media is reporting Perez threatened a public official – as in eat him alive. Nice guy. I have reason to be believe he is here illegally. Of course law enforcement can’t hand him over to ICE since the Illinois ruling party want to keep every illegal, even violent ones. Evidently law enforcement […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sick of listening to politicians who want your vote this November? You still have 3 1/2 more months of trying to decipher lies from truth. If you blindly believe rhetoric the truth doesn’t matter. Remember the local elections few people bother to vote in? That election is April 6th of 2027 – […]
