I was just information DMV isn’t allowed to ask immigration status. That means the country no longer belongs to those who were legally born here. Congrats! By: Diane Benjamin On July 1st illegal aliens can get a driver’s license without any identifying information that shows they are here illegally. Their license is going to look […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you opened a business I doubt you would expect government to set special property values just for you. And you sure wouldn’t expect those values to be fixed for 4 years so your business wasn’t adversely affected if conditions change. You also wouldn’t be telling government you will sue them and […]
This is the group I’ve written about before. VMS helps veterans with home repairs at no charge to them. https://blnnews.com/2022/09/02/this-group-is-helping-veterans-and-worthy-of-support https://blnnews.com/2023/07/03/save-the-date-july-15th Veterans Maintenance Solutions website: https://servingvets.net/ Of course they need money to keep helping, so if you like to golf sign up to help them help vets:
By: Diane Benjamin Separation of church and state is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution or law. The Bible was the first textbook used in schools. Money wouldn’t say “In God We Trust,” and the top of the Washington Monument wouldn’t say “Laus Deo” if our forebearers wanted God removed from public life. The Latin […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local employment stats in this story were from March: https://blnnews.com/2024/05/20/stats-you-needs-to-see/ April statistics are now out: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-lags-as-8-of-13-illinois-metro-areas-add-jobs-in-april/ Some cities in Illinois gained jobs, Bloomington continued to lose them. Meanwhile the County just west of us thinks your tax dollars shouldn’t be spent on migrants in the country illegally: https://www.wglt.org/illinois/2024-05-22/woodford-county-declared-non-sanctuary-for-undocumented-migrants Evidently the far […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video below is from the McLean County Finance Committee meeting on May 8th. The price of farmland has risen dramatically since the early 2000’s. Statutes cap property tax increases at 10% a year which means the economic value of the land is higher than it is being taxed. With high interest […]
By: Diane Benjamin What happened was democrats proved they have no problem raising your property taxes because government needs your money more than you do. Last year the Board voted to keep the property tax rate the same which means they grabbed all the increases in assessed value. That amounted to a 13% tax increase. […]
By: Diane Benjamin PDF page 32: https://mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/10169 The Finance Committee meets today at 4:30. The County Administrator wants to change the budget policy. Proposed: Anybody see a problem? I bet this comes up at the meeting!
By: Diane Benjamin See this story from the Edgar County Watchdogs: https://tinyurl.com/Leroy-Christmas-Money It is also illegal to hand out taxpayer dollars for Christmas presents. The story has proof Leroy did it but they are far from alone. Using taxpayer dollars for funeral flowers isn’t companionate. It’s illegal to use government money for non-public expenses. Read […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois Democrats have been using tricks to pass legislation for as long as I can remember. Here’s the trick: They just did it again to change election law in the middle of an election cycle: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_2b607af8-08cb-11ef-be4b-4314e8b49453.html?a?utm_source=thecentersquare.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Ft2%2Fillinois%2F&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline When asked about this bill Pritzker claimed it’s an ethics bill. Obviously democrats don’t have any […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Coroner, Kathy Yoder, includes a report every month in the Justice Committee packet. It recaps County deaths including causes. Falls and Fractures continue to be the highest rate of accidental death. Total County deaths for 2023 were 101 less than 2022. https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/10011 The first 3 months of 2024 are […]
Maybe Leroy can get their fair share of what is causing inflation: https://www.eenews.net/articles/white-house-sends-3b-to-states-for-lead-pipes/ It will be fun to see what cities want money while hiding the have lead pipes. By: Diane Benjamin Lead isn’t the only problem with Leroy water. For some residents the water has a disgusting color that stains everything. Other have a […]
This is the group I’ve written about before. VMS helps veterans with home repairs at no charge to them. https://blnnews.com/2022/09/02/this-group-is-helping-veterans-and-worthy-of-support https://blnnews.com/2023/07/03/save-the-date-july-15th Veterans Maintenance Solutions website: https://servingvets.net/ Of course they need money to keep helping, so if you like to golf sign up to help them help vets:
By: Diane Benjamin Our roof has hail damage, luckily we don’t have solar panels This is what hail does to an entire field of solar panels. County Board members may want to watch this video before approving any more: https://www.facebook.com/reel/944478347165945 The panels are full of chemicals that can contaminate the groundwater.
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe the voting age should be reconsidered. Illinois has FORTY DAYS of early voting, obviously this makes people doubt the validity of elections, but the ISU kids are now demanding election day off so they can vote because 40 days isn’t nearly enough: Citizenship requires responsibility. The polls open at 6:00 am. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The entire County is going to be taxed to fund the airport. This was passed in Springfield without a vote from the County residents and by representatives that don’t represent them (Chung and Koehler). Remember: Taxation Without Representation? Details here: https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/cira-authority-expansion-means-new-tax-for-rural-mclean-county-property-owners/article_e7aeccb8-3339-11ee-966e-fb07c1b7d8e3.html The County is also forced to pay for the Bloomington Election […]
Apparently the long time director who retired did not submit a grant request before the deadline. Now PATH is in crisis mode. By: Diane Benjamin 988 is the local suicide prevention hotline at PATH. I hear at a Board meeting this morning the 988 staff was laid off because funding (I think from the State) […]
By: Diane Benjamin Have you heard the commercials wanting to sell you protection for your property title? The McLean County Recorder’s office is offering this service for FREE. Go here: https://recorder.mcleancountyil.gov/External/User/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fexternal Sign up for Property Check to be notified when any documents are filed on your property! This only works for properties in McLean County.
By: Diane Benjamin If you don’t remember, Palestinians were dancing in the streets the day we were attacked. Over half a million civilian Ukrainians have died in their war with Russia. Note: No calls for a ceasefire in that war that has been going on for over two years. See the resolution passed by the […]
By: Diane Benjamin We know in 2021 The Immigration Project was 99.95% funded by tax dollars: https://blnnews.com/2024/02/12/the-immigration-project-you-dont-know/ Using the new Benjamin Chat Box on OpenTheBooks.com I searched under “Vendors” for payments made to them. Try it, incredibly easy to use! Results are emailed to you after it searches multiple databases. In 2022 ISU gave them […]
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe the League of Women Voters can investigate since they think they are the arbiter of truth: https://blnnews.com/2024/04/01/league-of-women-voters-squash-the-1st-amendment/ See this WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-04-12/mclean-county-clerk-addresses-disability-voting-incident-at-county-board-meeting Skip down to the Amendments sections: The Board didn’t vote to “relax” anything. They didn’t “waive” anything. The Attorney General ruled Public Comment policy that was in effect was: […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you missed this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/04/12/no-one-was-denied-the-right-to-vote/ Piling on by the far left because laws are immaterial, Corey Beirne had to add his 1 cent brain: DEI is Marxist ideology that eliminates exceptionalism. I hope Corey gets a DEI doctor some day. Microaggressions are merely attempts at limiting speech for fear somebody […]
By: Diane Benjamin There was no discrimination. Feelings are immaterial, adults know that. Just because you “feel” discriminated against doesn’t make it truth. Adults move on, they don’t need to grandstand. Thanks for clarifying your divisiveness Krystle. Vote by mail in November, no poll workers to deal with.
By: Diane Benjamin The video below is from Public Comment at the McLean County Board meeting last night. Just hit play. These speakers expect poll workers to be perfect. Perfection doesn’t exist. Nobody is perfect. 4 people spoke and then Kathy Michael. Why anyone would sign up to be a poll worker if they aren’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin April 28th will mark 12 years for BlnNews.com. I only started writing because I saw lousy local reporting on things that matter. The 1st Amendment guarantees Freedom of the Press – unless government has other plans. There is a hearing going on today in the House because they are considering a Press […]
By: Diane Benjamin The County Board meeting is Thursday, the Executive Committee meets today and may make changes to what is proposed. The changes failed to pass in February because of democrat shenanigans: https://blnnews.com/2024/02/14/a-legal-public-comment-policy-isnt-on-the-county-board-agenda-blame-democrats/ See the new policies from the Rules Committee starting on PDF page 4: https://mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/10128 Summary: 15 minutes allotted (not enough for […]
The below was sent in a newsletter by Illinois State Senator Craig Wilcox. Citizenship in Illinois means being a piggybank so Democrats can give freebies to illegals. “When it comes to Governor JB Pritzker’s gold-plated healthcare plan for non-citizens, the running joke in Springfield is that people want to fly to Mexico and walk back into […]
By: Diane Benjamin I like data, if you don’t this one isn’t for you. I found these number surprisingly low. 2020 and 2021 numbers were higher. You can find numerous December (year end) numbers in the February Justice Committee packets here: https://mcleancountyil.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=70 Did these numbers go down because of the Safety Act? If the purpose […]
By: Diane Benjamin People lie. Politicians lie. Freedom of Speech is written into the 1st Amendment because the authors thought people were smart enough to hear all sides, inform themselves, and then make decisions based on informed thought. There is no such thing and Mis and Dis information. There are only elites who want to […]
By: Diane Benjamin . They won’t be getting tips. California raised minimum wage to $20 an hour for fast food workers. Below are articles detailing the results: (hint: higher prices, layoffs, automation) https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/california-s-20-minimum-wage-is-killing-thousands-of-jobs/ar-BB1kE8gS https://ijr.com/california-fast-food-chains-fire-workers-20-minimum-wage-kicks https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-03-27/fast-food-minimum-wage Economics 101 should be required in high school. Raising the minimum wage hurts more people than helps. Next a real […]
By: Diane Benjamin NPR story: https://www.npr.org/2022/09/14/1122895362/illinois-now-requires-media-literacy-instruction-in-its-high-school-curriculum Parents have a problem because “media literacy” depends on who constructs the curriculum and who teaches it. Anybody think “media literacy” includes all sides of issues? If you need proof see this story written by a Normal Community senior for the school paper: https://nchsinkspot.com/uncategorized/2023/11/14/floridas-threats-to-ap-psychology-should-scare-you-but-dont-let-them-psych-you-out/ The story has many errors, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 has a link on their website for strategic plans, the plan they passed last night isn’t on it: https://www.unit5.org/cms/lib/IL01905100/Centricity/Domain/2992/District%20Strategic%20Plan.pdf There isn’t a link to the plan in the agenda either, just a line item with no explanation: See 9a https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1482?meeting=627064 See the discussion with slides begins at 28:00: https://vimeo.com/event/3825867 Supposedly […]
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/newillinois/1194049# Thu Apr 4, 2024 5:45 PM – Sat Apr 6, 2024 5:00 PM The Chateau Hotel & Conference Center, 61704 The Fifth Constitutional Convention for New Illinois will be held at the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center, 1621 Jumer Drive, Bloomington, Illinois. The Friday evening dinner will be followed by speakers Robin Miller, activist on the central Illinois pipeline issue, and Bill Bergman, Loyola […]
By: Diane Benjamin George Wendt will not be on the McLean County Board after the November election. He was soundly defeated in Bloomington and the County: Brian Loeffler received a total of 1,318 votes, George Wendt received 677. Proving that election can be bought, Regan Deering funded a large part of her campaign herself. It […]
By: Diane Benjamin The unofficial results the County prints don’t have the detail Bloomington does. https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/27439/Unofficial-Summary-Report_all_precincts 11,187 out of 59,375 registered voters bothered to vote. (18.84%) 7,842 voted Republican 3296 voted Democrat 5 voted libertarian, again with no candidates on the ballot 44 voted nonpartisan 6 voted blank Trump received 5,947 votes (76.89%) Biden received […]
By: Diane Benjamin Turnout for this election is going to be VERY low. Many races could be decided today by just a few votes. That means YOUR vote is worth more today than it will be in November. Your choice will not be on the November ballot is you don’t vote now. Of course this […]
By: Diane Benjamin The YWCA is obviously a leftist organization. Proof is their national website: https://www.ywca.org/who-we-are It’s easy to tell when leftists need other people’s money, a conga line of speakers show up to provide “their” facts. In the case of Stepping Stones it was 6. The Stepping Stones program lost federal grant money but […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t submitted a speed test of your internet – do it TODAY. https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/2029/Internet-Speed-Test The State of Illinois thinks you have great speeds – you don’t. The testing results are due Monday so it is imperative to act now. We won’t get really highspeed fiber in the country unless it is […]
By: Diane Benjamin The County Board saw a computer rendering of the new Animal Control building last night. It will be 15 miles south of Bloomington. The video shows the inside layout too. One thing not included is outdoor runs for the animals. Farnsworth designed the building with the budget they had, outdoor runs will […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night George Wendt presented a commendation at the County Board meeting to a new FIFTEEN YEAR Old Eagle Scout. Most recipients are around 17, but that’s not the story. Jonathan Kunkes Eagle Scout project was a portable classroom for Pepper Ridge Elementary in honor of his sister who died at age […]
