By: Diane Benjamin 1) I attended the swearing-in ceremony yesterday. I estimate the BCPA auditorium was about two-thirds full. Alderman Sheila Montney wasn’t able to attend; I’m sure she will be sworn in soon. The right oath of office was used! A reception was held downstairs afterward. It was fun talking to lots of different […]
By: Diane Benjamin One day residents are told they have to opt out of electric aggregation 40% rate increases by May 7th. Now WGLT is reporting via the Ecology Action Center (EAC) residents should wait and maybe opt out later: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-04-29/ecology-action-centers-advice-wait-and-see-about-electric-rates Meanwhile Corn Belt Electric customers won’t have the huge increases – unless the State […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Did everyone miss this in yesterday’s story on the comments made by retired judge Knecht? https://blnnews.com/2025/04/28/laws-apply-to-judges-too/ Knecht thinks ICE should have operated in secret, behind closed doors, instead of attempting to arrest a criminal illegal at the courthouse. This isn’t government “For and By The People”. It is how most of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is why judges should NEVER be retained. They end up thinking they are gods. Trump was elected to get criminal illegals out of the country. Obstructing the President’s performance of his duties deserves justice. Remember when states wanted to deport illegals and the Supreme Court told them immigration enforcement was the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Board packet: Connect Transit 4/22/25 Items of note: The Salary increase isn’t in the packet. Staff recommends not releasing any Executive Session Minutes – PDF page 52 . The meeting video is very hard to hear even with the sound all the way up. When the Board returned from Executive Session they […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the agenda for the April 15th 2025 meeting of the Illinois State Board of Elections: https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/Agenda.aspx A hearing was held regarding the complaint filed by Chad Berck. The complaint pertained to Lizzy Johnston and Cassy Taylor raising money on County Property to remove the elected office of Auditor. The complaint was […]
By: Diane Benjamin These beauties are just north of Dawson Lake. Most of the field shows oil leaking, some are much worse than these.
By: Diane Benjamin February 2025 and Year-to-Date ridership: PDF page 9 The first circle highlights the COST per ride in February, the second is Year To Date costs per ride. . Click PLAY to hear the Board Chair, re-elected Ryan Whitehouse, ask David Braun if Flex Ridership is going up because Mobility Riders are switching […]
By: Diane Benjamin I started driving again about a week and half ago. I’m no longer in house jail. The gas bubble the doctor put in my eye to hold it in place disappeared today. It had been shrinking steadily for weeks. The last time the bubble disappeared the fix only lasted for a week. […]
Attend if you want to see who is opposed to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. This is OUR hard-earned money. The left must be profiting; otherwise, they wouldn’t oppose audits. Medicaid isn’t being taken away—funding is simply returning to pre-COVID levels since COVID no longer requires emergency funding. Your data isn’t being stolen. The protests […]
By: Diane Benjamin Numbers can overwhelm people, so start with a few: Bloomington results: https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/IL/Bloomington/123382/web.345435/#/summary County results: https://countyclerk.mcleancountyil.gov/eresults/results-1.html Last November Voter Turnout in Bloomington was 72.19% https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/IL/Bloomington/122759/web.345435/#/summary County turnout was 79.67 https://mcleancountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/28200/2024-General-Election-Official-Summary The Sales Tax question was put on this ballot because the people behind it knew it has a better chance of passing when […]
Some of us still believe in Election Day, not the 40 day scam.
By Diane Benjamin Krystle Able wants to win with the ISU vote. Those voters don’t have to live under the radicals they elect. Normal needs to outvote them. Signs on public property: District 87 is texting voters, of course directing them to the sales tax website. Desperate for your money!
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Election Commission only handles elections. They have full-time staff dedicated solely to elections. County taxpayers are forced to fund this office—not the taxpayers of the City of Bloomington. In the County you can enter your address and see your ballot before you vote: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/1600/Ballots In Bloomington you can’t. Their full […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bloomington agenda for tonight: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/8941a8856acf86d8eb133ec7a8132d1a0.pdf 3 Public hearings will be held. All 3 items are on the Consent Agenda. That means the hearings are meaningless. The Consent Agenda is usually passed without comment. Also, the City is spending another $215,366.27 on the water quality. This time they are treating both lakes […]
By: Diane Benjamin I heard from a reliable source yesterday Assessed Values will increase another 8-9% this year. Your property taxes will increase even if the 1% sales tax passes. Schools drool over rising property values, as does every taxing body listed on your property tax bill. The assessor will be blamed instead of the […]
Below is a summary document compiled from some of the files I received by FOIA. Teachers are REQUIRED to participate in these trainings. Note all the WOKE (Marxists) ideology and buzz words included. The referenced files are below. You are going to vote to give them more money? 🤦♀️ Don’t miss pages 3 and 4.
By: Diane Benjamin 1) The Down Village Board failed to get a motion to take a vote: https://blnnews.com/2025/03/13/downs-tonight-flooding-shaddyville/ The issue isn’t totally dead, the people affected need to stay vigilant. 2) Barry Reilly’s Vote Yes for McLean County Schools received some donations they couldn’t hide until after the vote: Since the Unit 5 Teacher’s Union […]
By: Diane Benjamin This just might make everyone with common sense realize there is no hope for Illinois: https://www.newsbreak.com/mystateline-com-wtvo-wqrf-1589920/3854313830110-illinois-clarifies-no-local-laws-can-restrict-homeless-camping-in-public-areas According to the State of Illinois, local governments must allow “camping” on public property: . I wonder how Illinois lawmakers would feel if “camping” was all over the capitol building grounds? Do the Normal mayoral candidates […]
By: Diane Benjamin This road closure announcement is on the County website: https://mcleancountyil.gov/319/Road-Closures-Construction-Map Lexington-LeRoy Rd, (CH21) or N 2600 East Rd between E 600 North Rd & E 800 North Rd, will be closed to through traffic, beginning Monday, March 24, 2025, through Friday, August 15, 2025. For Bridge Replacement. Since this is a road I occasionally use […]
By: Diane Benjamin So far in March two plants have reported closing: https://www.illinoisworknet.com/LayoffRecovery/Pages/IllinoisWARNData.aspx 1117 people won’t have jobs when they close: . A bill in Illinois will make staying in business harder than it already is. Excerpts: Bill expands organ donation leave for employees Both full-time and part-time employees in Illinois may be able to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Abby Scott is running for Bloomington Council Ward 9: . This is her husband and County Board memeber: . Fascists don’t cut the size of government. A teacher should know that one! I hope his list has some better choices, he missed great singers like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. He could […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Krystle Able pretends to love Diversity and Inclusiveness. If you are pro-life and/or a Christian you aren’t included in her world. She proves frequently she is unfit for any public office. The real extremists are those who judge people based on the color of their skin. That is what DEI does. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the report the County received from the law firm it hired to investigate allegations made by a former employee regarding the solicitation of money on County property. Of course, the complete list of contributors was not reviewed. The elected officials and/or county employees who contributed to the effort to abolish […]
By: Diane Benjamin Anyone surprised? The law firm hired by the County to investigate the PAC created to abolish the Auditor’s office didn’t agree with the ethics commission ruling. See the WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-02-26/mclean-county-ethics-complaint-found-to-be-unsubstantiated-after-attorneys-investigation There is one glaring problem. Talking to County employees is nice but they are not central to what should have been […]
By: Diane Benjamin Look up criminal records at this link: https://publicaccess.mcleancountyil.gov/PubAC_SearchCriminal.aspx Christopher Simmons was determined to be the shooter in the weekend triple homicide and then suicide . He has a long history of traffic and DUI violations plus cannabis. He also pled guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge. It looks to me like he […]
By: Diane Benjamin You need to know Letters to the Editor posted in the paper before elections aren’t grassroot support. Campaigns recruit letter writers or even write sone for people to submit. The purpose is to try to sway public opinion and make people think their candidates are more popular than they are. If you […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/02/20/instigation-cassy-taylor-and-lizzy-johnston/ Below is an Amended D-2 filing with the State Board of Elections by the committee created to abolish the Auditors office. Note the beginning cash balance. No filings were required until $5000 was raised/spent so all the contributions aren’t listed. I do know where some came from: […]
By: Diane Benjamin 2 very recent stories prove the title. Local corruption big or small will never be prosecuted locally. Start with this one: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_0d368a40-efa7-11ef-9603-b321af6933ea.html What the local school districts put on their website to convince you to approve a 1% Sales tax was illegal. Evidence of that is the language was changed when people […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Ethics Commission referred both Taylor and Johnston today to the State’s Attorney for further investigation. This involves the solicitation of donations on County property to get the McLean County Auditor office abolished. I don’t have a lot of details, but they issued a statement that sufficient evidence exists to […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t been paying attention you haven’t noticed the ACLU doesn’t exist to protect your rights. They exist to protect the rights government thinks you should have. A good example is lawsuits against Red States for gerrymandering while not suing Illinois for the same thing. Have you heard of the Roger […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T Two readers who have been sending information. I’ve got a LOT more information, but start here. Executive Order on Education: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/ Indoctrination funded by the Department of Education – Over $1 billion: https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted/ This is what the money was used for, not education: Illinois Schools listed as receiving funds, The Regional […]
See #2. Sharon Chung thinks Illinois corruption is over. She’s funny: https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2025-02-13/central-illinois-lawmakers-react-to-former-house-speaker-madigans-guilty-verdict By: Diane Benjamin 1) Continuation of this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/02/13/unit-5-staff-only-meetings-1-sales-tax/ Video of the “staff only” meetings concerning the 1% Salters Tax increase will not exist. I received the response below to that part of a FOIA request: Diane, There are no public records responsive […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T a reader: . Why are “staff only” meetings scheduled? Isn’t everything “staff” needs to know on the website? https://april1cent.info/ We still don ‘t know who paid for that site, WGLT forgot to ask. https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-02-11/complaints-filed-over-alleged-political-advocacy-on-school-sales-tax-informational-website I filed a FOIA this morning on the meetings. Sometimes I get a same day response from […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) From https://april1cent.info/ The 1% Sales Tax could be use for mental health services. That means your child could be “affirmed” by a “professional” to be anything they “feel”. Parents will not be notified or informed. Do you really want a system that believes in DEI, Social Emotional Learning, and gender change […]
By: Diane Benjamin No wonder trust in government is at an all time low among people who expect Public Servants to actually work for the public. Oaths of office are now meaningless. Did you know the County isn’t going to produce a report on the fundraising at the County to abolish the Auditor until March? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Few people probably know the McLean County Treasurer’s website has years of payments to every taxing district they collect property taxes for: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/590/Taxing-Dist-Distribution-Settlement-Shee Someday if I really want a huge project I could compile tax payments to EVERY unit of government on your tax bill. If someone wants this project, or at […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is the original verbiage on the April1cent.info website that most of the McLean County schools linked to from their school websites: “Asking” voters to approve is a violation of law as stated in this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/02/09/since-election-interference-isnt-prosecuted/ This is what it says now: . Whoever tipped them off and whoever changed the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nobody is afraid of consequences for breaking election law and misuse of public funds. How long is it going to take McLean County to investigate Lizzy Johnston’s alleged soliciting money on County property to abolish the County Auditor? Another year? Why did Lizzy lawyer up for a State Board of Elections investigation? […]
By: Diane Benjamin It sure looks like Krystle Able wants to do what got Pritzker and Johnson sued by the Department of Justice: “thwart” federal efforts to enforce immigration laws. https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-chicago-arrests-sanctuary-immigrants-enforcement-df278eba554406c6703bb362d9b09844 … , Since ICE is targeting violent criminals first, Krystle must want to keep them – just like Chicago. It looks like Able will […]
