By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Police Department posted this pic Wednesday on Facebook along with: Road Closed Vehicle vs. Pedestrian Accident Raab Road between Linden St. and School St. will be closed to thru traffic while the McLean County Accident Reconstruction Team conducts their investigation. Please find an alternate route of travel through this area. […]
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 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 It appears assessed property values will be increasing between 5 and 6% again. Local governments are salivating at the amount of money that will available to them. They will be setting their Tax Levy soon. That is the amount of money they want to collect in property taxes. ANY amount over what […]
h/t a reader Paid by McLean County Democratic Central Committee: https://illinoissunshine.org/committees/159/ By: Diane Benjamin A couple of past stories: https://blnnews.com/2026/08/01/day-care-drama/ https://blnnews.com/2023/03/05/it-wasnt-corey-beirne/ . All of the spending on the 2026-2027 political campaigns isn’t available yet because the 2026 election is still months away and 2027 isn’t until early next year. https://illinoissunshine.org/ has some current and all […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Callahan was the driver on Raab Road who crashed into a power pole and was arrested for DUI, speeding more than 35 mph over the speed limit, reckless driving, and improper lane usage. Of course the power was out in that area; maybe a reader can comment on how […]
By: Diane Benjamin This meeting was back to being broadcast over zoom. Instead of watching a zoom call that may or may not work, I attended in person and filmed it myself. Remember the official video isn’t saved or posted anywhere. This is one item approved Tuesday night: https://normaltownship.org/index.php/food-replacement-program/ Check out the requirements to get […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader This was sent to me: . There is a local effort to fund daycare with taxpayer money because of the daycare closings. Government created the problem and now wants to solve it. More on that one soon. Meanwhile: Fact: Only a socialist expects you to pay other people’s bills. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did you know JB just put another $65 million in his campaign warchest? Illinois does have a KING who buys representation! . Did you know Pritzker skipped a stop in Bloomington-Normal to view storm damage on his way north to the burbs? https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/Pritzker-State Fair to the suburbs Is Pritzker’s warchest funding the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video below is part of the 7/21/26 Normal Township Board meeting. The ARC report proceeded this. If you missed this story showing public commenters weren’t happy about the firing of long time employees at the ARC, see it now: https://blnnews.com/2026/07/29/whats-going-on-at-the-arc/ The Director, Elicssha Sanders, was promoted to that job in April. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Indiana population is 85,000. The Bloomington Illinois population is 78,680. . 2000 Zillow apartment listings in Bloomington In: https://www.zillow.com/bloomington-in/rentals 266 Zillow apartment listings in Bloomington Il: https://www.zillow.com/bloomington-il/rentals Prices are higher in Illinois because of short supply. The answer to the housing shortage isn’t government. They created the problem, they can’t […]
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 This is a video clip from the 7/21/26 Normal Township meeting. Krystle Able is reporting on the ARC, including a failed fire inspection. She mentions “Colin” is fixing things and installing new cameras: . I submitted a FOIA for how much Colin has been paid this year and his full name: . […]
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: […]
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 . . .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 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 Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from […]
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 Previous story, video works now: https://blnnews.com/2026/07/22/normal-township-stolen-land/ I wonder when the Normal Township Board will pass an ordinance returning the Stolen Land to the Indian Tribes mentioned in their monthly reading? It’s pointless to keep reading this every meeting on STOLEN LAND with no intention of giving it back. Sorry, I’m just now […]
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 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 I attended the Normal Township Board Meeting on July 21. I didn’t notice this until I left: . The Pride flag must be permanent. Lowering the flag to honor Sen Lindsey Graham was from July 16-July 18. Maybe the Supervisor Krystle Able can explain why the Township’s still is. I’ve got a […]
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 […]
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 WGLT is reporting the Town of Normal doesn’t appreciate homeless people in Uptown. Wait until the underpass is finished and they move in under it. One problem: How are they getting around this? Of course Normal has been known just get a law passed to exempt themselves. Chung and Koehler will help […]
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 […]
