By: Diane Benjamin Same day voter registration was a stupid law and, contrary to what Democrats think, it’s not government’s job to make it work without any attempt to DUMP it. Stupid laws with unintended consequences can’t be fixed. It was never about increasing voting, it’s about getting uniformed to the polls. Think ISU. So […]
By: Diane Benjamin The bird-cage liner just reported the Decatur School Superintendent is taking a new job in Heyworth. Since the Decatur paper is a sister publication, they got the story from them. (Saves salaries just reprinting articles) The story claims the School Board voted 4-3 not to extend Lisa Taylor’s contract. The CRIME? The […]
By: Diane Benjamin The next court date is Monday, April 25 – 9:30 am. Same courtroom as last time if you want to attend – 5D Judge Lawrence will decide whether the amended motion I filed is enough to proceed to a hearing. If he rules against me the citizens of Bloomington will never know […]
A few weeks ago the bird-cage liner’s Steve Vogel wrote his column about Normal and Bloomington sharing sales taxes. Magically, the plan gets floated now by Renner and Koos. Is Vogel a prophet? Or does local government conspire with Vogel to “float” ideas to gauge response before they make fools of themselves? It’s not the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Luckily IMRF actually cares about transparency. Yesterday I filed a request for all the Accelerated Payments charged to the City of Bloomington because they are to chicken to change the Sick Leave Buy Back policy. Instead of the precious government employees being told the golden goose got cooked, employees are told it’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin The ONLY reason I know the Bloomington water tower in Normal isn’t used is because I FOIA’d the water flow through all towers. That one came up -0-: http://blnnews.com/2015/08/04/more-ineptness/ Information on this tower is close to non-existent. This waste of money was before the Fire Station #5 fiasco. I’ve searched the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today’s story: Chamber of Commerce declares “There Are Jobs Out There”. Sure. Fast food, retail, and jobs with 10 years experience required doing things nobody has every heard of. The average family income isn’t dropping because opportunities abound! http://blnnews.com/2016/03/14/bloomington-what-citizens-need-to-know/ McLean County – Median household income 2014: $60,460 2000: $67,873 Percent change: -11% […]
By: Diane Benjamin How long have I been stating that US Cellular is NOT going to renew their naming rights at the Coliseum? A year? Two? They made the announcement a long time ago! Anyway, the Pantagraph finally got around to doing a story today. Congrats, old news is better than no news. It looks […]
Update: The Pantagraph article was down, but now it’s back with a few changes. It still dodges the truth. If you are on Facebook, Renner For Mayor is asking for feedback about the Coliseum: https://www.facebook.com/Tari-Renner-for-Mayor-25094354134/?fref=ts By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner wrote an article for the Pantagraph today and made it look like the City reporter […]
By: Diane Benjamin Scott Black was missing last night! More proof the elected Council representing the voters is just a campaign slogan. I had to laugh during a discussion about the proposed storage facility in south Bloomington and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Nobody showed up to protest the ZBA approval, even though the meeting […]
By: Diane Benjamin I find it amazing the Pantagraph has details of the budget David Hales is going to propose Monday night, but the citizens don’t! Nothing is included in the packet, do the aldermen have details? Obviously the Pantagraph is running interference for the City yet again. In 2013 the General Fund spending was […]
Don’t miss the two followup stories: http://blnnews.com/2016/02/15/dave-selzer-tax-deadbeat/ http://blnnews.com/2016/02/15/selzer-now-running-scared/ By: Diane Benjamin The post below appeared on Republican County Board member Dave Selzer’s Facebook page yesterday. The comments are even more revealing. Dave agrees with Democrat Tari Renner 75% of the time! The McLean County transparency rating by the Illinois Policy Institute is F. I knew […]
By: Diane Benjamin The obvious alien writer at the Pantagraph, Steve Vogel, demanded .04 a gallon gas tax increase today. Maybe he sneaked into the country when the old Soviet Union dissolved. Maybe he was dropped on his head. He thinks the City needs more money for roads. Citizens expect their government to handle: Police […]
By: Diane Benjamin I know, from the title you are thinking something else! I’ve pointed out for at least a year the Pantagraph Editorials never say who wrote them. Lately they’ve had a FEW (with emphasis on few), written by somebody other than the management, stating views I agree with. I’d love to know who […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been reading Pantagraph reports this morning from 2000-2004 pertaining to the Coliseum. If you have a Bloomington library card, you can access ProQuest on-line and read them yourself. Search “Sports arena downtown Bloomington”. Unless you are signed into the library system, the Watchtower links below will not work. Yes, there was […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph really needs to give up being a source for any useful information. They exist only to spew propaganda and publish pics of the local preferred royalty. Today is no exception. They “jeered” the State of Illinois for delaying the start of early voting. Of course they didn’t mention early voting […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since BlnNews has a LOT of new readers, allow me to briefly recap the lawsuit I filed against the City of Bloomington concerning the Coliseum. I filed a Freedom of Information request over a year ago for the concession reports from 2014 I also included a request for payroll records from 2014 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Saturday little Stevie Vogel spewed more nonsense in his weekly Pantagraph Editorial. The best I can say is he put his name on it. Nobody else at the Pantagraph is brave enough to acknowledge their work. Yep Stevie, Illinois is all but destroyed. People leave everyday, more wish they could leave. Jobs […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today’s Pantagraph Editorial included directions for how to drive in the snow. They also want you to make sure your windows and lights are cleaned of snow. If you are sick of no investigative reporting by the media and being treated like you are a child, please help out. I don’t get […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to this Pantagraph article: http://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/olson-gets-contract-extension/article_c3a51735-c4ad-5cda-853b-7704ebcffb8a.html – the Executive Director of the airport (Carl Olson) just got a 2.5% raise. It also states he was earning $172,365 per year. The article is a glowing endorsement of the great job he is doing. Funny, because in January the Pantagraph also reported traffic was down […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last Thursday about 4:45 pm I was headed into Bloomington via East Oakland. The road was closed in both directions by A LOT of emergency vehicles, at least two big fire trucks and MANY police. There was so many emergency vehicles I thought for sure somebody had been seriously injured or maybe shot […]
By: Diane Benjamin If elected officials are conservative, the local media is relentless in attacking them. Any representative opposing “progress” on the grounds it isn’t government’s job, will get vicious treatment for not going along with the majority. The majority is bankrupting taxpayers, but that’s immaterial to media. Examples: Judy Stearns, Kevin Lower, and Lee […]
Remember the December incident when one of the speakers at a Diversity Project meeting had a concealed carry gun? Remember the Pantagraph story? http://www.pantagraph.com/news/state-gun-signs-must-comply-to-be-enforceable/article_d5a4fe35-683c-532a-a50b-79d060b4fce1.html John Boch, the person in question and the Executive Director of Guns Save Lives, wrote the Pantagraph a letter. He never received a response from them. I met John this week […]
Quote from Special Agent Patrick Bohrer, assistant section chief Public Corruption/Civil Rights program at FBI Headquarters. “We depend greatly on assistance from the public. So let me end by saying, if anyone out there has any information about potential wrongdoing by a public official, please submit a tip online or contact your local FBI field […]
By: Diane Benjamin I planned to do this story yesterday, but then the Matt Sorensen story sidetracked me all day. My readers are GREAT at giving me tips – this was one of them. The Pantagraph read is on my site, it still took them an hour to do a story. Yesterday, the paper devoted […]
By: Diane Benjamin On Thursday, January 7th, I will be speaking at the Guns Save Lives meeting in Peoria. If you want more information, click here: http://www.gunssavelife.com/?ai1ec_event=gsl-peoria-meeting&instance_id=7294 ____________________________________ Back in November, I wrote about participating in The Diversity Project with Colleen Reynolds from WJBC: http://blnnews.com/2015/11/02/hope-for-the-future/ The guy who runs the program, Jeff Schwartz – former […]
Two refugees arrested on terror charges – in different States! http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/us/terror-charges-refugees/ Got it yet Steve? By: Diane Benjamin Today Steve Vogel proved that Democrats do not have the ability to govern or keep the country safe. Most of us already knew that, but Vogel was nice enough to put it in writing for all to […]
Tari Renner made the Pantagraph top stories for 2015: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/plane-crash-mmna-among-top-news-stories-of/article_acfceb81-5fee-5731-96a1-a90e42aaadaa.html On BlnNews.com Tari was the number one most read story: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/11/tari-attacks-me-again-not-in-our-town/ Hopefully 2016 will be better. Happy New Year!
By: Diane Benjamin For the last couple of months the anonymous editorial writers at the Pantagraph have occasionally written the truth. They must have somebody new writing a few editorials because they actually contain some common sense. I thought there might be a little hope for local media, but today the old guy must be […]
By: Diane Benjamin Evidently Steve Vogel’s god is Santa Claus. Today in the Pantagraph, Stevie is asking Santa not to wait until next Christmas to grant a long list of progressive requests. Hide the children: Sorry Steve, Santa Claus isn’t real. Still believing in Santa must be why Steve thinks “Gun Free Zone” signs magically […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos had years to destroy the citizens of Normal with higher taxes. Evidently they enjoy it since nobody fights back. Renner has had only a few years, but he’s making up for it by raising taxes wherever and whenever possible. Your property taxes went up without a peep Monday night. Send […]
By: Diane Benjamin I get the feeling nobody at the Pantagraph wrote today’s editorial on the Education bill that passed the House and will be voted on in the Senate. It’s full of the talking points used to get support and none of the points hidden from Congress. The bill is over 1000 pages and […]
By: Diane Benjamin To the Pantagraph Editorial staff: You really need to put your name on Editorials. Citizens have a right to know the name of the person who doesn’t believe in the Constitution. Media was given unfettered rights in the 1st Amendment so liberty and freedom could be debated and defended. You make yourself […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s no surprise Coliseum financial reports and audits going back to when it opened in 2007 are not on the City of Bloomington website. It’s easy to see why. Luckily, I have copies of what CIAM reported. For the partial year of 2007, total revenue was $3,469,708 For 2008, total revenue was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back in 2009 a company called Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc out of Florida was hired as a consultant. From their website: http://lylesumek.com/ Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc. is a consulting organization that specializes in team building, strategic planning and goal setting for local governments, developing more effective governing bodies and governance processes; assisting […]
By: Diane Benjamin Steve Vogel announced in the Pantagraph today that Alderman Lower is expected to run for Mayor against Steve’s buddy, Tari. Remember his daughter was Renner’s campaign manager twice. Since Vogel didn’t add that to his story, I need to make sure you know the truth. Now it’s clear why Tari Junior (Scott […]
By: Diane Benjamin I really hope Nora Dukowitz isn’t getting paid by taxpayers today. Her social media sites have under gone some changes. I’d hate to think taxpayers are paying for her personal activity, or maybe it isn’t personal? Luckily, I have screen shots of everything! The three Facebook pages “Liked” by Nora Katherine are […]
By: Diane Benjamin A few weeks ago the Pantagraph deleted and closed comments on a Letter to the Editor critical of Mayor Renner’s plans to redevelop downtown. http://blnnews.com/2015/11/05/pantagraph-reaches-a-new-low/ Yesterday a story about downtown redevelopment appeared – No Comments Allowed. The Pantagraph is a private company, so they can do whatever they want. However, citizens have […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nora Dukowitz was hired by the City of Bloomington to be the Communications Manger. Why Bloomington needed one is still a mystery. Hales claimed in this Pantagraph article that Nora would play a critical role in outreach to citizens, he also stated she would use social media to engage citizens: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/city-hires-communications-manager/article_f4bfe4e6-ec94-5cf7-a2c7-5c8a58a36771.html I […]
By: Diane Benjamin On October 31, 2015 the Pantagraph printed a Letter to the Editor critical of Mayor Renner and his plans to use public money to redevelop downtown. http://www.pantagraph.com/news/opinion/mailbag/downtown-financing-not-for-taxpayers/article_13e845ac-a6b8-5585-b601-426d46a64601.html It is surprising they allowed the letter since many are rejected, but now there is a new twist. All comments to the letter have been […]
