By: Diane Benjamin The third Monday of the month is hell because both Councils meet. Last night was over 4 hours I will never get back! Highlights from Bloomington: Yes folks, this is the spending plan for the next 20 years – for just water. I don’t think the never used water tower was included […]
By: Diane Benjamin At least the walk will be shorter for Pantagraph reporters if Bloomington City Hall moves some of their offices to the Government Center. Of course we had to find out from the paper: https://www.pantagraph.com//govt-and-politics/bloomington-city-hall-council-meetings-to-move-to-county-government-center You have to read down to find out Connect Transit may chose the old City Hall building for […]
By: Diane Benjamin I reported in this story one of the “peaceful” protesters was arrested for looting. https://blnnews.com/2020/06/09/ironic-isnt-it/ Evidently she wasn’t the only protester turned looter: h/t: a reader I wonder if the “peaceful” Sonny has turned over names to the police? Another post from Sonny’s “peaceful” page: Miller Park doesn’t have a statue of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Videos of the looting at Target are all over Facebook. Obviously most of the people involved have not been arrested, but worse the videos show police did little to stop it. A resident of Normal had questions – note he sent this email to the entire Council, Mayor and City Manager: Doug […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since the media isn’t interested in holding tyrannical dictators accountable, I must keep posting Mayor Koos taunting protesters. This picture speaks volumes about him and his buddies on the Council – the PLAN is the only thing that matters, not you. But there is more: A guy name Josh Favus is Koos’ […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Tari Renner participated in a video conference led by the Peoria’s mayor. There were MANY other mayors on the call, Chris Koos was not one of them. Below is a clip of just Renner. He starts by thanking Mayor Ardis for his leadership, he asks a question, then expresses his appreciation […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Chris Koos posted this statement to his official Facebook page yesterday: Did he bother to read the Emergency Order # 20-008 he signed on April 4th? http://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16503/Emergency-Order-20-008—Stay-at-home-enforcement-?bidId= Excerpts: Did somebody forge your signature Mayor? One or more of the below is true: Koos is intentionally deceiving citizens Koos knows his order […]
By: Diane Benjamin A couple days ago this Letter to the Editor from McLean County Board member Sharon Chung appeared in the paper: https://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/letters/race-connection-furthers-division/article_298225bf-64ea-5b14-b9a7-e62de06e15c4.html Chung is upset an amendment failed that would have removed “China” from the emergency proclamation the County passed. Sharon, Communist China wants the same thing! Most of the media has knelt […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t read Gov Pritzker’s Executive Order, see it here: https://www2.illinois.gov/IISNews/21288-Gov._Pritzker_Stay_at_Home_Order.pdf Note the Title: Stay At Home Order There are no exceptions in his order for government helping kids celebrate their birthdays. There are dictates requiring people to stay 6 feet away from each other if they have to be outside […]
By: Diane Benjamin So who at the City of Bloomington did this family know? https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/photos-bloomington-girl-receives-special-birthday-present/collection_2fa6b4ee-8fc8-5a52-806f-f3268f9e9d11.html#3 Yes folks, another parade for a kid’s birthday. One difference, this time it was a girl and the only City vehicle she got was an emergency response truck with paramedics. Obvious sexism since she didn’t get all the same vehicles […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos obviously wanted Dave Shields on the Council – Shields was on the ballot for the 2019 elections. Luckily he lost. Keep reading to see why that was a good thing. Go all the way back to 2005. 701 Broadway was a fraternity house and it “was a habitual source of […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT did a story yesterday pertaining to the still empty space at 1 Uptown Circle. Take a minute and read it: https://www.wglt.org/emails-show-developers-struggle-find-first-floor-tenant-uptown-building Since the Town of Normal and WGLT are best buds, there has to be a reason for this story. I’ve noted many times Tartan Realty had the opportunity to rent […]
By: Diane Benjamin Budget – PDF page 56 https://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=24029 We have no idea when life will return to normal, but government needs to scale back now. The only receipts that may increase is the Utilities Tax since a lot of people are at home. All the X tax receipts will be effected, how many businesses will […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT wrote a story on March 6, 2020 stating: wglt.org/wages-flat-mclean-county-lagging-rest-us-economy __________________________ Tonight’s Normal Town Council agenda: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3580 PDF page 71: Normal gives Cost of Living increases twice a year! Normal’s own propaganda arm – WGLT – stated wages are flat for most residents. I saw a station selling gas for $1.88 […]
By: Diane Benjamin An EMP taking out electricity for months or even years would kill most of the population. Proof is in the chaos created by a virus. The number of cases of Wuhan Corona virus is going to grow, just like every flu grows. Some people will die, most won’t. Media loves to report […]
By: Diane Benjamin Some time around 2017 the rules changed at the Law and Justice Center for taking electronic devices inside the building. The head Circuit Court judge appointed a member of the media to approve press credentials so they could take in cameras, cell phones etc. The first press coordinator was Edith Brady-Lunny who […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bills and Payroll: https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=23995 Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1059&Inline=True Congrats taxpayers! No employees are receiving Sick Leave Buy Back payments this time to spike their pensions. Don’t get excited though, you will be paying again: See PDF page 89 of the agenda. Denise Balagna will be receiving an extra $205.78 per month Joyce McKeon will […]
The two Denham’s are married, Theresa was hired 12/30/19. By: Diane Benjamin For the 3 years – 2016 to 2019 – Normal paid $146,539.90. The list is VERY long, so I won’t post pics. See it here: Pantagraph Normal Don’t forget during the same time period WGLT got paid $27,183.50. https://blnnews.com/2020/01/23/corruption-in-normal/ Speaking of WGLT, did […]
By: Diane Benjamin No bills were approved at the last council meeting since it was held off-schedule for the holidays. Monday night $14,244,476.43 is up for approval. https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=23691 As always, there was extensive travel. A lot of it is in the PCard spending, see PDF page 271 and following. 2020 starts where previous years […]
By: Diane Benjamin All emails received by FOIA. This comment appeared in a December 4th article – Mayor Koos: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/in-step-or-out-of-line-normal-council-wants-to/article_deebde5c-33be-5c08-bd94-828984d434bf.html The Mayor was talking about the Citizens Summitt. He wanted only “invitees” to participate. Stan Nord invited the Town from his Facebook page. Koos and Pam Reece were annoyed at the December 2nd council meeting: […]
By: Diane Benjamin I already reported Mike Matejka left facts out of his forum commentary: https://blnnews.com/2019/11/15/mike-matejka-leaves-out-some-facts/ Yesterday he did some community organizing to make sure his followers stay fired up and uninformed. It’s all politics all the time for Mike, facts are immaterial. Matejka didn’t lead this event, but he posted it on his Facebook […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why was the Obama economy awful while the Trump economy is booming? Policies! https://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/central-illinois-voices-bloomington-needs-to-rethink-business-policies/article_fa5618aa-7657-5325-aa20-1852b3a34f3c.html I don’t know why the Pantagraph allows Justin Boyd to write editorials, but today I am glad they did. Justin thinks starting a business in Bloomington is really hard because of all the paperwork the City requires. So […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the celebrations when VenuWorks announced they ONLY lost $276,367? They budgeted a loss of $495,514, so everybody happily reported they lost less than expected. See PDF page 27: https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=23151 Long time readers won’t be surprised to learn the auditors didn’t agree with the VenuWorks accounting. The audited financial report has appeared […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you listened to Tari Renner’s WJBC interview yesterday, you heard him mention “real journalists” not following up on what bloggers report. WMDB TV was at the council meeting when both Kirk Allen and I spoke. Yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2019/10/16/tari-on-wjbc-3/ See these redacted emails received by FOIA. What is Nora telling the POLICE CHIEF concerning […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are some things from the last Normal FOIA I found interesting. Some other things are very interesting, I had to file another FOIA for those. For now – enjoy these: On September 1st at 8:55 pm a resident of Normal sent an email with this title: The email is long, basically […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pantagraph story: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/connect-transit-to-buy-at-least-electric-buses-over-four/article_63972e20-636a-52ea-81d2-a56849c9cef2.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-2 So many things are wrong with what happened at the Connect Transit meeting, but start with the fake reporting: Stan Nord wasn’t there! Bloomington Alderman Donna Boelen did and she did ask the Board to wait until the Working Group was finished. Did a reporter even attend? Was stating […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everything below was received by FOIA. I received another treasure trove of emails – stay tuned. Remember this note Mayor Koos sent to Bloomington and leaked to the media? This note was in the Pantagraph on July 17th. https://blnnews.com/2019/07/31/did-chris-koos-lie/ On July 26th, Stan Nord sent proof to the Mayor and the entire […]
By: Diane Benjamin Recently the Pantagraph put out a call for people to write editorials for them. Evidently Justin Boyd answered the call, this was published on August 12th: Bloomington Needs To Rethink Its Future Who is Justin Boyd? Downtown business owner Tari’s One Voice travel buddy: https://blnnews.com/2019/03/21/bloomington-travels-one-voice/ Justin helped get signatures for Julie Emig […]
By: Diane Benjamin Trustees Karyn Smith and Chemberly Cummings were absent. The easiest way to recap last night’s meeting is by topic. Readers can jump in the video to topics of interest to them. The meeting finale was priceless, don’t miss it. 4:00 – Stan Nord removes B-H on the Omnibus Agenda. Chris Koos is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two of this weeks top read stories were about Koos lying to the media. I hope you noticed the media hasn’t issued a correction! I don’t know how you could have missed these stories, but if you did: https://blnnews.com/2019/07/31/did-chris-koos-lie/ https://blnnews.com/2019/07/31/did-chris-koos-lie-part-2/ Last night I was wondering what possesses a supposed public servant to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night agenda: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3373 PDF page 61 Part of Shelbourne already has bike lanes: Has anybody counted how many people use the current bike lanes? The Town claims the residents have been notified and no complaints have been made about the on-street parking ban. This one is fun! The State of Illinois shows […]
By: Diane Benjamin We know why Stan Nord is being attacked in Normal – anyone actually representing citizens always has been. January 24, 2008 Pantagraph Headline: Officials not allowing city workers to talk with council members https://www.pantagraph.com/news/officials-not-allowing-city-workers-to-talk-with-council-members/article_f4228b0d-8f16-5899-b640-0ef103ab4ba3.html The first line: Since I know you can read, click the link and see the rest for yourself. […]
By: Diane Benjamin See Part 1: https://blnnews.com/2019/07/31/did-chris-koos-lie/ The second issue in Koos’ letter pertained to fire stations. Stan Nord had been looking at why Bloomington and Normal couldn’t have a joint east side fire station since both want one: Pam Reece’s reply: See the document here: Fire Department Study The real question should have been: Why […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when the media did a story Chris Koos evidently fed to them about Stan Nord going rogue? Koos wrote a letter to Tari Renner and the media ended up with it. https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/koos-nord-acted-alone-to-poach-bloomington-business/article_aeff8b7c-78a3-5e32-b1ef-f65e4e81f812.html Let’s start with Koos’ first claim: a Normal Council member went “lone wolf” to recruit across borders. I had […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did you know to print just a basic obituary in the local paper will cost $205? It looks like including a photo adds to that cost. So, your loved one is gone and funerals are ridiculously expensive. Then the paper wants to gouge you for a couple inches of space to announce […]
By: Diane Benjamin The picture below is from the Facebook page of the downtown Bloomington business that holds Drag Queen story hour for kids. Can anybody honestly say this is not an attempt to sexualize children? Note the names of books they are reading to the kids. There aren’t other life lessons as told […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=22247 Tari and the employees had fun: Add the previous Hawaii expenses of $1,968.00, and Tari’s trip cost $3,892.50. https://blnnews.com/2019/04/18/off-to-hawaii/ This is what the Pantagraph reported: Pantagraph.com twin-city-mayors-focus-on-transit-climate-at-conference The cost of the CONFERENCE was $950.00. The paper didn’t include that part. What did taxpayers get? The bill? Remember the FREE entertainment […]
By. Diane Benjamin This sage started with a planted story at WGLT, it needed 3 reporters to write it: koos-says-nord-went-lone-wolf-fire-department-merger-uptown-recruitment Then it got funnier when the Pantagraph decided it was news: koos-nord-acted-alone-to-poach-bloomington-business Somebody please check on Chris. Make sure he isn’t suicidal or buying a gun. He’s obviously lost his mind over Stan Nord. […]
By: Diane Benjamin How many bikes have you seen using the existing bike lanes? One? Two? None? (I see far more bikers heading to Dawson Lake in the country) The State is planning to finally fix Route 9 through town. Thursday Bloomington wants your input at a public hearing from 4:30 to 6:30 at City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Absent last night: Jenn Carrillo and Jeff Crabill. Tari Renner claimed he is homeless because pipes broke in his house. I wonder if he will be paying the likely high water bill? I hope he didn’t opt out of the insurance that will cover part of the cost. He was back from […]
