By: Diane Benjamin Every major news source in Bloomington-Normal is supported by thousands of your tax dollars. In less than two years your tax dollars went to: Pantagraph: $338,493.91 WJBC etc: $148,965.78 Cities 92.9 etc: $30,474.30 City governments send regular payouts to these entities for thousands of dollars in what they call advertising. Not limiting themselves […]
By: Diane Benjamin Start here with a tweet from a local Pantagraph reporter: I wonder if Derek knows this, if he does he has kept it a secret! Rivian likes to hire FOREIGN labor! Americans must not know a thing about building non-conventional cars! I wonder if that agreement Normal signed says Rivian MUST hire […]
By: Diane Benjamin On January 3rd you will know why local media is the home of FAKE NEWS! Meanwhile, here’s a preview: WJBC did a year in review – listen HERE Fast forward to hear what they reported for the Coliseum at 31:00 No mention of my findings because of a lawsuit and no mention […]
By: Diane Benjamin Here Are The 13 Most Dangerous Places In Illinois After Dark As the sun goes down, crime tends to rise, and in these Illinois towns, you’ll want to be especially cautious. In no particular order, here are 13 places in The Prairie State that are quite dangerous after dark: http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/illinois/most-dangerous-towns-illinois/ East St […]
By: Diane Benjamin The taxpayers of Bloomington have no idea how much the Coliseum LOST last year because the City doesn’t want you to know. The year-end for the Coliseum was April 30th, no income and expense information has been released. (normally it is released in October) The Coliseum was a mess, so the City […]
The right video is below! By: Diane Benjamin I enjoy hearing the train whistle load and clear on the Normal Council videos. I guess when you take federal money for a new train station, then decide to put the Town offices and Council chambers above it, they deserve have the meetings interrupted by trains. Three […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the report issued by the Bloomington Election Commission in this post: https://blnnews.com/2016/12/17/wjbc-please-stop-the-fake-news/ The document clearly shows Tari Renner submitted 785 signatures and after the line-by-line review he ended up with 581. That means 204 signatures were found to be invalid. Below is an email a citizen sent to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Anonymous Editorial Writer at the Pantagraph urged readers to sift out FAKE NEWS and rely on them along with other main stream sources: http://www.pantagraph.com/editorial-it-s-simple-check-before-you-share Trying not to laugh, I read it. Just last Saturday, the Pantagraph ran an AP story that used Media Matter for America as a source: http://www.pantagraph.com/business/google-still-putting-ads-on-fake-news-sites Associated […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been accumulating Renner quotes for a few days because they show his character. If his petitions looked legitimate they wouldn’t have been challenged. They didn’t. If Kevin appeals the Election Commission ruling to a higher court, I bet more signatures would be thrown off. They allow looking for patterns of fraud, […]
Below is research complied by college student Christian Prenzler. What is Rivian Automotive? Taking a look through the brief and unknown history of the start-up vehicle development company On Thursday afternoon, The Pantagraph broke the news that Rivian Automotive Inc. would be purchasing the plant in whole. Rivian is a Michigan based automotive engineering firm […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the video shot by John Kraft of Edgar County Watchdogs at the meeting to hear the protest to Renner’s petitions. John kept the video running after the meeting was recessed. At 6:48 Jason Chambers, State’s Attorney, announced he was not going to intervene because his office would be responsible for […]
By: Diane Benjamin I started BlnNews 4 1/2 years ago because the local media has an agenda. Items against their agenda aren’t allowed. I’m sure I’m not saying anything you don’t already know. In case you need an example, WGLT made the case for me this week. They did a story about Tari Renner’s petitions […]
By: Diane Benjamin The daily rag has a new story about pension spiking at the City of Bloomington. In an effort to deflect from the City’s unethical practice of allowing employees to spike their pensions with unused sick days, they even call the practice legal. It is legal because Bloomington’s Mayor, City Manager, and Council […]
On Monday, November 21, 2016 3:42 PM, Pantagraph Letters <PLetters@pantagraph.com> wrote: . I’m sorry but your letter has not been selected for publication. Thank you. . Karen Hansen Digital news editor The Pantagraph P: 309-820-3236 @pg_digital khansen@pantagraph.com . Here’s the letter: . Logan County has “Gone with the Wind”! . Logan County Zoning & County […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since the Pantagraph has a policy against investigating anything, I was shocked they investigated travel expenses in Bloomington, Normal, and the County. See their story here: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/on-the-road-officials-travel-differs-in-style-frequency/article_8d3d238b-2be3-5454-8d28-19045f8639f7.html I FOIA’d all three for the exact information the Pantagraph received. One item they reported for Bloomington caught my attention: Bloomington requires receipts for meals? […]
By: Diane Benjamin I haven’t heard the commercial, but several people have told me they almost wrecked their cars when Tari Renner’s radio ad called on the community to “Buy Local”. Maybe the City of Bloomington should participate before Tari is sent out to lecture citizens. These totals are from last year, I could have […]
See this story for the totals: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/28/connect-transit-totals/https://blnnews.com/2016/10/28/connect-transit-totals/ By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t attend the Connect Transit meeting last night, but I have reports from people who did. Of course people spoke that rely on buses, but people also spoke about BUDGETING a $12,000,000 loss when the country and the State of Illinois both have no […]
By: Diane Benjamin My smile is not because the Cubs won last night, they still have three more games to win! Go Cubs Go This is why: I have to show you a very small part of an anonymous letter I received in the mail today. I have received these kinds of letters before, but […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course the TIF District passed last night 8-1. Only Kevin Lower knows government doesn’t create economic development without taking your money to do it. Free markets are dead in Bloomington. I hear Giebelhausen is still planning a hotel for the Pantagraph building, not where the City wants one and not in […]
(Jim announced last night he is not running for reelection. Petitions are due 11/21 – info here: http://www.becvote.org/wordpress/) Dear Jim, Here’s the problem: The citizens feel like their government is stalking them like a famished predator. They have good reasons: Amusement Tax, Utilities tax, Gas Tax, Sales Tax, Garbage fee increases, Liquor fee increases More […]
By: Diane Benjamin Information is harder to compare now that the Hales’ City Manager Reports are history. Instead of transparency, he posts bits and piece of data and I have to put it together. I imagine soon the bits and pieces will disappear because tax increases are much easier when government claims they need more […]
By: Diane Benjamin I won’t have time for a while to work for free, so here’s some stories you might not have seen: 1) FBI agents say the bureau is alarmed over Director James Comey’s decision to not suggest that the Justice Department prosecute Hillary Clinton over her mishandling of classified information. According to an interview […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local (don’t question) paper is reporting the Enterprise Zone for parts of Bloomington, Normal, McLean County, Ford County and Gibson City has been approved by the State of Illinois. This will allow for a variety of tax breaks for businesses in the zone and those wanting to locate there. Mitsubishi closing […]
The sound system at this meeting was NOT the new system. I heard at the meeting it was, that information was false. The new system should be installed in the next 10days to 2 weeks. _______________________________ A reader commented that the Pantagraph “corrected” the story in today’s paper. Unless another story is done and posted […]
By: Diane Benjamin I thought about writing on this topic, but posted it on Facebook instead. Sunday the Pantagraph had an Editorial: Newspapers are proud of what they do. This was in the first paragraph: We use different vehicles, but we’re all committed to the same thing: Sharing stories and information about the people and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Poor Stevie doesn’t think it’s fair that some people make A LOT more money than others. Jealous? Today his column is on income inequality in McLean County using data from what he calls a left-leaning site.. He claims the top 1%ers in McLean County earn $365,000+ per year. Yep, that’s a lot of […]
By: Diane Benjamin If Tari isn’t doing anything wrong with the Liquor Commission, like violating the Open Meetings Act, why did he fire the other commissioners and declare himself Liquor King? Remember when former Alderwoman Judy Stearns filed an Open Meetings Act violation against the City for Renner and Hales actions in an Executive Session? […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has a ridiculous editorial today urging the City to spend spend spend on downtown. They must not realize with building the Coliseum and covering the losses, rehabbing the BCPA, and with the TIF dollars from the past – Bloomington is probably close to spending $100,000,000. Don’t forget to add the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington still doesn’t believe laws matter. From the Attorney General’s website: http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/Default.aspx It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today the Pantagraph printed this Letter to the Editor: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/opinion/mailbag/ciam-should-provide-information/article_6b4daeab-9b06-5c78-a0ab-1a41646ffe43.html That isn’t the letter Erik submitted! He emailed the original to me: Diane, This is the original text of my letter: . Thank you for your article in the Sept. 1 Pantagraph about the Coliseum and it’s relationship with the former manager. […]
This is another story where Hales claims the Coliseum had CLEAN audits: http://ilnews.org/9870/financial-probe-of-coliseums-former-manager-may-involve-concession-money/ They weren’t clean, concessions were NEVER audited, and Hales refused to protect taxpayer money. _____________________________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin According to this September 12th Pantagraph article, City Manager David Hales claims the Coliseum audits have always received a clean opinion: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/state-police-city-investigating-coliseum-operations/article_6e1ae325-da35-5573-845a-454e9b4c8031.html David Hales […]
By: Diane Benjamin Hales is frequently praised for pulling Bloomington back from the brink of disaster, but Tari Renner claimed he did it when he became mayor. See his announcement for re-election. Both believe taxing people to death creates prosperity. For government it does, not so much for those not in or profiting from government. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Within a 1/2 hour of receiving the Coliseum Concession documents, I had the numbers plugged into the spreadsheet shown in this story: https://blnnews.com/2016/08/26/bombshell-sit-down-before-reading/ It wasn’t difficult and I did it for FREE! Last year David Hales earned almost $240,000: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=10245 Hales didn’t have time in more than seven years as City Manager […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today the local media finally decided to report on the Coliseum: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/city-examining-ciam-s-concession-sales-at-coliseum/article_32b4b33e-8f50-5782-a8be-4ea5a57fbf0b.html It needs a few corrections: I knew Renner was going to try to say the concession problems I’ve been writing about for YEARS only came to light under the new management of the Coliseum. The City is investigating other issues […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last week I posted a story about documents I received showing concessions sales at the Coliseum from 2013 – 2015. https://blnnews.com/2016/08/26/bombshell-sit-down-before-reading/ I never would have received them if I hadn’t filed a lawsuit in 2015. The City of Bloomington did not suddenly discover problems existed when the new management took over. I’ve […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph reported around 50 people showed up yesterday for Tari’s big announcement. I hear 25 of them were media. If you can read the Pantagraph on-line, the comments aren’t promising for his 2nd run: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/elections/renner-touts-city-progress-wants-nd-term/article_512365c5-7492-5c1f-b834-e6b3fb38c2f5.html Tari claimed he stabilized Bloomington’s finances. I thought David Hales did that in 2008 and 2009 […]
By: Diane Benjamin In about 30 minutes Tari Renner is announcing his bid for re-election. He is doing it in front of the Route 66 Visitors Center located inside the McLean County Museum of History. That building is owned by McLean County. Campaigning inside City Hall is illegal. Campaigning inside the Law and Justice Center […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has been running this ad on Facebook: I will wait for you to stop laughing! waiting . . . waiting . . . Today an entire article is devoted to praising the City of Bloomington’s for closing last year under budget. Some things they meant to mislead you about: (tonight: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Being a citizen watchdog has two purposes: Report what the media is refusing to report Make sure laws are followed Bloomington is showing again Monday night that laws don’t matter. On the agenda for the “Special Meeting ” at 5:00 pm is approving the minutes from the August 8th meeting. http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11077 See […]
By: Diane Benjamin See Monday night’s Bills and Payroll here: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=242&parent=9535 Media did well: Straightening out the mess prior management left? . This months eating at your expense: ADMIN City Council Expenses Station 220 Inc $ 32.75 07/01/16 Business lunch T. Renner (By himself?) ADMIN City Council Expenses Station 220 Inc $ 50.00 06/30/16 Business […]
