By: Diane Benjamin If corporations kept 2 sets of books, the leaders would be in jail. Bloomington is doing that: https://blnnews.com/2025/11/22/bloomington-flunked-the-transparency-test/ Did you know Bloomington is only paying interest in the Coliseum bonds? If it ever gets paid off the real cost will likely be close to twice what the original cost was. 1 year […]
By: Diane Benjamin Just to make sure everyone knows: The Obamacare subsidies that haven’t been extended were passed under Biden during Covid. No Republicans voted for them. Democrats put a 5 year expiration date on the additional money. This article explains why the subsidies shouldn’t be extended, Cato isn’t a bunch of conservatives: https://www.cato.org/blog/six-reasons-not-extend-enhanced-obamacare-subsidies Obamacare […]
By: Diane Benjamin Declare yourself an asylum seeker in Illinois! Can’t afford groceries? Illinois uses your tax dollars to feed illegals. Ditto healthcare. If you can’t afford the premiums, imagine how many US citizens living in Illinois could have been funded with the money our dear leaders have thrown to illegals. AI generated summary: . […]
By: Diane Benjamin The current Sales tax rate is 10.25, if Pritzker signs the bill it increases to 10.5% Read more: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicagos-high-sales-taxes-about-to-increase-to-no-1-in-nation/ Bloomington and Normal have the same Sales Tax rate – 9.75%: . Aren’t you proud the local Sales Tax rate almost matches Chicago? The 1% School Facilities Tax was put on a local […]
By: Diane Benjamin To get the whole picture, readers have to combine the video and the meeting documentation about the downtown transfer station: PDF page 29 https://connect-transit.com/file/3878/2025%2010%2028_Meeting%20Packet.pdf Once Connect Transit found out the old Pantagraph building wouldn’t work for the downtown transit center, this happened: . Bloomington has wanted to get rid of the Market […]
Deadline to purchase tickets with meals is November 10. https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/new-illinois-8th-constitutional-convention Please call Donald Glenn at (217) 649-6718 with any questions. Tickets to hear speakers only on Friday at 7:45 will be available at the door with a surcharge. Going Forward As we’ve often said, the U.S. Constitution gives us the right to pursue the formation of […]
H/T a reader This story is only to document what Illinois did to make test scores look better. When reports show huge education progress next year, you need to know why. Watch who will be celebrating. State board of education recommends lowering student proficiency standards – May 28 2025 “Lowering proficiency benchmarks will inflate the percentage […]
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/darren-bailey-family-killed.amp . Pray for this family.
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois State University SHOULD be embarrassed but probably won’t be. Monday this happened on the ISU campus: . This is the guy student say flipped their table, a police report was filed: . I’m sure ISU knows who this guy is. Are they doing anything to him? Is this the poster child […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois government not only collects a Gas Tax per gallon, they also get Sales Tax. They really hate when the price of gas drops because their revenue drops too. Gas tax: $0.483 per gallon https://tax.illinois.gov/research/taxrates/motorfuel.html In case you forgot what this tax used to be: . That is an 87% in 6 years. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois passed a bill in 2015 to reform education. In 2014 the US Department of Education determined racist policies (civil rights violations) existed in Illinois schools. Who was president in 2014? See the report from the Illinois Education Association dated January 2024 below. I wonder if Unit 5 Board chair Alex Williams […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader The State of Illinois doesn’t believe in judging students based on their character/behavior. The Illinois State Board of Education looks only at the proportional discipline based on skin color. Unit 5 was put on notice that too many people of color have been suspended or expelled. They were forced […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Illinois layoff list is back to updating daily: https://www.illinoisworknet.com/LayoffRecovery/Pages/IllinoisWARNData.aspx In September another 2,069 people in Illinois have been notified they will be laid off. The August layoffs were 1,065. In the last 12 months the total is 16,112.
By: Diane Benjamin A non-profit called Truth In Accounting rated every state in a report called Financial State of the States: Top and bottom states: . Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri all received a “B” rating. Illinois got an “F”. A “B” rating means those states have a budget surplus. An “F” means an unbalanced […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.tri-valley3.org/o/district/article/2444046 .\ Know who else offers free dental exams for students? Chicago Public Schools, not a model anyone should emulate. Orland Park Dental Services created jobs for themselves by providing this mobile service. How much are Tri-Valley district taxpayers getting billed for this? We won’t know until after 11/10/25. How much other […]
By: Diane Benjamin What causes deficits? What causes “structural deficits”? Duh! Spending more money than you take in. Bloomington has a spending problem! Every budget includes spending every penny they expect to receive in taxes. That allows them to “cry” when they don’t receive what they feel entitled to. (Just like you right?) Every budget […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when the Bloomington elites claimed they weren’t going to pass their own 1% Grocery tax? Joke is on you. They tripled your water rates (by next May 1st), raised every fee 3% without ever voting since those are automatic, and negotiated unaffordable electricity rates on your behalf. Bloomington has the chance […]
By: Diane Benjamin Update to this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/06/10/if-bloomington-needs-money-why-is-this-guy-on-a-paid-vacation/ A source told me James Buenrostro has resigned. It appears he might have to answer questions he didn’t want to answer. The source also responded to this story about 3 Champaign fire employees being stabbed responding to a mental health crisis call: https://blnnews.com/2025/09/18/illinois-law-police-cant-respond-to-a-mental-health-crisis/ The source to me […]
By: Diane Benjamin The left thinks “social workers” should respond to mental health crisis calls. This proves they are wrong yet again: https://champaignil.gov/2025/09/05/champaign-police-arrest-man-after-knife-attack-injures-three-medical-personnel/ That government issued release of course leaves out some details. The story does say Fire and EMT personnel were dispatched to a call for a 23 year old experiencing a mental health […]
By: Diane Benjamin Surely next year’s elections is not why the website was changed! Right?https://www.illinoisworknet.com/LayoffRecovery/Pages/ArchivedWARNReports.aspx It no longer lists layoffs as they happen. You now have to wait for a monthly report. This is the August report – it has to be downloaded from the website in order to read it: I deleted many columns […]
By: Diane Benjamin After looking for months I finally found it! I’ve been saying for a long time when I do find this I can’t wait to burn it! I did yesterday. Below are 2 videos. The 1st one is 3 minutes and 33 seconds and explains most of why I did this. The second […]
By: Diane Benjamin . Those pictures are from Maroa Il – the site of a former solar farm that didn’t survive storms on 8/18. No reports blame anything but severe storms. https://www.wandtv.com/community/maroa-solar-farm-suffered-significant-damage-from-overnight-storms/article_a6e03577-0e19-480c-bc3c-e931c0e4e753.html I did see a report on Facebook of power outages close to Bloomington. Ameren blamed this solar farm wreckage. The power grid has […]
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/medicaid-enrollment-spending-soar-in-illinois-as-congress-weighs-cuts/ Illinois should be asking why so many more people are on Medicaid instead of complaining about “cuts”. Covid is long over, the people eligible then should now be removed. .
By: Diane Benjamin Luckily Alderman won’t be voting on the Middle Missing Housing report tonight, Committee of the Whole is meant to assess policy. It will reveal who believes government solves problems and who knows they don’t however. The Bloomington City Council has approved MANY housing projects, almost all have ZERO action from developers. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin . Illegal aliens will get student financial aid: https://www.mystateline.com/news/local-news/gov-pritzker-signs-illinois-law-granting-financial-aid-access-to-undocumented-students/ Total spent on illegals: $2.5 billion! https://www.illinoispolicy.org/think-illinois-spends-millions-on-migrants-wrong-it-spends-billions/ Enjoy your tax increases – Illinois has illegals to take care of.
By: Diane Benjamin Want to know why the local League of Women Voters are pushing Rank Choice Voting? https://blnnews.com/2025/08/12/league-of-women-voters-accountability-in-question-bloomington-last-night/ Keep reading and find out! Illinois has been talking about changing how people vote for a few years. The way people voted since the beginning of this country isn’t good enough for miscreants, these people want […]
By: Diane Benjamin Law enforcement is forced by the Illinois government to release criminal illegal aliens, what does that tell you? It should shout citizens and their safety are immaterial. Illinois loves criminals, especially if they are in the country illegally. They will obstruct ICE efforts to deport them. https://cis.org/Vaughan/Which-Sanctuary-Jurisdictions-Have-Released-Most-Criminals That story recaps the top […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source: https://ipmnewsroom.org/illinois-newsrooms-receive-4-million-from-state-through-tax-credits/ The State of Illinois passed a law in 2024 to help fund local media. They claim Illinois has “news deserts”. Heard of Separation of Church and State? Evidently there is no Separation of Press and State. Under this $4 million giveaway the Pantagraph received $140,000 for “qualified journalists” and $10,000 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Go to the bottom of this page: https://mcleancountyil.gov/109/Filing-an-Assessment-Complaint I believe the State of Illinois is behind raising local assessed values. In their brilliance they thought McLean County properties were undervalued. When you see numbers like 1.0918 it means your assessed value is going up 9.18%. I explained in this story how property […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you missed yesterday’s story, read it now: https://blnnews.com/2025/08/05/bloomington-quit-celebrating-mlk-day/ Many of the leaders of this Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion event are associated with Illinois State University. That is important to remember while reading this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-08-05/isu-to-digest-u-s-attorney-generals-message-on-unlawful-dei ISU is figuring out how to comply with demands to end unlawful discrimination. The US Attorney […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m seeing lots of posts on social media like this one: Rent is becoming unaffordable: https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/rent-is-becoming-unaffordable-to-illinoisan-according-to-new-report/ Water rates in Bloomington have now increased 66% in less than 2 years. Next May 1st the 100% increase will be in effect to fund “generational investment”: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/departments/water/resident-community/water-rate-increase-and-capital-project-updates Items on the same Bloomington bill, like garbage, […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of the township multipliers will be posted here soon: https://mcleancountyil.gov/109/Filing-an-Assessment-Complaint I hear Randolph Township has the highest annual property tax multiplier: 10.70 That does NOT mean your property taxes are going up. It means the people picked in local elections (that few people bother to vote for) will be deciding to […]
By: Diane Benjamin This link contains of list of schools nationwide that has Nonconforming Transgender Policies: https://defendinged.org/investigations/list-of-school-district-transgender-gender-nonconforming-student-policies/ Page down to Illinois, there are a lot of districts listed. Yes, Unit 5 is one of them but District 87 isn’t. Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Policies openly state that district personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status […]
By: Diane Benjamin Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requires discrimination. CEI is an Illinois government Commission on Equity and Inclusion. This quote is from a document produced as a result of a survey on procurement in the private sector: By addressing these challenges head-on, CEI will help pave the way for a more inclusive, equitable, and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Being below State standards is pretty difficult to accomplish, this district is way below. The dark green is State: . Learning the basics is evidently not required for graduation: . Community Colleges are forced to teach the graduates of this school because the District didn’t: . The teachers can’t be blamed because […]
By: Diane Benjamin Locally we still haven’t been told when the airport is going to start taxing the county. If you forgot, Democrats got that passed in Springfield with members that don’t represent rural McLean County. That used to be called Taxation Without Representation. Assessed values are about to go up again. Since the area […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Planning Commission starts with a flawed assumption: PDF page 7 This plan is designed to guide growth, ensure the efficient use of resources, and maintain a balance between urban and rural areas for the next 20 years. McLean County isn’t growing. Numerous websites show the same as below. Pretending […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois is going to lose the AI war because of the Democratic Party’s war on fossil fuels. AI takes MASSIVE amounts of energy, wind and solar can never produce enough and it’s too expensive. Of course citizens are already seeing the electricity price increases because of these failed policies. Under Illinois law […]
By: Diane Benjamin This story was told to me by a reader – it happened yesterday: I just watched a guy shoplift a couple grand worth of Milwaukee tools from Home Depot in Normal. I got pics of his vehicle and plates along with him from the side. I found out Home Depot doesn’t report […]
