By: Diane Benjamin At the Normal Town Council meeting last night many on the Council were appalled at Stan Nord’s comments concerning an email Pam Reece sent: https://blnnews.com/2020/06/16/normal-the-lets-marginalize-stan-show/ Stan obviously stands alone in representing the people who voted for him. The rest campaign as representing citizens and then fall in line with whatever the “professional […]
By: Diane Benjamin 5:05 – Jon Reed was the only public comment. Others emailed the Council. I believe public comment isn’t for the Council – it is for the public. Citizens will never know what other citizens said by emailing. Get on the phone people! Jon did a great job taking down Jenn Carrillo (while […]
By: Diane Benjamin 9:00 – Stan pulled the bills for further discussion – particularly paying property taxes. Pam Reece and attorney Brian Day didn’t have good answers for not filing paperwork to make them exempt. 14:45 Koos ends the conversation. Next was the contract with the McLean County Regional Planning Commission. Stan wanted the same […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3660 Spending to obtain Tiger grants continues: Normal still allows pension spiking: Lots of Interest being paid:
By: Diane Benjamin Another email exchange between Stan Nord and Pam Reece, I don’t think it needs my comments. All of these were written on the same day. Received by FOIA.
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe Jenn Carrillo can hop on her official Facebook page and deny she made this comment on my site: Doesn’t this sound just like her? America has survived for almost 244 years without socialism being “existentially necessary”. Have we lost the battle? Not as long as the 2nd Amendment exists. That’s why […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since the list contains obvious lies I’m not going to post the un-redacted version. https://blnnews.com/2020/06/14/we-are-at-war/ Many people want to know who is on the list so they can frequent these establishment. Remember when Chic-Fil-A was targeted and supporters stood in long lines just to show their support? https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/chick-fil-supporters-gather-appreciation-day/story?id=16904664 Jenn Carrillo claims […]
Updates: https://blnnews.com/2020/06/15/more-on-the-list/ https://blnnews.com/2020/06/15/did-jenn-make-this-comment/ By: Diane Benjamin Please read to the bottom and then share Jenn Carrillo was brought illegally to this country by her parents. If her parents broke the law to provide a better life for the family that’s understandable. Jenn isn’t here for a better life however. She is the founder of […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3660 The Town of Normal is going together with the County, Bloomington, and BNWRD to fund hazardous waste collection days through the Ecology Action Center. PDF page 61: This is common sense since citizens expect nobody associated with the Town to profit off this contract. Too bad it didn’t apply to this: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ever heard “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves”? The Town of Normal is not only not “watching the pennies”, they aren’t watching dollars either. (YOUR DOLLARS) These bills are “presented” for Monday night – nobody is suppose to ask questions. Start with the One Uptown Circle Rent. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Before supporting “No Cash Bail” or other reforms to local policing, see who currently resides in the County jail. These are only the worst accused and convicted offenders. The jail population has increased recently due to felony looting and destruction of property: 2019 CF 416 Cynthia Baker – convicted of murder, not […]
By: Diane Benjamin Indiana is open. I know locals who have driven to the Beef House right across the border to sit down for a good meal. Iowa is open for full capacity in-restaurant dining. Wisconsin is open after their Supreme Court ruled the governor’s actions illegal. Illinois has Pritzker’s boot on everybody’s neck, he […]
https://pointofview.net/articles/myth-of-systemic-police-racism/ Excerpts: (if facts still matter) Read the rest of the story for more, it also talks about Chicago where Black Lives must not matter.
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 Watch a Normal Council meeting. Kathleen Lorenz will attempt at least one to convey that Stan Nord has no idea what he’s doing. In emails she is even worse. Below are a few choice picks – from FOIA: Response from Kathleen: This issue isn’t dead, I’m just waiting for more information. How […]
By: Diane Benjamin Background: If you’ve ever watched a Normal Town Council meeting you know Chris Koos, Pam Reece, and most of the Council don’t appreciate Stan Nord representing citizens. The formerly 10 minute meetings with your elected officials never questioning anything are over. The emails below reveal how City Manager Pam Reece feels. She […]
By: Diane Benjamin One of the demands of Black Lives Matter is to end cash bail. They want the jails cleared out of murder suspects, armed robbery suspects, rapists – etc. They don’t think it’s fair for minorities to sit in jail because they can’t afford bail when they haven’t been convicted of anything. That […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two more properties have been identified Normal is paying property taxes on when they should be exempt. Think there aren’t more? Both of these are vacant lots in 1 Normal Plaza, it appears they were acquired after Nick Africano tore down one of the buildings: The relatively small amount of your money […]
By: Diane Benjamin The left is famous for “never enough”. Whatever goals they achieve they want more. The local police were supposedly so bad a civilian police review board (PSCRB) had to be established. It took forever before they investigated one complaint – they determined the police did nothing wrong. They had meetings, printed flyers […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=24638 The meeting is going to be out of order (pun intended) tonight. Meetings usually end with Mayor and Council comments, there must be a reason for this change: I’m sure other items will be interesting, but severing ties with VenuWorks piqued my interest. I don’t know why but the City wrote […]
By: Diane Benjamin How did Barack Obama get elected twice if this country is racist? This video is people most will know talking about racism. Where are the local black people standing up to the anarchists in Black Lives Matter? Yesterday’s event wasn’t led by blacks. Watch the video, it explains why. Check out […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jenn Carrillo gets talking points from the Southern Poverty Law Center. SPLC is a money making machine promoting personal attacks for money. https://thefederalist.com/2018/05/07/5-reasons-southern-poverty-law-center-hate-mongering-scam/ See more at the link above. This organization thrives on hate and violence. Any person or organization that uses the Southern Poverty Law Center as a source for […]
I redacted the name of the writer because this could have been written by any small business owner. Note the dates as you read each email. Large corporations allowed to stay open profited at the expense of your neighbors. Received by FOIA: Response from Stan Nord: Pam sent this to the Mayor and Council. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m reading through 100’s of pages of emails, I will post others at some point. This one made me stop. City Manager Pam Reece does updates for the Council. This excerpt is part of one sent April 25th: Note: John and Marilyn Freese plan to donate the property to the Town of […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Health Department thinks they have the right to shut down businesses. They don’t. Pritzker’s expired executive orders are meaningless – they aren’t LAW. The only authority the Health Department has comes from the courts. Any pieces of paper they hand out mean nothing. McKnight just closed down the pool […]
By: Diane Benjamin June 1st, Normal Town Council meeting: Hit play – it should start at 1:14:23 with Brian Day, Town attorney. The topic is the sale of the property at 1404 Ft. Jesse. Brian Day is responding to questions from Stan Nord. Day attempts to claim selling the property for far less than appraised […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Health Department has no right under the LAW to shut anybody down by pretending Pritzker’s edicts are law. We have due process rights in this country. To shut you down they need to take you to court. They will not take you to court because they know they can […]
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 […]
Below is an email I received today from the fired/retired Carol Stream Librarian who is possessed with me for some reason – why I have no idea: She hasn’t been on my site for months? My log says otherwise: There were more this morning but I get too many reads to have the history available from […]
By: Diane Benjamin On November 5, 2018 the Town of Normal bought property at the corner of Hershey and Sheppard for a fire station. Remember, the residents in the area didn’t want it located there – the Town ignored their petition. The purchase price was $450,000 for 1.69 acres (according to GIS): http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3107 Monday night […]
By: Diane Benjamin The comment below was made by a person with an IP address in Chicago: FACTS: MLK was opposed to violence of any kind. He trained the protesters who walked with him not to respond to anyone harassing them. If any got arrested for failing to follow his instructions he refused to bail […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you read John Kass’s column from yesterday’s story, he reported all the suburban women with “white privilege” signs in the yards are arming themselves because the looting didn’t stay in Chicago. https://blnnews.com/2020/06/03/you-are-being-deceived/ Want to know why your kids think socialism is great? Meet Nikki Mauer: https://www.unit5.org/Page/1850 NCHS: Nikki used her Copy […]
By: Diane Benjamin Where is the violence across the country happening? Mostly Democrat run cities frequently with black mayors, black police chiefs, and other black officials. The violence has nothing to do with justice. Think WHITES aren’t victims of bad cops? See this video of police killing a WHITE handcuffed man who called them for […]
By: Diane Benjamin I reported in this story the McLean County Nursing Home was forced to repay $244,195 to the State of Illinois as a result of an audit. The Illinois Department of Public Health claimed the State overpaid them. https://blnnews.com/2020/04/27/mclean-county-nursing-home-fact-left-out/ The County was upset and blamed the Administrator (who has since resigned) for failing […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t: a reader WGLT was also Live-Streaming the NAACP event. At almost the end Jenn was on video pulling what appears to be a box of matches from her bag, taking one out of the box, attempting to light it, and then turning her back to the camera. Below are screen shots […]
By: Diane Benjamin ISU President Dietz spoke at the NAACP rally. The only video I can find is posted is on the WEEK 25 Facebook page. Unless you are on Facebook you won’t be able to see it. He only spoke for a few minutes. His comments ended with ISU is committed to social justice. […]
By: Diane Benjamin During the Pledge of Allegiance – the sign is courtesy of Chemberly Cummings: The meeting began with comments from Janessa Williams, chairperson of the Human Relations Board of Normal. She did denounce the violence. The part of the meeting that should outrage citizens was the selling of the property on Ft. Jesse. […]
