By: Diane Benjamin Of course the data is now close to moldy. Normal’s is from 3/31/23, Bloomington’s is from 4/30/23. Funny how they both appeared on the same day. Yesterday. Blomington’s TIF reports are now available too. Links to the reports – Easy to read data which is why it wasn’t available until now: https://tinyurl.com/Bloomington4-23 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tax dollars, actually fake money that doesn’t really exist, was given out for this: I appreciate the local democrats publicly saying they got improvements with tax dollars. Your landlord invested in the PARTY? Taxpayers did but they never agreed! I hope the rent went up substantially. Do democrats know the Feds spent […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you missed it, pro-Palatine protestors crashed the annual Democrat meeting at ISU: https://www.25newsnow.com/2023/11/11/protestors-crash-mclean-county-democratic-fundraising-dinner/?outputType=amp I doubt County Board member Krystle Able has ever studied Karl Marx, but she supports his policies anyway: Hint Krystle: Marx was a disgusting human being who lived off other people. He was widely rejected during his […]
By: Diane Benjamin The regular agenda had NOTHING on it, the Consent Agenda was passed without any discussion. Since the City doesn’t want controversy at meetings, the two on one meetings held before the Council meets are used to pacify objectors. The video of the meeting is slightly over an hour, half of that was […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager Tim Gleason announced at last night’s meeting that next week’s Committee of the Whole is being turning into a special meeting to talk property taxes. He of course used the obligatory fallacy that the City portion of your tax bill is small, it’s the school districts that get the most […]
By: Diane Benjamin This must be an effort to reach younger people who troll YouTube videos. Bloomington has their own upcoming YouTube star, this isn’t the only video by “Mose” Rickey. All of them are short, perfect for short attention spans. “Mose” (Paul) Rickey provides an entertaining performance. See the City YouTube channel for more […]
Citizens where Rivian wants to build a plant in Georgia are still fighting to stop it. Similar to Goshen in Illinois, it seems if government wants something they will do it regardless of what the people affected think. No2Rivian is the name of the group opposing construction.
By: Diane Benjamin There isn’t much on the agenda for tonight’s meeting, just one gem. PDF page 21: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/25a8ec96-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-d854eb82-3702-4140-9de6-ac3a8e3f379d-1699838465.pdf The Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (820 ILCS 192/1 et seq.) was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker on March 13, 2023. Bloomington is using Home Rule as the reason for opting out […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this link directly from the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/09/fact-sheet-president-bidens-budget-lowers-housing-costs-and-expands-access-to-affordable-rent-and-home-ownership/ One excerpt: Restrictive zoning means not allowing multi-family housing in established single-family neighborhoods. Biden is willing to pay LOCAL government for EQUITY. So how much is Normal planning to collect to change the zoning at Beech and Shelbourne? Since no one currently elected […]
By: Diane Benjamin McLean County is already planning to massively raise your property taxes. Every other unit of government might be making the same plans, after all your property values increased substantially – you can afford it right? If you don’t stand up for yourself IN PERSON they will take more of your money. Emails […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was notified by a reader who lives in the Ewing Park area that very frequently multiple helicopters are flying over his house after dark, sometimes using search lights. The reader had asked the Bloomington police, they didn’t know who was flying. The National Guard out of Peoria does training from CIRA, […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on these two stories: https://blnnews.com/2023/11/07/illinois-comptroller-must-have-decided-to-void-transparency/ https://blnnews.com/2023/11/09/comptrollers-office-responded-just-not-with-an-explanation/ As I stated in one of the stories above, government employees would rather talk to me over the phone instead of in writing. That eliminates the paper trail, the email below proves it: On November 9, 2023, at 3:41 PM, “Pallasch, Abdon” <[email protected]> wrote: Hmmm… […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/11/07/illinois-comptroller-must-have-decided-to-void-transparency/ I didn’t send that story to them, somebody must have or they found the “tag”. I received an email yesterday: . I didn’t use an email address because the on-line contact form doesn’t have one. See it here: https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/about/contact-us/phone-mailing-addresses I rarely make phone calls because I want […]
By: Diane Benjamin That is the sound of your tax dollars disappearing – $25,120. Figure out government isn’t capable of “business type” activities? Losses don’t matter because it isn’t their money. Loss: $5,423.36 Loss: $9,967.73 I hope that wasn’t paid twice – it is listed on page 145 and again on 151: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29818 Loss: $14,131.85 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Evidently the Arena doesn’t have a name, the City just calls it “arena”. Does the building still have Grossinger signs? Link to reports: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-2063#docan2735_6873_64 ISU rents the ice for hockey, the City actually makes a little money on those. Below is the report posted on line for the September 27th concert: Of […]
By: Diane Benjamin 2 pieces of information I received from the City of Bloomington about the Gun Buy Back event: The document showing what the Bloomington City Council approved is in this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/10/24/the-120000-waste/ It says $60,000. https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-courts/bloomington-police-gunbuyback/article_fe7fde22-7a61-11ee-b957-affb35824762.html Excerpt: According to BPD’s social media post, “There was a total of $50,000 allocated for the cash […]
By: Diane Benjamin The purpose of the Local Government Data on the Comptroller’s website is to present finances in a way citizens can understand. When the data isn’t available it should make everyone wonder why! Normal’s year end was last March 31st. The “landing page” for Normal has been updated to reflect the FY 2023 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Numbers 2 and 3 aren’t open yet. Jeff Fritzen’s case against the Town of Normal/High Haven continues. See below, another hearing is scheduled for 11/28. Another cannabis dispensary PDF page 104: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4787 .
Instead of holding some of these for next week, enjoy they today:
By: Diane Benjamin Below is what the website looked like until yesterday. Click on About Us – then District Information. The Student Enrollment tab was listed which took you to this page: Student Enrollment has been removed as an option. The link used to be: https://www.unit5.org/Page/356 Click that now to see: This page is currently […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Unit 5 website still hasn’t been updated: https://www.unit5.org/Page/356 I did receive this information by FOIA after reminding them it was past due. The first response was this: Unit 5 has 12,815 students, which would also include students with partial enrollments or special education enrollments (i.e students at Private Schools in town that we are […]
By: Diane Benjamin Even a ridiculous source like Wikipedia has numbers ranging from a low of 10-20 million to as high as 148 million. MILLIONS of people, if you call yourself a communist you support murder. This was obvious on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. The below is a screen shot from a Live […]
By: Diane Benjamin My FOIA for the current enrollment is due today. The highest enrollment in the last 13 years was in 2016: 13,751. Last school year enrollment was only 12,304 – that is a DECREASE of 1,447 students. If classrooms are overcrowded it has to be because Unit 5 refuses to use their resources […]
Flying around I’ve heard working conditions are suboptimal when chocolate joy should abound. How often has OSHA visited? More than this: https://tinyurl.com/FerreroOSHA How many locals got shipped to Germany to train employees there? Did you know companies who hire H-1B visa holders don’t pay social security and medicare taxes? Since those employees have no job […]
By: Diane Benjamin 5 socialists sit on the Bloomington City Council. There aren’t have enough common sense votes to stop spending that increases the size and scope of local government. You better see the downtown vision: https://downtownforeveryone.com/renders/ Government never produces prosperity. Bloomington will try anyway since they know where to get money. I’m sure they […]
The speech below is almost 20 years old, the plan recapped is very current however. Google it, references are numerous. Although this isn’t what I typically print, I thought it was vital for all to know. Former Democrat Governor of Colorado gave this speech in 2004 in Washington DC. I have a plan to destroy […]
By: Diane Benjamin Does Unit 5 know September 30 was 30 days ago? I FOIA’d the current enrollment last week, eventually we will know. You can look at the Report Cards for every Illinois Public school here: https://www.isbe.net/Pages/PublicSchoolDistrictLookup.aspx After you pick a school – click Academic Progress. Tons of information is on this site. This […]
By: Diane Benjamin Can you read the gas price? By the border in Wisconsin gas was $3.05, farther north it was $2.98. By the Illinois border gas was at least $3.25. Some of the roads in Illinois are improving since the gas tax got doubled. In Wisconsin they don’t wait until they turn into cow […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Gun Back Back event held Sunday was as much of a fiasco has the Gun Safe giveaway with safes that aren’t made for guns. The ordinance passed by the City Council allotted $60,000, reports from John Boch, Executive Director of Guns Save Life, said $50,000 was handed out to the first […]
By: Diane Benjamin Where are the Event Reports for Coliseum events? Anybody have a problem with government entertainment? Instead of capitalism determining what people want, tax dollars are used to promote what government employees want. No event reports other than ISU hockey have been posted since September on the City website: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-2063#docan2735_6873_64 There was a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source: https://files.illinoiscomptroller.gov/LocGovTIF/FY2023/06409531/23TIF06409531Downtown_volpment_1.pdf Page 1 states the TIF was formed on 5/5/2003. Now see page 11. Why did the Town of Normal use 1999? The TIF wasn’t active in 1999, was this to make the return on investment look better? What private or public investment took place between 11/1/99 and 5/4/2003 that shouldn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin At this week’s meeting it was mentioned that Champaign is trying hydrogen buses. It was mentioned Connect Transit might go that direction when they need more buses. Of course that would require different infrastructure. It would have been a lot easier to keep diesel buses and a lot faster to refuel them. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t get this read early enough for you to attend for meals, but you can still attend sessions and find out more about New Illinois. Downstate has very little in common with Chicago, New Illinois divides the state. The main speaker this weekend is working on doing the same in California. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last month the Connect Transit Board had an Executive Session to discuss the performance of the General Manager. It wasn’t an in depth discussion, they just set the parameters used to give him more money. Judy Buchanan wanted to make sure the salaries of area managers were included, every board uses them […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Police gun buyback event is 10/29. When the money runs out the event will end. From the Facebook page: Gun Buyback Event The Bloomington Police Department will be holding a Gun Buyback Event on Sunday, 10/29/23, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., or until funds run out. The buyback will […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council was back to meeting in the Government Center last night. The Committee of the Whole last week was also back. Initially the Council was to meet at the BCPA on July 24th and all 3 August meetings. Note the work wasn’t done until the 10/15 meeting. It appears […]
