By: Diane Benjamin 1) I’ve been hearing drug deaths are decreasing across the country, so I decided to look at what’s happening locally. The McLean County Coroner reports them to the Justice Committee every month. December’s number won’t be reported until the February meeting, so I asked Kathy Yoder for the number. Instead of giving […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since 2 people have contacted me, I will tell you what I think happened. The battery area employees were evacuated to the cafeteria because of a fire. The fire was extinguished pretty quick, no injuries that I know of. If anyone has any further information, let me know.
By: Diane Benjamin This won’t be the last story. I can prove illegal aliens get Illinois child care subsidies, maybe even more than citizens get. Keep reading. Illinois’ ruling class hides information by letting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) administer the programs they create. The state shovels your money to them—and the trail ends there. Connecting the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting wasn’t 1 hour and 13 minutes long as the video shows. Almost 17 minutes is pre-meeting commercials. Now that January is more than halfway over, the City declared the month Human Trafficking Awareness month. There was also 28 minutes of Public Comments. All but one was by people representing Care […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Unit 5 schools don’t exist to teach kids essential life skills—unless you want your kids to grow up protesting on weekends as adults while you support them. Learning critical thinking skills requires being able to read. Opposing Federal Law Enforcement enforcing the law every president has in the past, […]
Of course the ultra-wealthy flee states like California thanks to groups like the CTU, who can’t define “fair share.” Many have already left Illinois—and more will head to lower-tax states as long as the ruling party believes they can keep taxing everything with higher rates. When activist teachers launch a campaign to increase taxes with […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you reviewed this list of Illinois Auditor General reports, you haven’t seen the worst yet: https://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/ABC-List.asp See this link for reports of State employees investigated by the Office of Inspector General: https://oeig.illinois.gov/investigations/published-oeig-cases.html Have you heard about all the State employees investigated for Paycheck Protection Fraud? That link has them. Already in […]
https://fox2now.com/news/illinois/small-earthquake-shakes-central-illinois-no-damage-reported OHLMAN, Ill. — A small earthquake shook central Illinois early Tuesday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 3.1 quake struck at 1:27 a.m. Central Time, about 3 miles north-northeast of Ohlman, Illinois. The shallow tremor was felt across parts of Christian and Sangamon counties. The quake hit about 12 miles south-southeast of Taylorville, roughly […]
By: Diane Benjamin This office is run by Pritzker 2023 appointee Major General Rodney Boyd. Office of the Auditor General: https://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Compliance-Agency-List/Military-Affairs/FY24-Military-Affairs-Comp-Digest.pdf Let me interpret: This department buys things with your tax dollars and loses them. The same problem has been reported since 2012. Let me interpret again: Nobody in this department cares about taxes you […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since some Federal Holidays are more important than others, the Bloomington City Council is delaying the Committee of the Whole meeting until tomorrow night. Remember when they met on Columbus day? https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4125/files/agenda/9240 The Council held a retreat in November to set priorities. Of course there is no video since it wasn’t held […]
By: Diane Benjamin The General Election is November 3rd. The Primary Election is March 17th. Illinois thinks voters need many weeks to actually vote, so early voting starts February 5th. State and Federal offices will be contested, local races mostly won’t. (Maybe none) Democrats get to pick Dick Durbin’s ballot replacement. Those who vote Republican […]
By: Diane Benjamin ICE is Federal Law Enforcement. They aren’t pretend cops. They are removing criminal illegal aliens – pedophiles, murders, rapists, etc. Chaos wouldn’t exist in blue cities if democrats didn’t incite people to interfere. Democrats didn’t have problem with deportations when Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama were deporting millions. The only reason they […]
By: Diane Benjamin State Compliance Examination Release Date: March 27, 2025For the Year Ended June 30, 2024 This report shows 3 failures at ISU: The auditor stated these are MATERIAL WEAKNESSES for failure to comply with State Law. “Material” are the worst kind of weaknesses. The first one was noted in 2011, 2015, and 2019. […]
By: Diane Benjamin More to this story: https://blnnews.com/2026/01/15/is-there-fraud-in-illinois-child-care-spending/ INCCRRA stands for Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. INCCRRA tax return for the year ending 6/30/2024: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/364096312/202530429349300303/full The revenue on this tax return isn’t close to what OpenTheBooks shows they received in calendar year 2024. A tax return for the other NGO, Excelerate Illinois, […]
By: Diane Benjamin This link has a list of all companies in Illinois with H1B Visas: https://h1bgrader.com/states/illinois-il Click on any name. Page down until you see a RED box that says “View latest H1B Visas . . “. This is part of what you will see for Rivian. Note the dates, many are already in […]
By: Diane Benjamin Previous story: https://blnnews.com/2026/01/15/is-there-fraud-in-illinois-child-care-spending/
By: Diane Benjamin Open The Books created a database of “child care” spending by State after the Minnesota fraud came to light: https://open.substack.com/pub/openthebooks/p/minnesota-daycare-scandal-the-power?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email Quote from that story: We’ve created the most comprehensive database of government spending in history, from federal to state and local governments, so that every taxpayer can become a citizen journalist and […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Illinois lawmakers who propose unConstitutional laws should be kicked out of office: https://ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?GAID=18&DocNum=2820&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=164963&SessionID=114 Senator Laura Fine proposed SB2820 Creates the Prohibited Hiring of Federal Immigration Officers Act. Provides that a law enforcement agency may not hire as a law enforcement officer any person who was hired as a federal immigration officer […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local Immigration Project is part of the Rapid Response when ICE is spotted. In other words they are warning illegal aliens. Yesterday: . The are paid with your tax dollars! According to OpenTheBooks.com: . You work hard for a paycheck so the State of Illinois can spend your money to obstruct […]
By: Diane Benjamin Update – I was just sent this: I am the father of the student in question. Your story is not correct at all and very misleading. Yes she contacted my kids outside of school approved technology. That was the only inappropriate thing that happened. No laws were broken. We have been kept […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager Jeff Jurgen wants citizens to conserve water because we are still in a drought: Screenshot from the meeting video: . Meanwhile, BNWRD is buying properties because increased precipitation is increasing flooding: https://blnnews.com/2026/01/10/werent-we-told-there-is-a-drought-and-water-needs-conserved/ . Makes perfect sense in Illinois 🤦♀️
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2026/01/12/the-local-clueless/ Every President before Biden knew illegal immigration wasn’t good for a sovereign country. If you want proof, ask me! The comments to Krystle Able’s post prove where mental illness comes from. Did Krystle mean to incite violence? See if you think she did. I added notes to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting was short! Nothing was even slightly controversial until comments by aldermen. More on that in a minute. The only agenda item concerned swinging doors downtown hitting pedestrians. This downtown picture is from the slide show presentation: Businesses like Windy City Wieners want more indoor floor space, so they want the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Posted by the person Normal Elected: . Marxists can’t get their facts straight because facts don’t fit the agenda. Obstructing law enforcement is the agenda! DHS posted this recap of some who have been arrested in Minneapolis: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/01/08/dhs-highlights-worst-worst-criminal-illegal-aliens-including-rapists-pedophiles-and Look at the list! The protestors want to keep phedophiles, sex offenders, domestic violence […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/32213 Some city employees are still spiking pensions. They rack up leave/sick days, cash out a lump sum at retirement, and use it to substantially boost their pensions. State law changed in 2012 to let IMRF (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) bill local governments for those spiked pensions—ones the governments never funded extra […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yes! https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/watch-live-drought-causes-voluntary-water-conservation-in-bloomington/ BNWRD didn’t get the same message which is why they are buying land along Sugar Creek: See the January packet – https://blnnews.com/bnwrd-docs/ PDF page 37: . BNWRD will not be buying the third property now that I wrote about here: https://blnnews.com/2025/12/31/bnwrd-story-6/ The title to the third is still trying to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since some people have nothing better to do on weekends: . It’s cute, but there isn’t a war. . Keeping criminals here fits the the 50501 agenda better than law enforcement enforcing the law.
https://www.25newsnow.com/2026/01/06/illinois-department-human-services-reports-years-long-data-breach Excerpts: However, according to the news release, due to “incorrect privacy settings,” the maps and the information contained within them were publicly viewable. The maps containing information about Rehabilitation Services customers were publicly accessible from April 2021 through September 2025 when the flaw was discovered, the agency said. That included customers’ names, addresses, case […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s getting hard to keep track, but I think the number is 8. Another fireman was recently arrested, this time DUI. I’ve written about him before because he was arrested for domestic violence and then exonerated because his (former) girlfriend was the proven aggressor: https://blnnews.com/2018/02/14/legal-fees-wasted/ . At some point I will have […]
By: Diane Benjamin “Cruel” is the new leftist buzzword. “Fraud” is a word they avoid. Billions of dollars appear to have been stolen in Minnesota through child care fraud schemes. We aren’t supposed to notice, right, Krystle? According to Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski, the amount of child care costs that Illinois bills the feds […]
By: Diane Benjamin This was the agenda for the January 2nd for the MENTAL HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY FUND ADVISORY COUNCIL (FAC) . I have no idea why this committee, which is subject to FOIA, and the McLean County Behaviour Health Coordinating Council (not subject to FOIA) both need to exist. No documentation was posted […]
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/waste-watch-illinois-gives-12m-to-nascar/ Excerpts: Lawmakers claimed the 2026 budget contained no pork, but a closer look shows 2,815 items over $200,000 lawmakers decided to fund in the final hours of the legislative session – rushed, harmful to taxpayers and with no time for public scrutiny. They included $40 million for a high school sports complex at the alma mater of Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Understand the title? It is an abbreviation for Southeast McLean County Water Authority. I wrote about them last year when a new line appeared on my property tax bill: https://blnnews.com/2025/05/16/new-line-on-my-property-tax-bill/ I found no trace of this organization on the County website. They claim to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act […]
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_9f59f645-6340-4756-8110-655dd4f6eeeb.html?utm_source=illinois.thecentersquare.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=rss_first_item_title Can anyone say after 17 years this isn’t on purpose? Excerpts: U.S. Census Bureau data showing Illinois has lost around 420,000 residents since 2020. Recent polling found almost half of all voters insist they would leave the state if they had the chance. Updated annual Census estimates for Illinois and other states are expected […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Illinois State University football team came from behind to force overtime last night for the FCS championship. The team ended up losing by 1 point. They deserve to be proud of what they accomplished. Meanwhile, an ISU professor was one of the organizers of the protest Sunday: https://www.25newsnow.com/2026/01/05/activists-protesting-us-military-force-venezuela-gather-busy-bloomington-shopping-center/#aj0ltkn477e8vlubp6audiolk8wpxhqt Excerpts: Activist group Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to this website: https://www.nfp.com/risk-capital/coverage-expertise/commercial-and-contract-surety/surety/bonds-types/public-official-bond/ In a larger sense, it’s not only the government agency that is being protected against non-compliance but the general public as well, since any misappropriation of funds or dereliction of duty directly impacts the local citizenry involved. If it should happen during the period of service of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when ISU wouldn’t give me emails that mentioned Charlie Kirk? https://blnnews.com/2025/11/15/isu-foia-fail/ ISU claimed there were too many emails, even when I narrowed the request to ONE DAY. I wasn’t the only person trying to find out what staff were telling students about Kirk. Another FOIA was filed by Chad Berck on […]
