By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bids for repairs and painting of the Camelback Bridge were rejected because the cost was significantly over budget. Keep in mind, the Town isn’t re-bidding their share of building the underpass since costs have changed. Does that explain why money is being stockpiled? 2) The only item Kathleen Lorenz voted against […]
By: Diane Benjamin One thing has been obvious for a long time: Kevin McCarthy gets activated by Chris Koos to call “Point of Order” when Stan Nord gets into topics the Town doesn’t want citizens to see discussed in public. It happens at almost every meeting, sometimes more than once. The Council voted to finance […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thursday the Planning Commission will hear from citizens about One Normal Plaza. This Commission is made up of unelected citizens that are appointed by Chris Koos. See who is on the Board here: https://normal.org/401/Planning-Commission Also note: NO email addresses or phone numbers are on this site for citizens to contact them! They […]
By: Diane Benjamin While Bloomington is trying to pay cash for purchases instead of borrowing for capital expenses, Normal is running in the opposite direction. The Town of Normal stockpiles money in reserves, the applicable fund for this discussion is Vehicle and Equipment reserves. Obviously citizens in Normal are paying higher taxes so the Town […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s really rare for Bloomington and Normal to buy the same thing so close together, but they just did. 7/26/2021 Bloomington: Normal tonight: Normal got $9000 for trading in a 2013 model, Bloomington is keeping a 2012 for backup. Both opted for gas engines instead of the more expensive diesel. Normal is […]
The best 5 minutes of the Ty Smith show from July 31, 2021. Get the kids, this message is for everyone! Hear the entire episode on Ty’s YouTube channel or on the Cities 92.9 podcast. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPjBgrDLoYY Cities 92.9 podcast: https://www.cities929.com/cancel-this-with-ty-smith/
By: Diane Benjamin Realtors got heavily involved in last April’s Election. You probably noticed lots of campaign mail had their name on it – from Springfield. In addition they gave Koos: McCarthy: Cummings: Preston: Look up all contributions here: https://illinoissunshine.org/ FYI: Bob Broad, Planning Commission head and Julie Hile partner plus advocate for zoning changes […]
By: Diane Benjamin I used to love my Firebird Trans-Am. It was not only beautiful it was fun to say that’s my Trans-Am. Unfortunately I had to sell it to afford my last year of college. Maybe geeks will be able to tell Rivian’s new names apart, I won’t have a clue: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1133053_rivian-r2s-r3s-r4s-r5s-r2t-r3t-r4t-and-r5t-trademarked-future-laid-out (hey, it’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 has two unions. One is teachers – UFEA, the other is for professional staff – UFSPA. Both recommended three candidates for the Unit 5 School Board in the April 2021 election. They got two of the three elected: Stan Gozur and Kentrica Coleman. From their websites: http://www.ufspa.org/vote/ In 2023 FOUR […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) A local lawyer left this comment today: 2) The problem with Bloomington’s IT department isn’t old technology. Not knowing where people will look for things is a much bigger problem which makes finding information difficult. Bloomington is currently taking applications from Ward 6 to replace Jenn Carrillo. It should be easy […]
By: Diane Benjamin Extending water down East College, where Bloomington already has water lines, is out for bid. Normal has said over and over they are not going to use this line for the current Rivian plant that Bloomington already serves. See this pic from the bid pack: Also from the bid pack: So who […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you are a Corn Belt customer we are in the same boat: Paying more for electricity. You will get Illinois Country Living Magazine however. One story in this month’s edition that is NOT on-line concerns charging electric vehicles. Considering electricity is more expensive for Corn Belt customers, I don’t know why […]
By: Diane Benjamin Usually some business comes before a Planning Commission if they need zoning changed for a specific business. This time it is the Normal staff requesting changes to zoning at One Normal Plaza. (More proof staff runs the Town, not the Council) Please note, government plans usurp capitalism and are destined to fail […]
By: Diane Benjamin Alderman Mollie Ward wants the City of Bloomington to stop Climate Change! She made this statement Monday night right after Tim Gleason claimed most insurance claims with the City because of the June storm will be denied. Mollie must have missed the Public Comments from Eastgate residents stating they have been dealing […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to Becky Swan for letting me know Unit 5 is holding a special meeting tomorrow. From their website, they already decided your kids need to wear masks: If you have to wear a mask if you aren’t vaccinated to attend, think kids are going to exempt? Maybe they will discriminate against […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the video of the school board meeting that was held on 7/21/21. No surprise, the video acted up during public comment. Numerous speakers can be heard and not seen. Start listening at 1:33:05 to the Board Chair. She feels the need to state the District’s position on Sex Ed and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since Facebook will not allow truth, find me on Gab.com: BlnNews – Diane Benjamin. I will post stories on Facebook (when the ban is over) but I might not respond to comments. I am also on Parler since it is working again: Blnnews Most of the 500+ people who filed claims with […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note: Facebook banned me from posting for 24 hours because I posted a newspaper article about COVID treatments. Please share stories on Facebook since I can’t. Two representatives from the Bloomington Normal Tenant Union showed up at City Council to protest Jenn resigning because she is moving out of her Ward. Contrary […]
Word is the disgruntled B-N Tenants Union is demanding Jenn gets to keep her seat without living in her Ward. They think landlords refused to rent to her, thus subverting democracy. Instead of celebrating Carrillo’s achieving the American Dream of home ownership, they anonymously demand the City Council change the law. Maybe they will show […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1126&Inline=True On the Consent Agenda: Ordering a new ambulance ($284,444.00) upgrading the City’s Voice Over Internet Protocol (3 yr cost $117,266.71) receiving $70,000 to demolish abandoned properties from Il Housing Authority Zoo is proceeding with a South American Exhibit – all grant money $1,000,000 The Grove will get another 33 lots Didn’t […]
While the Cuban people are dying for freedom – yes actually dying: The local freedom-stealers just change their group names to push communism here. Cubans have no dignity or security. These locals want the same for you! Free stuff always sounds great until the free stuff doesn’t exist anymore. How about starting a fund to […]
By: Diane Benjamin No financial information is available as of 6/30/21 because it is Connect Transit’s year end. Next month we will know the loss for the year. Fares went back into affect in June, ridership on the huge buses went down. Was that because rides are no longer free? Mobility rides are up since […]
By: Diane Benjamin Don’t forget – there is no penalty for stupid government! Participants just move on to being stupid elsewhere 2019 Story: https://blnnews.com/2019/11/16/connect-transit-empty-buses-and-brains/ BEB is Battery Electric Buses March 4, 2021 story: https://blnnews.com/2021/03/04/pulling-the-plug-on-electric-buses/ Minneapolis abandoned electric buses for biodiesel Today: https://www.westernjournal.com/california-city-bought-electric-bus-company-promoted-white-house-now-considering-scrapping-expensive-fleet-nonstop-disasters/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=conservativetribune&utm_content=2021-07-23&utm_campaign=manualpost&fbclid=IwAR2w9iJr0t2OuY09oA-K4uRCSbifA1V7dKuZ2gLx4Y2JMY0kg8IsypGYh_A Another story from today: https://djhjmedia.com/steven/california-agency-looking-to-scrap-electric-buses-because-they-melt-catch-on-fire-and-costs-a-fortune-to-repair/ Quote: One Southern California city’s test run of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pritzker has signed a bill requiring schools to teach media literacy. How will this be implemented? Will the Russia hoax media be recommended? How about the Charlottesville hoax media? Why is only conservative media reporting Covid-positive illegals flooding the southern border and being flown across the country by the military and released? […]
Excerpts:
By: Diane Benjamin Below are two screen shots from Monday’s Council video: All the free money awarded to Bloomington can be spent on separating sewer and storm water lines. The current project on East Washington cost around $4.2 million. Citizens with sewage in the homes need to demand it is only spent on health and […]
By: Diane Benjamin All Illinois government salaries and pensions can be found from this link: https://www.openthebooks.com/illinois/#School%20District Every time a unit of government hires additional staff or provides lavish salaries, the pension costs go up. They know it doesn’t matter because YOU will be forced to pay by law. Your “public servants”. This one is interesting, […]
By: Diane Benjamin There was a time when Bloomington grew rapidly and had money to burn. Instead of investing in replacing ancient infrastructure the Council built a fire station that has never been used, the Coliseum, a water tower built too short to use, created give-a-ways to developers, and rehabbed the BCPA. The City Manager […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since citizens with sewage in their basements only show up at Bloomington Council meetings, the ones’ in Normal have to pay to stop it from happening themselves. Normal passed budgeting a whopping $25,000 so they could pay up to $5000 per house to install something called Overhead Sewers. If more than 5 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Most of what you need to know about the passage of accepting all the grant money is in the underpass vote. Koos, McCarthy, Smith, and Cummings were enthusiastic Yes votes. Nord voted No, Preston and Lorenz squeaked out Yes votes after uncomfortable pauses. Watch just the vote here: What else you need […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jenn has been marginalized since all her candidates lost last April. She is now persona non grata among her former base. Maybe she bought a house outside her ward on purpose! Unwilling to believe the American dream is alive and well for those who choose to reach for it, Jenn couldn’t go […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story? https://blnnews.com/2021/07/08/look-who-is-driving-race-based-teaching-locally/ ISU held a history symposium last February. This statement was included on the website: New Knowledge? Like the 1619 Project which is made up? I FOIA’d ISU to find out who registered. They finally told me registrations were taken by the Regional Office of Education. Since they oversee […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was in Indiana last weekend. Gas was $3.09 right across the border. The roads were great. Indiana spends a lot less per student and still outperforms Illinois. Your property taxes aren’t going to educating students – read the story:
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1125&Inline=True This committee of the Whole Meeting is back to 6:00 tonight. Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Topic 3 is just a brief presentation by Jamie Mathy and then a Yes or No vote on whether to have staff and Council spend time looking at the issue. Before any decision wastes […]
By: Diane Benjamin With the 2 recent firings from the Normal Police force, I wondered how many officers they have, I FOIA’d it. Results: That is a total of 75 officers. Problem: This list contains the officer fired June 15th, weeks before I filed the FOIA. A source tells me 4 additional officers no longer […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4034 Another parking deck loss: Chalk up another 2nd floor rent payment while the first floor of One Uptown Circle is still empty: On the agenda: Uptown floods, the underpass will flood too. The bobbleheads will approve anyway: There is more, why blow the surprise now?
The video is 18 minutes by (actual) journalist Christopher Rufo who has been exposing this Marxist ideology for years. It is in schools and government right now disguised as Equity, Diversity, Inclusiveness, Social Justice, White Supremacy, Anti-Racism, Social and Emotional learning, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and probably others. This video-essay explores the intellectual history of critical […]
