By: Diane Benjamin All newly elected officials are required by Illinois law to take Freedom Of Information Act and Open Meetings Act training. They can’t. The Illinois Attorney General’s office got hacked in April and is still mostly off line. Since it could take years to get a response to a Request for Review when […]
By: Diane Benjamin So close to $1 million lost: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1umwJzzqlOYT6z4QeSHLzRz4FKZi3Z8Oi/view Ridership has started to recover, it isn’t back: A few expenses paid: Connect still hasn’t found a new Executive Director. They do keep meeting in secret however. PDF page 25: Insurance coverage is going to cost $614,226 for FY 2022. That is a 16.5% increase. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2021/05/24/remember-the-unused-water-tower/ From an insider source: The water tower that is visible on the west side of north Veterans Parkway is still not being used. It is now enshrined as a monument to government incompetence. Add it to the never used fire station #5. At least it can […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jamie Mathy reported Jenn Carrillo did not participate because she was experiencing internet problems. The City extended the Post Office lease in the Market Street parking garage for 18 months. Usually the lease is for 5 years, the City reduced it because they are planning to replace the garage. A contract was […]
Nothing very exciting, see the packet here: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1116&Inline=True I will be writing about the meeting tomorrow!
By: Diane Benjamin Any surprise the local socialists support Palatine? Hitler was the head of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-05-23/community-members-gather-in-uptown-for-stand-for-palestine-vigil?fbclid=IwAR0bknGfIpae75_4278ez7TvdD40s-ZvhxzyImQkXi5J6yHgcBOV0X4gulY Facts: Israel is the only democracy in the Arab world. GAZA is not a democracy. Israel is a strong ally and share the values of America. Hamas is an identified terrorist […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington has two water towers. One is located in Normal. According to this 2015 story, that one was not being used: https://blnnews.com/2015/08/04/more-ineptness/ Staff admitted in 2015 it wasn’t being used. The buzz back in 2015 is detailed in the story. At the last meeting in April the Council the services agreement with […]
By: Diane Benjamin Has District 87 has gone “woke”? Is Martin Luther King’s dream of a color blind society is dead? Government’s biggest fear is we all get along and we don’t need them. Color blind can’t be tolerated, it was working too well. Americans believe hard work always led to success. Personal responsibility allows […]
By: Diane Benjamin People, you can’t be locked into any candidate for governor of Illinois yet. It is going to take a TON of money to run against silver spoon baby Pritzker. The GOP candidate has got to able to attract money. We don’t know who can right now. Gary Rabine was worth hearing from […]
10:00 instead of 11:30. Same place!
TIME changed to 10:00! Spread the word.
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos and Pam Reece signed a new Executive Order yesterday: https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/18831/Emergency-Order-21-001-Mask-Requirements-for-Public-Facilities-and-Employees If the Town attorney approved this order he is luckily his name isn’t on it. The title is Mask Requirements for Public Facilities and Employees. Obviously this applies to the public or an ordinance would not be needed to create […]
By: Diane Benjamin I personally know 8 people who have fled Illinois in the last 6 weeks. All of them moved to Red States. Two of them moved to Foley Alabama, just north of Gulf Shores. The Foley City Council just passed the below. See for yourself the difference between living in a Blue State […]
A reader just emailed this information: Nicor natural gas: Price per therm: May 2020 – .26 May 2021 – .53 By: Diane Benjamin If you heat your house with propane: For the 2019-2020 heating season the price per gallon was $1.399 For the 2020-2021 heating season the price per gallon was $1.259 Of course that […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Ford’s F150 electric battery weighs 1800 pounds: https://jalopnik.com/ford-f-150-lightnings-battery-alone-weighs-as-much-as-a-1846925168?fbclid=IwAR08fR6H4a8DHjuzzpJ_sqKd6V4gazHoDIzIvDlw95456SYxszgtXlbBUkc That is the weight of a Volkswagen Beetle. Is Rivian’s the same? What happens to your car if you get hit by one of these tanks? 1800 pounds is just the battery. 2) The Pantagraph printed a picture of a Rivian employee charging […]
By: Diane Benjamin The interim Police Chief, Greg Scott, presented the departments annual report as did Eric West the Fire Chief. Both the police and fire have trouble staffing their departments. Highlights from the Police report: Selling on Facebook Marketplace has resulted in robberies. Cameras film the parking lot in front of the Police Station. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal owns their very own massage chair. It is kept on the 3rd floor in the HR Department. The door is kept closed most of the time so people visiting HR don’t see it. I’m told users have a sign in before using it, the Town claims they don’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was contacted by Gary Rabine’s team for a meet and greet. Gary is one of the many people running for governor trying to get the Republican nomination. It never hurts to learn as much as possible about the candidates. Saturday come meet Gary! Doubletree hotel, 11:30. A room has been reserved, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington’s meeting last night will have to wait until tomorrow! Would you drink this? This is water from S. Coolidge in Normal, if the homeowner didn’t have a filter system this is what it would look like. The owner claims his neighbors are too afraid to complain. I hear that frequently from […]
By: Diane Benjamin See below: Apartheid isn’t accurate, The Israel Knesset has Arab members. Colonialism? Look at a map. Israel is the size of New Jersey surrounded by Arab countries. Military occupation? Israel’s military left Gaza years ago, the occupying force is funded by Iran. Equality? Do they prefer socialism or communism? Everybody will be equally […]
By: Diane Benjamin The only big controversy at the 7:00 meeting was this item: See PDF page 46 for details: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3974 Stan Nord pulled this item from the Consent Agenda because this spending was not bid as required by code. In other words, Normal has been a member of the MICA pool for decades, therefore […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal Council has two meetings tonight: 5:30 agenda: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3975 7:00 agenda https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3974 Recap tomorrow if you don’t watch live.
By: Diane Benjamin Creating new words and pushing social changes is what progressives do. Shortly they will change from “progressive” as Americans push back, if they already haven’t. Once they think normalizing this agenda has happened they will move on to their next agenda item. District 87: Kids aren’t allowed to be kids. Teachers aren’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://massmail.illinois.edu/massmail/750730511.html At this point, all students, faculty and staff who live in University Housing or are participating in any on-campus activities are still required to be up-to-date on their on-campus COVID-19 testing. This is currently in place even for people who are fully vaccinated. As previously announced, this will change for the Fall 2021 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Urbana did too: https://www.urbanaillinois.us/restrictionrelease Guess who hasn’t? I talked to a manager of a local large retail business yesterday. Their signs will remain up requiring a mask, but they will not be enforcing it.
By: Diane Benjamin The comments submitted on the underpass project were received by FOIA. https://blnnews.com/2021/04/16/hey-normal/ The comments were overwhelmingly negative with a few submitted in support by the usually Koos allies. The only difference between going ahead with the underpass and the Coliseum, both not supported by residents, is Koos and company got the entire […]
I think I heard Democrat County Board member Logan Smith physically threaten Chair John McIntyre! Laurie Wollrab, I saw you were present. I was just flying around down the hall, loud enough office personnel heard the ruckus. If John wasn’t so nice he’d file a police report. (We all know laws don’t apply to democrats […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent a link to this video, it fits perfectly with Monday’s Bloomington City Council agenda. Both the Police and Fire Departments will present their annual reports. Of course this will set off the two “Defund the Police” council members. They need to understand the facts, but then facts are immaterial […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Election Commission need to be abolished now. The Executive Director Tim Mitchell is no longer there – effective today. From all appearances he did not give any notice. An employee said by phone Tim chose to work outside the office, whatever that means. I do know the County is moving […]
Below are the results of a poll conducted by Rasmussen and the Heartland Institute. Don’t bother commenting if you are indoctrinated, you need better media. Haters will claim the Heartland Institute is bias, they can’t say that about Rasmussen. POLL: Consumers of Conservative Media Better Informed About Climate Science Rasmussen/Heartland Institute Poll Shows Those Who […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is a map of Normal’s Uptown TIF. Look at the right side, see the area west of Oak St that is not in the TIF? That is Chris Koos’ 2 businesses, he rents the space. https://mcleanil.devnetwedge.com/parcel/view/1427308009/2020 Why were his two businesses carved out of the TIF boundaries? Because it would be […]
Comments from the indoctrinated will be deleted.
By: Diane Benjamin https://illinoisstate.edu/trustees/president-search-committee/ The search committee for the next President was composed of 32 members, click the link above to see the names. This statement is on that site: The search committee reported to the Board of Trustees who made the final determination. Did they tell the new President ISU’s credit rating is Baa2? […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve spent hours re-reading a FOIA I received from Unit 5 in early April. Ask your kids how many time EQUITY is mentioned in school. Nobody is entitled to equity, they are entitled to EQUAL however. Equity means making everyone the same. That philosophy is socialist/marxist, not American where we strive for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Think back to April when the Normal Town Council approved Horton Group for Insurance Broker Services. One thing stood out as suspicious. The Town issued an RFP and received 5 responses with detailed proposals. The meeting documentation was pages of glowing staff praise for Horton but the bids from the other four […]
Earmarks are back! Earmarks are out of control spending for petty projects locals should pay for themselves instead of asking the feds to print money for them. Democrats resurrected them when they took control of the House. https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/tom-kacich-congress-brings-back-earmarks-one-illinois-rep-isnt-on-board/article_449a248d-57e6-5943-9d76-1cea915585df.html A Champaign columnist printed the facts. Excerpts: Among those representing central Illinois, Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, has […]
By: Diane Benjamin His REAL dog! While the new mayor was reading a proclamation his dog tried to steal the show. 13 second clip: As predicted the meeting was pretty boring, nothing was pulled from the Consent Agenda. Mboka laid out a new Public Comment policy at 9:30, he threatened to cut off comments that […]
