Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of “Open The Books”, passed away over the weekend. 

By John Kraft & Kirk Allen https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2024/08/adam-andrzejewski-ceo-and-founder-of-open-the-books-passed-away-over-the-weekend/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEwSB1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHb4gzC8E9DAs26VKfclGqu5MgdJy517SSqPVDsyYh22zHhuc3pWRyj_ZOw_aem_SbwKryDxo4FkwoAPmDGMNw On August 19, 2024 Hinsdale, Ill. (ECWd) – With deep sadness, we report that Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of Open The Books – “Every Dime. Online. In Real Time.” passed away over the weekend. As former candidate for Governor of Illinois, Adam campaigned on his vision of Every Dime. […]

A couple of things to know:

By: Diane Benjamin The National League of Cities created a searchable database showing where the Infrastructure Bill money is being spent. Look at Illinois – lots of money went to Public Transportation and electric buses. I wonder how many were bought from the bankrupt Proterra? Keep in mind all this money was printed and increased […]

Lahood & Durbin requests earmarks for Normal

By: Diane Benjamin Earmarks were abolished for awhile by Republicans because they explode the budget. Evidently both parties no longer care about the debt your grandchildren and beyond will be paying off. From Adam Andrzejewski of Open the Books: “Earmarks are member pet projects doled out to legally bribe congressmen for their votes on large […]

House tried to fix this, Senate blocking it

By: Diane Benjamin On April 22nd the Illinois House passed HB 2523 116 to 0. For once every Democrat and every Republican agreed: https://ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/102/house/10200HB2523_04222021_027000T.pdf What is HB 2523? This bill amends the language in the original bill that created the Police Officers Pension Investment Fund. Remember when pension funds were consolidated to hopefully perform better? […]

Biggest local salaries found – YOU pay them!

By: Diane Benjamin Open the Books has a new interactive map showing the salaries of government employees across the country.  I highlighted Bloomington Normal. When you click on the link below you will see 4 “balloons” over BlONO.  Make sure you click on all 4, the data is different on each.  Want to know why […]

Lobbyist scamming your money

By:  Diane Benjamin From Bills and Payroll for Monday night:  Page 113   http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11064 ADMIN City Council Exp IL Municipal League $ 310.00 07/13/16 IML Reg ‐ D.Hauman ADMIN City Council Exp IL Municipal League $ 165.00 07/13/16 IML Reg ‐ M. Mwilambwe ADMIN City Council Exp IL Municipal League $ 310.00 07/19/16 IML Reg ‐ […]

Creve Coeur questions

By:  Diane Benjamin Last month I wrote about the Federal Government arming local governments.  https://blnnews.com/2016/05/12/feds-arming-local-gov/ I included lists of mostly guns that area cities received.  Creve Coeur received many more items.  Their list included all kinds of unusual items, so that made me wonder what happened to the extensive list. Of course I filed a […]

Feds arming LOCAL Gov

By:  Diane Benjamin Adam Andrzejewski continues to expose government corruption.  His latest is an interactive map showing Federal weapons loaned to public bodies.  You can see the map here:  http://www.openthebooks.com/map/?Map=1&MapType=Pin&Zip=61704 National stories about this investigation: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-11/militarization-americas-police-despite-obama-promises-war-weapon-spending-soared-201 http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/#1745e79954fe Below are what some area cities acquired in the militarization of the local police:  (click to make a […]

It’s about the kids?

By:  Diane Benjamin Source:  http://www.openthebooks.com/map/?Map=1823&MapType=Heat&Zip=61704 Highest area school district monthly pensions: See others at the link above. . . . .

The IML scam

By:  Diane Benjamin Tari Renner and David Hales love to tout the greatness of the Illinois Municipal League.  From the IML website: The Illinois Municipal League is the formal voice for Illinois municipalities. The League was founded in 1913 and has worked continuously for the benefit of municipalities, promoting competence and integrity in administration of […]

The Watchdogs get sued – but WAIT!

By:  Diane Benjamin Today a lawsuit was filed against the Edgar County Watchdogs, the former chairperson of the College of DuPage, and Adam Andrzejewski of For the Good of Illinois.  The suit was filed by a member of the COD’s fundraising foundation who just happened to get no-bid contracts from COD, some marked as architectural […]

Open The Books strikes again!

By:  Diane Benjamin NOBODY has done more to force transparency on government than Adam Andrzejewski (An-Gee-eski) and his Open The Books project.  If you aren’t on his email list, you need to be!  Click here:  http://tinyurl.com/OTB-Email-List Open the Books has compiled a summary for every taxing body in the State of Illinois.  The entire list […]

The Good Guy 2013 report – reporting where media fails!

   “This kind of work requires time, tenacity and resources.” Jim Dey  | Champaign News-Gazette November 2, 2013 Thanks to your support and aggressive citizen action, Illinois has a future. Here are some highlights:  LAWSUIT FORCED OPEN ILLINOIS STATE CHECKBOOK: Republican Comptroller Judy Baar-Topinka falsely claimed that production of state checkbook was an undue burden, and […]

Obama’s sequester cuts

Proof Obama wants America mad at the GOP for cutting his spending, even though it wasn’t real cuts – just a cut to how much spending increases in the future: 1)  White House tours ended:  http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-tours-end-today-112207290.html 2) Education for Active duty military ended:  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/08/the-sequestration-cuts-education-benefits-for-active-duty-military-personnel.html 3) Border Patrol Agents cut:  http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/02/28/budget-cuts-to-hit-border-patrol-ranks-in-perfect-storm/ Are the American people stupid […]