By: Diane Benjamin Monday night at the Committee of the Whole meeting the Police Chief will present the 2024 annual report. You can see it here: 2024 Annual Bloomington Police Report Statistics are on PDF page 17: . I’m still waiting to hear if anyone has been arrested for the smash and grab at Rogers […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) If I lived in El Paso I’d vote for Ron “Biggie” Howard for mayor. Common sense needs to return to government at all levels instead of propaganda. See his answers to questions asked by the El Paso Journal here: 2) The coffee at church tasted slightly better last Sunday. I had […]
By: Diane Benjamin Start by reading this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-01-17/bloomington-couple-acquitted-for-felony-theft-by-deception The Lacey’s mainly did infusions. Since I had no idea what that meant, I asked them yesterday. The infusions are customized for people like cancer patients where vitamins and minerals are needed to make them feel better. They don’t use any regulated drugs. They are both […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://blnnews.com/2025/01/08/duty-related-injury-rules-for-police-a-bloomington-case/ The officer was notified by HR they will be paying him benefits and reimbursing the personal sick time he was forced to use. The incident happened in October. The law is black and white. It shouldn’t have taken this long. Just:
Since Illinois Progressives exist to provide jobs for government employees and therefore votes, the position of the current Illinois flag keeps rotating. They want to make it has hard as possible to keep the current flag. Wasting money is more fun. By: Diane Benjamin 1) More on the Eastland Mall story: https://blnnews.com/2025/01/12/what-really-happened-at-eastland-mall/ If the police […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is the official statement the Bloomington Police put on Facebook: There are three HUGE problems with the statement. For I think the first time posts on NextDoor appeared fast. I combined knowledge from there and Facebook posts to know no shots were fired. I’m sure numerous hits with a hammer to […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) The deadline to apply to fill Donna Boelen’s seat was extended until tomorrow. I don’t know if nobody applied or if Mayor. Mboka is looking for better people. If you are in Ward 2 this is an opportunity to represent the Ward without having to campaign. Details here: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/Home/Components/News/News/10275/1394 2) I […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Bloomington Police Union Contract: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30481/638539641805070000 . Does suffering a heart attack while on duty qualify as a “duty related injury”? Not if you are a Bloomington Police Officer. Police administration is actively ignoring State Law and refusing to pay benefits: . The officer was told he had to use personal […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are crime stats for three years through July. Source: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-491 Since the 3 charts are difficult to read and compare, I summarized some items: . . .
By: Diane Benjamin I FOIA’d the City of Bloomington for awards given to Ty Carlton for the past 15 years. What I received isn’t the whole story. From the Bloomington Police Facebook page where Ty is mentioned a lot, this isn’t mentioned in the FOIA: This is what I received by FOIA, notice no details? […]
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 See this WEEK story: https://www.25newsnow.com/2023/09/07/idot-report-black-latinx-drivers-stopped-by-bloomington-police-disproportionately-higher-rate/ Quote: “McLean County has unfortunately had a history of disproportionally stopping people of color, so this is ongoing. What’s alarming is that the 2022 traffic data showed an uptick,” explains Karla Bailey-Smith, the Central Illinois Chapter of ACLU Illinois which covers McLean, DeWitt and Livingston Counties. I’m […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington police are still hiding information. Evidently they want sued. h/t a reader who lives by Constitution Trail This isn’t a one time occurence. Frequently a lot of grass is missed when Bloomington mows along the trail because the mower is too big. If the grass isn’t missed it gets scalped […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T a solid source If media cared they would FOIA recent emails. I bet they won’t. . I wonder how they gave away 312 when the documents for the April 24th meeting shows purchasing 308: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1910041/4764_Quote_Premier_Gun_Safes_Redacted.pdf Documentation for the April 24, 2023 meeting: Problem: This is a link to the manual for […]
By: Diane Benjamin The entire Bloomington City Council meeting lasted only 56 minutes, almost half of it was public comment. There was a long line of people speaking against the license plate reading cameras that were on the Consent Agenda. That item was the only one pulled for further discussion. Mayor Mboka announced at the […]
By: Diane Benjamin A lady I went to high school with experienced losing her son almost a year and half ago. He was found dead in the Ohio River. She still has no idea what happened to him. The police have no idea what happened to him. She has lived in agony since his body […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader with a REALLY good dash cam Note the color of the stop light! This should be enough evidence for a ticket! Does this help:
By: Diane Benjamin Two guys are running for alderman in Ward 5: Patrick Lawler and Nick Becker. Lawler is running with the local socialists and sides with the two already on the Council: As all Progressives, do Lawler now wants to “move Bloomington forward”, in other words twist and bend existing norms to fit his […]
By: Diane Benjamin See both previous stories at this link: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/23/in-support-of-art-and-camille-taylor/ . Art Taylor, in his four-page screed complaining of his treatment during the incident closes with this: Not being accorded the respect of the “benefit of the doubt” is what hurts the most, and that is why citizens of color feel like there are […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington is going to hold community meetings concerning police reforms or as two Council members want – defunding the police. The video below was shot by a citizen who at times sounds reasonable. The crowd around her is vulgar and abusive to the officers. 30 second before the end a male voice […]
Ask Angela Fyans what she is hiding from her time with Sorling Northrop. She is now a City of Bloomington lawyer. The Bloomington police did an amazing job stopping your looters, unlike Normal. That doesn’t mean problems don’t exist in the department. You will find out soon, with or without what is still hidden. It […]
conservativereview.com/justice-george-floyd-7000-black-homicide-victims-every-year Systematic racism does not exist in America as proven above. There are individual incidents that require the law to hold all accountable. We are a nation of laws not knee- jerk reactions to move an agenda forward. This is the same guy wanting dangerous criminals released from the County jail so they don’t get […]
By: Diane Benjamin You can watch Public Comment on the City website, but I filmed Kirk’s comments from a different perspective. Kirk spoke to Council several years ago and his comments were mysteriously cut – just him – the video worked fine for all the other people. That was one reason I filmed him. Another […]
By: Diane Benjamin I drove by the Creativity Center on my way to the Bloomington Council meeting last night. The signs on the north side of the building are no longer there! City Manager Tim Gleason has not responded to my email. Evidently removing the signs is his response: https://blnnews.com/2019/09/19/remember-the-signs-at-the-creativity-center/ If you watch City […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington claims no calls exist! Evidently an officer took it upon himself to show up at the City Council retreat at The Den just for fun. The report I received showed he stayed for an hour. That’s an hour he wasn’t out patrolling or doing other work. Bloomington wants […]
The first Bloomington City Council meeting starts at 5:00 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14456 Public comment will start a little after 5:00. The Council is then holding a secret meeting (Executive Session), so come outside and show your support for the Bloomington police: Link to Facebook Event
By: Diane Benjamin Police: Police Officers have a LOT of discretion in who gets a ticket, who gets their car searched, and who gets hauled off to jail. You respect their authority under the law and they will respect you. You act like a jerk and you will be treated like a jerk if you […]
By: Diane Benjamin A long line of people participated in Public Comment last night for the Citizens Advisory Board. According to most, racism is rampant among Bloomington Police officers. Evidently the BLACK Police Chief is racist too since he refuses to control the people under him. Some told tragic stories – like the lady with the […]
Ask Tari to explain the contribution illegals make verses the cost: https://www.nationaleconomicseditorial.com/2017/07/04/illegal-immigration-cost-illinois/ _______________________________________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Tari Renner wanted to lump 3 controversial items together at Monday night’s Council, but one got derailed. The Council will consider: Bike Lanes on E. Washington to create congestion Welcoming ordinance for illegals The Citizens Advisory Board to […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last night’s Bloomington City Council meeting: 1) Local attorney Chris Gramm was fed up with Renner citing the reading of Green Eggs and Ham to the local media as a reason to change the Public Comment policy. Chris did read it years ago as a protest to Renner’s pending tax increases. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hope the Political Science Professor Mayor of Bloomington isn’t teaching the kids at IWU that we live in a democracy. He and others mentioned “democracy” numerous times at the City Council meeting last night. Democracy is mob rule, if we were a democracy the Council wouldn’t have voted to approve the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Citizens deserve to know what’s happening in their city. This post is meant to inform voters. Is BLM trying to run the Bloomington police force themselves? You decide. Why Bloomington and not Normal? The proposals below were created by the local Black Lives Matter movement. You can see the entire document that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jamie Snow has been in prison 17 years for a Bloomignton murder he claims he didn’t commit. William Little was shot in 1991 during a robbery at a gas station where he worked. Snow wasn’t convicted until 2001. This week Snow made national news when the story aired on a show called […]
By: Diane Benjamin The main job of government is to protect the liberty of its citizens. We EXPECT spending for public safety like Police and Fire. Monday night the police finally get some help. The City of Bloomington found $55,100 to update the police training facility. This facility was allowed to become unusable because it […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last Thursday about 4:45 pm I was headed into Bloomington via East Oakland. The road was closed in both directions by A LOT of emergency vehicles, at least two big fire trucks and MANY police. There was so many emergency vehicles I thought for sure somebody had been seriously injured or maybe shot […]
By: Diane Benjamin Hire-Back is more correctly called overtime. Last night’s Bloomington City Council Work Session lamented the costs to the City – $130,000 per year. One thing ALWAYS left out is how much money the City of Bloomington makes from all those kids drinking every Thursday through Saturday! Through October, the City collected almost […]
Since bikes have the same rights to the roads as cars, it’s also illegal to ban them! Lawsuit anyone? By: Diane Benjamin New rules at Miller Park for July 4th: No bikes allowed. Celebrate the Land of the Free, just don’t ride there! Will the 100 Bike BloNo people show up to protest? Maybe the […]
By: Diane Benjamin There must be a good name for the Pantagraph reporting of last night’s event, but I will just call it ridiculous. “More than a hundred” people attended, yep, more than 100. If they had bothered to ask, the church’s main floor holds around 310. Chairs were set up behind the pews and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sgt. Shumaker got punished with a piece of paper for making a racist remark. That severe penalty is probably still hurting. Sure. One media report says it can disappear if he stays clean for 5 years. Wow, so much for that permanent record stuff. He doesn’t lose anything of value except, now […]
Hello Mrs. Benjamin, Thank you for your email. More research is going to be done on the information you provided. The item has been moved off of the Council agenda tonight, until we have a chance to do the full research. Thank you again for the information. Officer Sara Mayer Public Affairs309-434-2355Bloomington Police Department ____________________________________________________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin I’m sure […]
