By: Diane Benjamin A reader just found this story from May: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/retail-news/2020/05/13/exclusive-sale-greets-protesters-illinois-bike-shop The story is about the citizens who showed up to protest Chris Koos’ business being open while many citizens weren’t allowed to make a living. It even includes his now infamous image taunting the protesters: BUT, The story has a quote from Koos […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why are they excited about moving to Lexington? No idea, but their customers should be: Driving an easy 15 minutes north will save you 2%! Rent and property taxes are likely cheaper in Lexington meaning merchandise could be cheaper. Is the exodus beginning? .
By: Diane Benjamin Yes, people screw up sentences and words all the time. They normally don’t post videos of themselves doing it on their Facebook page. Chris Koos did. The video below is closed captioned. If you want to hear sound go to his Mayor Facebook page. He confuses his mask with his glasses. Remember, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night Normal voted to accept a new bike master plan. It will require vast amounts of money in the future to add trails all over Normal. Mayor and BIKE SHOP owner Chris Koos did not recuse himself from the discussion. One person at public comment even claimed biking is way up […]
by: Diane Benjamin First a little history. From the Pantagraph How Time Flies 1/21/2020: Have your property taxes gone down? Responsible adults know being able to make the payments is not a good philosophy to live by. If you want to make the neighbors jealous by living in a mansion with two expensive vehicles parked […]
By: Diane Benjamin I bet the Council will still refuse to meet in person. Chris Koos can knock on doors however for his campaign. https://normal.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2163
By: Diane Benjamin The second installment of your property taxes are due on 9/17. The check you will be writing is higher because of many things, but a BIG one is Tax Increment Financing. TIF’s The Uptown TIF is Normal’s huge one. The 2020 comprehensive report isn’t available yet, so I have to use the […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/17188/CAFR20-FINAL-DOC See the below on PDF pages 177 and following. The only good news is the first one will be paid off next year. I added the interest rates in the lower left corner. The loans with no payments for many years carry high interest rates likely for that reason. This isn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin Much of the meeting was spent talking about the 3/31/2020 financial statements and the financial trends report. Neither are on-line yet, so they aren’t worth discussing much here. Many accolades were thrown at staff for doing a good job preparing for the audit. I agree, but isn’t that what they get paid […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal met for almost 4 hours last night. See the 6:00 pm Work Session story here: https://blnnews.com/2020/09/09/stealing-more-from-you-the-town-of-normal/ I’m going to start with the END of the regular meeting since I might have been one of the few still awake watching it. Chris Koos is attempting to fix his image since he was […]
By: Diane Benjamin When you vote for progressives your taxes will go up. Utopia takes cold hard cash – YOURS. During the Work Session at 6:00 pm last night the only topic was increasing the gas tax. The theme at this meeting and the 7:00 meeting was “pots” of money. Think about how you handle […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last Wednesday Normal passed ordinances limiting gatherings to 10 or fewer people within the ISU campus area and additional bar and restaurant social distancing restrictions. This was in response to the skyrocketing infection rate of COVID in the campus and Uptown area. Town hall is located near the epicenter of the outbreak […]
By: Diane Benjamin Start with One Normal Plaza. STAFF convinced the Council to instigate zoning changes. The area residents only want ONE THING – alcohol sales banned in the park. Drive through – it’s a park like setting with narrow roads and family atmosphere. They want it to stay a tranquil place. STAFF refused to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Marc saved me the trouble of writing further comments on the DOCUMENT I showed yesterday in this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/09/02/the-document-you-must-see/ The video has captions, watch it with or without the sound. Marc has researched the PAC and knows the contributors and how they have spent money so far. He proves the PAC is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Some politicians have a really hard time leaving office. Progressives always have just one more project to complete, and then another, and then another. Progress must be made – problem is it’s “their vision” and not shared by the people paying the bills. Anybody craving an underpass? Chris Koos has joined this […]
By: Diane Benjamin If the massive debt and failure to listen to citizens isn’t bad enough, ISU students will remember Mayor Chris Koos thinks he’s a doctor with the right to spew edicts that must be obeyed. He doesn’t, but that doesn’t stop him or the compliant businesses owners terrified of this tyrant. Only the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to the Pantagraph for pointing out that Chris Koos serves on the Advisory Board of Transportation for America. https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/watch-now-normal-mayor-chris-koos-nominated-for-amtrak-board-of-directors/article_f7dc9015-4f0a-512f-9117-e35eb5af8b0e.html Who is Transportation for America? http://t4america.org/about/ Smart Growth America is the consultant who never finished what they were hired for with the Connect To The Future Working Group. Think back. Many citizens […]
By: Diane Benjamin Executive Orders used to at least be signed by Chris Koos. No longer! Now the Town of Normal is issuing edicts from on high as press releases. Your elected Council Trustees had NO input and were not asked to agree or disagree. This is the latest: https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16779/Outdoor-Dining-Press-Release—extension-announced-through-November-1 Businesses affected by actions […]
By: Diane Benjamin The conversation is continuing on the post Chris Koos made to Facebook. See the original story: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/19/koos-out-of-touch-or-out-of-his-mind/ Below are excerpts, Joel Studebaker got into lots of topics. The one that interested me was the empty first floor at 1 Uptown Circle. Note Cheryl Gaines claims renting it is up to the owner […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why would the mayor of any Town post this: He posted it Saturday night, if you want to see all the responses go to his Facebook page. I will just pick out a few: I don’t see where Koos ever answered any of the questions, there are plenty more including a comment […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tuesday Chris Koos had to run to his favorite taxpayer funded media – WGLT – to complain about Stan Nord. The issue: Stan won’t rubber stamp my appointees! https://www.wglt.org/normal-mayor-pushes-back-appointment-opposition The article eventually got to Karyn Smith who also spoke about not having time to research who Koos’ Connect Transit Board appointee is. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I tried to wrap up most of what happened Monday night in this story and failed. One more story coming and some things still won’t be covered. Link to all previous stories: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/08/jumping-around-normals-meeting/ This one is number SIX. This was on the agenda: EVERY person on the Council, except Stan Nord, voted […]
By: Diane Benjamin As a veteran one would think Chris Koos has said the Pledge of Allegiance so many times it would be impossible to forget. Last night he couldn’t remember the words, maybe because it was at: “One Nation Under God”. Also note instead of saying the Pledge, Chemberly Cummings put a sign on […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Town Council met for over 3 hours last night. I wonder if Chris Koos and Pam Reece know their days are numbered and they are attempting to achieve nirvana before they get kicked out? This meeting will take more than one story! The soon to be ex-mayor took it upon […]
By: Diane Benjamin Think all the way back to March 16, 2020. That was pre-shutdown and the Normal Town Council was still meeting in person. The staff got raises at this meeting and the Council was forced to approve a site plan for Stan Nord’s property. It isn’t in Uptown so different rules apply – […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since the media isn’t interested in holding tyrannical dictators accountable, I must keep posting Mayor Koos taunting protesters. This picture speaks volumes about him and his buddies on the Council – the PLAN is the only thing that matters, not you. But there is more: A guy name Josh Favus is Koos’ […]
By: Diane Benjamin Executive Orders are not law. We don’t live in a dictatorship, the only power government has is what you let them get by with! The Illinois shutdown has morphed from “bending the curve” to tyranny. The Edgar County Watchdogs have been leading since March by simply reading the law. The State and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Tari Renner participated in a video conference led by the Peoria’s mayor. There were MANY other mayors on the call, Chris Koos was not one of them. Below is a clip of just Renner. He starts by thanking Mayor Ardis for his leadership, he asks a question, then expresses his appreciation […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pritzker has no power to shut down businesses. Neither does Renner or Koos. Local governments are graveling at Pritzker’s feet instead protecting your rights. They are probably afraid of losing State grants. Not living within your means makes them captive to the overlord Pritzker, Has anybody read the Illinois Constitution? Where does […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Chris Koos posted this statement to his official Facebook page yesterday: Did he bother to read the Emergency Order # 20-008 he signed on April 4th? http://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16503/Emergency-Order-20-008—Stay-at-home-enforcement-?bidId= Excerpts: Did somebody forge your signature Mayor? One or more of the below is true: Koos is intentionally deceiving citizens Koos knows his order […]
By: Diane Benjamin It probably isn’t possible that you missed yesterday’s story, but in case you did: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/09/chris-koos-taunts-protestors/ If you need more proof that Not In Town Town is a joke to silence free speech, keep reading. From the NIOT Facebook page – written by Matejka himself: Mike’s mission isn’t to stop bullying if the […]
In response to citizens peaceably protesting yesterday” Normal Il mayor taunted “nonessential” struggling citizens and business owners while his business is OPEN. The banner proves he has NO compassion for his own community. He knew people were coming to protest, his message to those NOT ALLOWED to work: his middle finger! Worse – Koos told […]
By: Diane Benjamin READ all the way to the bottom please! The tyrants keeping Illinois shut down have no basis in the law to continue doing so. Start with Chris Koos – his original ordinance #5804: http://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16424/ORD-5824—Emergency-Authorization—032320?bidId= That ordinance references: Koos is basing his Executive Powers on the Governor’s Executive Order. What does the […]
By: Diane Benjamin One more story on the bike given to Jeff Fritzen from Mayor Koos’ bike shop. A copy of the invoice was included in the FOIA I received from Normal. I hadn’t noticed until today at the top was a Purchase Order number. This morning I filed a FOIA for that Purchase Order. […]
Two emails have been added to the bottom. I’m all the way to page 314 of 924! By: Diane Benjamin I’m paging through 924 pages received by FOIA, I’m up to page 187. When I see something citizens need to know I do a story. What I received belongs to citizens, you paid for them […]
Followup story: https://blnnews.com/2020/04/16/more-on-the-normal-ordinance-scam/ By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Town Council rushed through an emergency ordinance. One section was very problematic for citizens. See details in this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/03/22/normal-emergency-meeting-monday/ The offending section, granting emergency powers to only Koos and Reece, was rapidly removed from the ordinance when suggested by Chris Koos and immediately amended by Kevin […]
By: Diane Benjamin You have to laugh at bureaucrats! The Attorney General’s Public Access office just sent me a final determination pertaining to Jeff Fritzen’s bike present courtesy of Chris Koos. It took less than a month. A few days ago I posted the Town’s response to the AG in this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/04/13/koos-bike-present-violated-town-code/ Keep in […]
By: Diane Benjamin From this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/04/14/koos-caught-in-another-lie/ Besides the typo, see anything else? Anybody? . . The Council only has SEVEN members. Koos claims he talked to SIX! http://normal.org/1135/Meet-the-Council If Koos hadn’t wasted time talking to himself he would of had time to call Stan! (I was waiting for somebody to notice)
I found more emails you need to see. So far I haven’t found any responses from the Mayor to Stan. (At bottom) By: Diane Benjamin See this WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/post/normal-cracks-down-large-gatherings#stream/0 Excerpt: Koos claimed he could not reach one council member! He didn’t try: Koos didn’t have time At least he apologized, I wonder if […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t some readers Must read story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2020/03/29/why-dave-shields-defends-koos/ This story won’t make any sense without reading the first story. There is more to know. Start with the Matter Family Foundation: Stephen S. and Anne E. K. Matter Foundation Family foundation Since this is a non-profit, tax returns are on line. See […]
