By: Diane Benjamin One bit of new information: Connect Transit does track transfers even though they aren’t reported anywhere. Mike McCurdy stated transfers aren’t up when he appeared at a Normal Town Council meeting, so I FOIA’d that info per month. I got this: This is one step closer to finding out exactly how many […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are some things from the last Normal FOIA I found interesting. Some other things are very interesting, I had to file another FOIA for those. For now – enjoy these: On September 1st at 8:55 pm a resident of Normal sent an email with this title: The email is long, basically […]
By: Diane Benjamin On September 12, 2001 we were all Americans. American flags lined neighborhoods. For one day we were a united country. It didn’t last. The citizens of Normal sponsored the Racial Equity Summit held yesterday and today: Why are some minorities wildly successful and some aren’t? Maybe they didn’t “stand idly” waiting for […]
Update: A reader found this information: By: Diane Benjamin Just Bloomington, not including Normal. https://ilbusinessdaily.com/stories/513055916-bloomington-ranked-294th-in-state-for-resident-earnings-in-2017#.XYgF7wwE5dk.gmail Excerpt: Bloomington ranked 294th among cities in Illinois by annual earnings per resident, according to data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau in August. The median income of Bloomington residents was an inflation-adjusted $33,702 per year. Bloomington had 31,652 households […]
By: Diane Benjamin From a Press Release issued by CIRA: Of course there is more to the story. This is an epic case proving when government is involved everything is much more difficult and more expensive. It proves yet again why government must be limited. Received by FOIA Start with this email – note the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Dan Brady: It took until last night to connect with Dan Brady about HB 2040. See this story: https://blnnews.com/2019/05/06/illinois-gop-a-minority-on-purpose/ He told me he didn’t hear any opposition to the bill, one of the reasons he voted YES. Evidently we aren’t a Representative Republic where the elected reflect the values of the people […]
By: Diane Benjamin This picture was taken today. The event being advertised was 3 days ago. Worse, it looks like Illinois State University paid for it! Nobody in the private sector wants their name on a bus? So far only Downtown Bloomington, WGLT, and ISU want their names associated with Connect Transit!
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader See this Press Release: What is “For a Better Tomorrow” and where do the funds raised go? This was attached to the Press Release: I still have no idea who this group is, they don’t appear to be an official non-profit. The money raised is going to FOUR Chosen […]
By: Diane Benjamin The purpose of this story is to clarify how many ISU students ride buses and how much ISU pays for those rides. Keep in mind employees at ISU ride with a pass just like students. The information I received does not distinguish between the two. To determine what the relationship is between […]
By: Diane Benjamin This guy ran for Normal Town Council – note the shirt: He was wearing this shirt on election night. He is a graduate of Illinois State University. So is Jenn Carrillo, a self-called democrat socialist. How many other kids leave ISU as socialists? Is Illinois State University creating socialists on purpose? Our […]
By: Diane Benjamin It really isn’t difficult to stop employees from pocketing your money. The City of Bloomington leaders buried their heads underground when they were repeatedly told about CIAM, evidently ISU did the same thing at Bone Student Center. Pantagaph article: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-accused-of-stealing-from-isu/article_e6587ca4-0cf7-531b-b17d-1b3b4ec87c73.html#tracking-source=home-breaking A woman is accused of stealing $161,000 going ll the way to […]
Sent from a reader: Advertising on empty Connect Transit buses paid for by taxpayers: Evidently no local businesses want their name associated with this massive waste of money!
By: Diane Benjamin The local Democrats shared this on Facebook: Of course they had to pretend the Republicans are the party of the rich, facts don’t matter when talking points to keep the minions uniformed work better. Since democrats don’t bother with history before legislating, Pritzker and crew think the rich will hang around and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bills and payroll for Monday night: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=21241 6 more employees will be spiking their pensions: This is the penalty for the last group who spiked theirs: The legal budget must be running out of money, this is less than a normal month. I filed a FOIA request for the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The ISU College Democrats endorsed Jenn Carrillo! Do you know what the Progressive agenda is? In short, socialism. Progressives want to force government to run everything because they do not believe in freedom, liberty, and capitalism. They want to tell you how your property can be used. They want higher taxes because […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to the Democrats in a Springfield and the traitor Bruce Rauner, Illinois taxpayers are forced to pay for abortions. Illinois will become the abortion capital of the Midwest as women flock here to murder their babies. That is why Rauner lost – he lied about not signing the bill. This letter […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since Bloomington-Normal is a college town, this is an article that needs to be read. It was printed in Forbes Will Half Of All Colleges Really Close In The Next Decade? Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen consistently turns heads in higher education by predicting that 50% of colleges and universities will close or […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Chamber of Commerce if holding their 10th Annual Gala to hand out “Business Excellence Awards”. The cost is a tiny $125 per person. You can be a sponsor for between $500 and $5000, depending on how many accolades you want to receive at the event. WGLT – Public Taxpayer […]
By: Diane Benjamin For last years MLK dinner, Illinois State University hired Marc Lemont Hill as the Keynote speaker. Hill was just fired from CNN for extreme antisemitic remarks. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna942151 Previously ISU had Van Jones speak at an MLK dinner. He resigned from the Obama administration after his ties to Marxist and communist groups became […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ward 8 wasn’t represented as Diana Hauman was absent. Of course nobody mentioned why. The ISU kids showed up in Bloomington to support Tobacco 21 during public comment. ISU has indoctrinated them well to believe government needs to “parent” the population for the good of the collective. Sending your kids to college […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is very easy to describe government in Normal: “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Ronald Reagan Hotel occupancy in Bloomington-Normal is way down, according to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local progressives are possessed with bringing in illegal aliens! The latest is Illinois State University: Since we have no borders, these people aren’t illegal, merely undocumented. Yes it was sponsored by ISU: One of the speakers is a candidate for the Bloomington City Council – a former illegal alien […]
Why was the Democrat Party Chairman handing out pizza to the voters at ISU? Erik Rankin just happen to be with Dan Brady’s opponent – Ben Webb. Webb had to be asked to leave since his presence at a polling place is obviously illegal. Rankin didn’t know that? (Seems democrats either never know the rules […]
By: Diane Benjamin In this country the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Allegations mean nothing without proof. Way too many people think that women should always be believed when they accuse a man of sexual assault. They are wrong, below is why: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Brian-Banks-Rape-Case-Exonerated-NFL-Atlanta-Falcons-218978851.html Brian Banks was a great high school football player with […]
By: Diane Benjamin The biggest threat to the Republic is uninformed people. We are being destroyed from within by the people charged with Freedom of the Press in order to defend us against tyranny. Much of media is purposely misinforming people by never reporting all sides of issues. Media is reporting their agenda thus […]
By: Diane Benjamin This article was posted in the ISU newspaper – the Vidette – on September 27th and updated on September 30th. http://www.videtteonline.com/news/isu-students-react-to-kavanaugh-hearings/article_819fdaa0-c2bb-11e8-a372-77979e03b0e0.html These kids don’t know a thing about innocent until proven guilty. They have never been taught what “due process” means. If it was up to them, Brett Kavanaugh would have been […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everybody should already know that capitalism isn’t taught to most of the students at ISU. The kids flocked to the last Democratic primary to vote for a socialist. ISU now has an Adventure Center! https://campusrecreation.illinoisstate.edu/adventure/ The Center just opened this month. Click on Equipment Rental A long list of items for rent […]
By: Diane Benjamin The media dutifully reported the freshman class at ISU is up 10% this year. They mentioned the class is bigger than in recent years, they neglected to report real numbers. Incoming freshman LAST year was down 9.3%: https://blnnews.com/2017/09/07/numbers-lie/ Note that number was reported by the same WGLT who reported this year the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video of Dickie at ISU this morning is on Nikita Richards Facebook page. He was here to endorse her. The college Democrats plus Erik Rankin were there too. The crowd didn’t look overwhelming. Dickie came, in his own words, to support a Democrat “traffic cop” to elections. Yes, Dickie, we’ve seen […]
By: Diane Benjamin A couple of days ago a comment was made on Facebook saying Republicans were trying to suppress the vote at ISU, and that’s why kids had to stand in long lines. The person who made that comment must have not realized the election was a primary. Suppressing democrat votes does nothing to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Think back. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are vying for the Democrat nomination for president. The Illinois primary election was held on March 15, 2016. The Town of Normal has 30 precincts. The entire County picked Hillary Clinton, 26 of Normal’s 30 locations picked Bernie Sanders.
By: Diane Benjamin The Campus Ministry Association has been a registered student association at Illinois State University since 1996. It was called Ecumenical Campus Ministries until 2011. For 22 years they participated in recruitment events through the Department of Admissions. I’m hearing two sides to this story. A member of the Campus Ministry Association says […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Town Council meeting lasted more than 10 minutes last night! It actually went over an hour because of the mandatory recycling ordinance. ISU kids showed up to demand their right to recycle. Some called it a necessity, one claimed she had to drive 5-10 minutes to drop hers off and […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you missed any of the first three stories, see them HERE (Videos) and HERE (Phone Message) and HERE (Emails) Judy Valente had settled down until the videos were published I obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Besides the phone message above, she also emailed Chief Woodruff. She is no longer calling him Aaron. […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you missed either of the first two stories, see them HERE and HERE The new information comes from another FOIA request I filed to see if STATE EMPLOYEE (as in YOU pay her salary) Judy Valente actually followed through with her threats to file a complaint against the officers involved in her traffic […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed another FOIA request for all documents connected to the traffic stop of Judith Valente. See the original story here: https://blnnews.com/2018/06/24/smile-you-are-on-police-video/ My goal was to see if she came to her senses and realized she was acting inappropriately or if she filed complaints against the officers. That part of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin This article must be read first: https://blnnews.com/2018/06/24/smile-you-are-on-police-video/ h/t another reader Bio from: https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B00E9BE1J2/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1?redirectedFromKindleDbs=true Judy writes what appear to be self-help spirituality books. Click the link above to see the titles. Any further comment appears unnecessary.
By: Diane Benjamin h/t To a Reader I could have titled this article: So you think you are above the law? Or: Policemen are Saints! Or: How does she still have a State job? Or: This reporter can NOT be allowed to cover crime Or: How did police know she wasn’t driving stoned? The possibilities […]
By: Diane Benjamin Many students are making the decision for technical/trade schools instead of 4 year universities and colleges. High paying jobs are going unfilled because college was deemed mandatory for success for many years. It isn’t, not everybody is meant for college. The cost isn’t worth the debt anymore. Forbes just came out with […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) RC McBride asked to be excused from voting on payments to WGLT at last night’s Normal Council meeting since he is the General Manager. He did vote on the Harmon Grants, 3 of which went to ISU, also his employer since WGLT is the campus NPR station. ISU, McBride, and the […]
