By: Diane Benjamin A copy of the lawsuit is in that story. It alleges: The case revolves around a former employee – Kristen Alferink. Don Knapp and Jason Chambers were named in the suit because they both supervised the office. The case was filed in September of 2019. It was unceremoniously settled last December. Approval […]
By: Diane Benjamin Fact: Jason Chambers was formerly on the Normal Town Council. When I asked him years ago how the debt would be paid his response was: “It’s all paid for”. (How is that working out?) Fact: Jason Chambers became State’s Attorney after winning the November 2012 election. He is the one who failed […]
By: Diane Benjamin This information is from the budget: https://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/14883/2019-2024 I don’t know why the budgeted revenue was decreased for this year, but Normal still plans to collect a lot of money for licenses, fines, fees, and permits. Maybe it’s down because little development is happening creating a need for permits. PDF page 27. This […]
By: Diane Benjamin Barr is the guy from Lexington who has been charged in at least 3 Illinois counties with taking money from people who hired him to perform some work and Barr either never did any work or never finished what he started. The State’s Attorney’s office in McLean County refused to charge Barr […]
By: Diane Benjamin One question has persisted among those following the Mikey Cadena case: How did Amber go from being charged with 5 Class X felonies with children under the age of 15 (child endangerment) in the house and near a church all the way to probation? Amber has a long arrest and conviction record […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pediatric Resource Center for Child Abuse and Neglect in Peoria examined Mikey Cadena and documented several injuries as well as extensive dental problems. He had severe bruising, blunt force trauma, a human bite mark, black eyes, anal tear, rope burns, etc. They concluded he was abused. […]
By: Diane Benjamin John Butler wants his trial moved out of McLean County because of remarks made by David Hales and Tari Renner. I was also mentioned as a reason because my lawsuit made him look guilty! Yes it did! Since MANY readers are new, this story recaps the information I was able to obtain: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Erik Rankin is on the McLean County Board. He is also the local Democratic Party Chairman. Democrats are VERY outnumbered on the County Board. VERY! Since Jason Chambers ran on the Republican Party ticket for State’s Attorney, his replacement until the next election has to be a Republican. Ranken was on WJBC […]
By: Diane Benjamin This note is on the McLean County State’s Attorney website: http://www.mcleancountyil.gov/index.aspx?NID=96 Sources tell me the State’s Attorney job is mostly administrative, I don’t buy it. If the State’s Attorney has never tried a case or prosecuted anyone, how can they know the people they are supervising are competent? I bet prosecuting the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The biggest problem in the State of Illinois is State’s Attorneys who refuse to prosecute government corruption. I and the Edgar County Watchdogs have seen case after case of extreme malfeasance by government officials that never gets prosecuted. Breaking the law in Illinois is way too easy, getting by with it is […]
By: Diane Benjamin’ What are the charges against Mitchel Mohr? (See this story: https://blnnews.com/2018/06/08/sonetz-mohr-accident-video/) The accident report states: A charge for not wearing a seat belt is not posted on the County website: http://webapp.mcleancountyil.gov/WebApps/PublicAccess/PubAC_Court_CasesCriminal.aspx 71 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone is 16 miles per hour over the speed limit, not […]
By: Diane Benjamin We might know by the end of the month if Tari Renner is going to be charged with illegal use of government funds pertaining to the Japan trip and possibly more. Just to recap: Jason Chambers passed possible legal action off to the Appellate Court Prosecutor. The State Police did the investigation, […]
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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://wglt.org/post/charges-dismissed-former-coliseum-general-manager#stream/0 Charges were dismissed today against one of the main guys involved at the Coliseum, Bart Rogers. He was John Butler’s main sidekick. The judge said the statute of limitations is three years, which means any theft or crimes that may have occurred prior to three years can no longer be prosecuted. […]
By: Diane Benjamin On January 23rd WGLT had an intriguing story. I was hoping some other media cared or WGLT would do a followup because it left too many questions unanswered. See the story here: http://wglt.org/post/emails-prosecutors-declined-citys-request-closed-session-coliseum-case According to the story, WGLT got their hands on some emails between Bloomington attorney Jeff Jurgens and the State’s Attorney office. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday’s paper had a front-page story concerning a filing by Jason Chamber’s office with the Attorney General for Open Meeting Act violations. He has been waiting 17 months for a determination. The story claims his office can only prosecute violations for 18 months. First, Welcome to our world Jason! The request filed […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve contacted the States Attorney’s office several times about public corruption cases. I recently received this email from one of their interns: Got that? Seems pretty clear – the States Attorney’s office doesn’t do investigations! Now see this Pantagraph story about the tragic deaths yesterday: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/police-chief-fatal-fire-appears-intentionally-set/article_77246b93-85ee-5e69-a96b-6de3fbc09d18.html Excerpt from the story: Maybe Jason […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s getting harder and harder to see that ANY laws matter, at least for government. Officials can twist facts, feign illness, and violate the law knowing nobody is going to prosecute. The Town of Normal Council is doing their part Tuesday night: I don’t know if this “planning session” has taken […]
By: Diane Benjamin Proving once again the law is a weapon in the hands of those in power who choose to use it: Jason Chambers referred the Town of Normal’s case against Scott Preston for expense reports he turned in, and Normal paid – to the Appellate Prosecutors Office. Normal failed to enforce policies of turning […]
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 We have an A+ rating from the Illinois Policy Institute for transparency. – Tari Renner Did is more applicable Tari. Proof: The Attorney General found Renner and the WHOLE Council guilty of violating the Open Meetings Act by discussing Metrozone in secret. They were ordered to release the audio of the meeting […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bills and Payroll the Council approved for payment last night have never been posted on the City website: http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-500 I wonder if the council was given a paper version or if they just approved spending without knowing what the voted on? Keep in mind – these are the same people who […]
Today I got this response: Obviously there is no reason why this lame response couldn’t have been given within the 5 days allowed by law. The Grove information came from this document dated February 2015: http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=12052 Since many more houses have been built at the Grove since 2015 – Tari is relying on old information. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed yet another Request for Review with the Attorney General’s office asking them to investigated the Executive Session where the Council decided to disband Metro Zone. The conversations should have taken place in public, not behind closed doors. The City claimed “Probably Litigation” as the excuse for holding a secret meeting […]
I received the following email from Jason Chambers: Ms. Benjamin, I was contacted by someone asking about the prosecutor in the Preston matter and the possible cost. They indicated they had heard there was an expense in that regard from you. Just for information purposes, I wanted to let you know that there is no […]
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 When a former State Attorney, Charles Reynard, prosecuted two cases that have been overturned – one being the BEAMAN case – why not look at another one of his convictions? I’ve had email exchanges for quite a while with a supporter of Jamie Snow who was convicted of murder in 2000 in […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written a long list of articles concerning the Village of Stanford and the Allin Township Fire Protection District. Just for the record, Sheriff Sandage isn’t investigating and State’s Attorney Jason Chambers isn’t prosecuting anything I’ve written about. They probably won’t care about the Allin Township Fire Protection Trustees appointing an illegal […]
By: Diane Benjamin Don’t miss the update: http://blnnews.com/2015/11/04/more-on-the-illegal-meeting/ Today an illegal meeting was held at City Hall. David Hales has divided the Council into groups of three to meet on various issues. Instead of being open and transparent by discussing City business at City Council meetings, they are meeting with no public notification as required […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written lots of stories about the Village of Standford and the Allin Fire Protection District. Even though the Supreme Court has ruled that “bloggers” are media, the Standford Police Chief doesn’t care. Ed Petrey refuses to answer my emails. Earlier in August I asked Ed to refer investigations to the McLean […]
by: Diane Benjamin The people pledged to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of both the United States and Illinois evidently haven’t read it. Here’s a reminder: (720 ILCS 5/33-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 33-3) Sec. 33-3. Official Misconduct.) A public officer or employee or special government agent commits misconduct when, in his official capacity or […]
by: Diane Benjamin If you own a business in Bloomington: Hurry down to City Hall and stake out a spot to display your products. Mayor Renner thinks is okay and so does State’s Attorney Jason Chambers. Even though the Illinois Constitution says Public Property can ONLY be used for Public Purposes, it’s not a crime […]
by: Diane Benjamin Crimes are only crimes if they are prosecuted. Elected officials can do anything they want, including breaking the law, but if they aren’t prosecuted – magically there is no crime! They learn early they are at little risk of being prosecuted. Why is Illinois corrupt? Because very few elected officials are prosecuted. […]
Yesterday: The Pantagraph asks former State’s Attorney candidate Jane Foster to comment on how the Assistant Chief Bob Wall case was handled. Ms. Foster fought the current State’s Attorney Jason Chambers in the primary last year. Were they trying to get negative comments to take Chambers down? There weren’t any other lawyers in town to […]
Attn: Everybody who applied to fill the seat of Jason Chambers on the Normal City Council You never had a chance of being selected. Kevin McCarthy got the job because he fully supports Chris Koos and the “Sustainability” agenda the built Uptown Normal. Below is a billing sheet from the Hile Group – Kevin McCarthy […]
