By: Diane Benjamin PDF page 75: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5414 . The underpass is going to be even more expensive when a new contract is proposed for construction later in April. It’s possible the Town is stripping amenities to bring down the cost, all the fancy items will be added back in future years. Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Adding to this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/12/02/normal-fire-department-start-here/ The two calendars below have additional information. The RED Bloomington are mutual aid calls showing Bloomington responding to calls in Normal. When Bloomington is listed more than once it is because they ran calls more than once. . PDF page 210: https://www.normalil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/28107/Annual-Comprehensive-Financial-Report-for-the-fiscal-year-ending-March-31-2025—locked?bidId= This chart shows the number […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you forgot, this development was opposed by area property owners because they feared it would devalue their property: https://blnnews.com/2022/07/31/north-normal-normal-and-barickman-want-to-devalue-your-property/ Normal resident Doug Fansler was concerned when the Town gave preferential treatment to a developer. See this WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-10-08/normal-council-amends-annexation-agreement-for-carden-springs-townhouse-project Carden Springs is being developed by Fairlawn Capital from Champaign. What […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader This isn’t a “fleet vehicle”. Check the plates.
By: Diane Benjamin Karyn Smith submitted a long list of questions to Pam Reece concerning the agenda for the May 1st meeting. Pam Reece responds to her questions are in yellow. Of course watching a meeting won’t reveal any of these answers, citizens might actually have the same ones. Questions are all completed before meetings […]
By: Diane Benjamin The final amounts spent to win a Trustee seat on the Normal Town Council won’t be available until second quarter reporters are filed. The numbers below are through 3/31/23. There were another 4 days to campaign and expenses could have continued to come in even after the election. Normal doesn’t want Wards […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/03/11/sharon-chung-screws-normal-taxpayers/. Normal declared war on it’s citizens and uses their money to take them out! The above story shows the people who supported Chung’s bill to legalize Normal’s illegal operation. Since you knew nothing about this bill you couldn’t object. The only reason we know about it now […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two things in the budget you won’t know unless you watched last night. Chemberly Harris is getting $19,000 for her Youth On A Mission. Pam Reece has a $750,000 slush fund. Of course it’s for contingencies (wasn’t needed for the previous 2 years). https://www.normalil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21181/Town-of-Normal-2022-23-to-2027-28-Five-Year-Operating-and-Capital-Investment-Budget PDF page 121 Nothing aggravates citizens more than […]
Vote Accordingly! More money for any government never works, they will always want more. #History The Unit 5 candidates are hand picked by the union. The Board needs to represent citizens, not the union. All the above expect you to vote YE$ on the referendum.
By: Diane Benjamin If you have ever watched a Normal Town Council meeting it’s obvious Karyn Smith will support anything on the agenda. Kathleen Lorenz supports 99% of what’s on the agenda. Andy Byars was interviewed by Kevin Phares on his show Speechless 2/19/23: https://www.cities929.com/speechles/ Jump to 59:00. Andy Byars wants you to vote for […]
Update: PDF page 87 got fixed. Everything else still applies however: By: Diane Benjamin Review this story for details: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/09/village-of-normal-discriminates-against-stan-nord/ And this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/20/breaking-news-the-truth-about-stan-nord-and-the-executive-session/ Below is the original notice of this meeting – it was held on a Friday, not after a regular meeting like usual. https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4416 Jump to the documents for Monday’s meeting: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4557 […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last Tuesday’s meeting a representative from Stifel Public Finance made presentation. As reported yesterday this presentation was to inform the board about the status of bonds, when some would be paid off, and clear the way for new bonds for another building project. If I hadn’t been at the meeting to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The easiest way to tell who supports which candidates for local office is to look at who collected signatures for them. You can see what each filed here: https://www.normalil.gov/114/Municipal-Elections Kathleen Lorenz: Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, and Sonja Reece Karyn Smith: Sonja Reece, Kevin MCarthy Andy Byars: John McIntyre (Byars says he’s republican), […]
By: Diane Benjamin The last time I FOIA’d how much Chris Koos was charged for using the Town’s Mitsubishi I received this: . I don’t know if $45 was listed as additional compensation on every check that year or just monthly. The point is he was paying something for having that vehicle permanently assigned to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Judge Kording ruled in September that Normal is an Incorporated Town even though they don’t act like it. In his ruling he stated he knows his decision could: . The “parade of horribles” has only just begun. The Normal elites ignored the ruling while celebrating the defeat of the citizen led referendum […]
By: Diane Benjamin Another bike path was on the agenda. Refer back to the previous story, bike paths have a higher priority than roads. Mayor Bike Shop? The Town supposedly received 100% funding for the new path on the west side of Normal. Engineering is 8.5% higher than expected so the Town needed a budget […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal issued this statement yesterday: Let’s start with the Trustee candidates listed with red stars by their name. Add former trustee RC McBride to that list. What do they all have in common? They all come from the Planning Commission! This proves why Chris Koos doesn’t tell the public who he plans […]
By: Diane Benjamin This pic from the Illinois Municipal League says everything you need to know about them: https://www.iml.org/notices IML refuses to post required information on their website! Yes, they are hiding. They don’t file tax returns either even though their employees receive large pensions: https://blnnews.com/2016/03/29/the-iml-scam/ IML exists to represent government in Springfield, they don’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin Every time you eat out in Normal the prices are higher now – the Town is collecting more Food and Beverage Taxes because of food inflation. Every time you buy items in Normal the Town collects more Sales Taxes based on the inflation prices. Every time you buy inflated gas the Town […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you have been dying to hear Kathleen Lorenz talk about raising her kids, just hit play below. She droned on for 10 minutes about her fears of letting them ride bicycles all the way through her fears of letting them drive. Lorenz wanted the residents worried about their property values and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal ignores their taxpayers as evidenced by their ridiculous Public Comment policy meant to discourage citizens from speaking. It’s long past time for some non-violent civil disobedience. Sign up for Public Comment for an agenda item and then talk about Village abuse instead. Video of Koos cutting off citizens while speaking is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal has money for everything except microphones that work. Kevin McCarthy had to hold his when he spoke, the sound still wasn’t clear. Brian Day had a large hand-held microphone because he is always hard to hear from his perch, his did work. Chemberly Cummings is now Chemberly Harris, no explanation. Scott […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you like listening to Biden and Harris explain the economy, this video is for you. I’m only posting it in case Karyn decides to run for re-election next year. This is from last Monday’s Normal Town Council meeting. It’s fingernails-on-a-chalkboard folks:
By: Diane Benjamin Normal Town Council meetings are supposed to fixed in advance. Trustees know they are expected to vote YES on everything, after all staff is PROFESSIONAL. Representing taxpayers is shunned, staff is always right. Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston actually chose to act conservative last night. I wonder if both are afraid of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Do I really need to re-tell the whole SAGA of Chris Koos and Pam Reece misleading the Council about the tax status of National Fitness Campaign? I’m not going to, WGLT finally did a story that will refresh your memory: (did they write it because of my story yesterday or because they […]
By: Diane Benjamin Hey Kevin, did you do your homework? Sit back and watch an elected official lie on video folks. The National Fitness Campaign vote came up several times during last night’s meeting. Kevin McCarthy used his comment time to blame everybody who was defrauded by the vote, not the two people who provided […]
The fireworks code was re-written in 2005, the terminology looks pretty much the same however. Blank Cartridges is still in the law: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1634&ChapterID=38 Novelty items are still exempt, Normal did regulate those anyway stating they can only be sold in approved buildings. By: Diane Benjamin This won’t be the only story about last night! One […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal wants you to believe leasing vehicles for 6-12 months saves them money. What they really get is a constant supply of new vehicles, something the taxpayers never get. Use logic folks, how can 6-12 month leases actually cost less than buying? Because depreciation doesn’t have to be listed […]
By: Diane Benjamin More information concerning this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2021/10/06/one-more-on-normal-more-must-watch/ Yes, more sewer tap on fees. This is deep stuff you must read carefully! It’s your money. The development that was approved at Monday’s meeting was charged a sewer tap on fee by the Town even though it was not on the Tap On […]
By: Diane Benjamin The three second clip I posted earlier this week of Chemberly Cummings throwing Martin Luther King under the bus is from the June 1, 2020 Council meeting. Her entire speech is below as well as Karyn Smith’s tearful response and Chris Koos stating we have to agree with Chemberly’s lived experience. No […]
By: Diane Benjamin How to tell when a Normal Town Council meeting will go bad: Stan Nord is attacked in the first 14 minutes. Of course Nord has a problem with sewer tap on fees, some developers get charged the big bucks and some get by with paying nothing. He didn’t say it, but he […]
By: Diane Benjamin Underpass work session: So far Normal has authorized spending $1.5 million on Phase 1 of the underpass. Chris Koos stated it can not be stopped now because of all the staff time, grants received, and other agencies involved that wouldn’t like Normal backing out now. It almost sounded like Wayne Aldrich (Director […]
Looks like all democrats don’t think the same: Council Meeting January 19, 2021 https://youtu.be/uB9SGVWbytI Pritzker Budget talk, June 1, 2021 https://www.facebook.com/GovPritzker/videos/542249500299020 More below. (It could have been longer) Council discussion starts at 1:22 1:59 – Nord – Motion to pay off debt 2:12 – 6-1 vote against paying off debt early. Pritzker and Nord believe paying off […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos had rulings against him before for violating the Open Meetings Act, but never 2 very close together. This was the first violation: https://wordpress.com/stats/post/90250/blnnews.com The Attorney General’s office finally found time to rule on a second (OBVIOUS) violation. This one was filed in 2019 by Karyn Smith. WEEK has the story: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s Normal Town Council meeting was slightly over 4 hours. It started with a presentation by County Board Chair John McIntyre and County Administrator Camille Rodriguez pertaining to sales tax increase to fund mental health. That presentation took close to an hour. Was that on purpose to deflect from the budget […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on Normal’s Monday meeting: Nobody cared that Pam Reece did not follow her current contract. This didn’t happen: Chris Koos stated he and Pam cooked up the new contract. Poor Pam won’t get the 9 months of severance her old contract called for, the new one limits her to 20 weeks. […]
By: Diane Benjamin There are great teachers, I’m not sure Karyn Smith qualifies. I watched part of the budget discussion last night that was continued from last week. Smith decided to inform viewers about bonds. She claimed paying interest for decades is what they are designed to do. The principal will be paid at the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner tested positive for COVID. He stated himself Monday night he had symptoms for 13 days. So far reports to me have him going to a local restaurant and a grocery story WITH symptoms. Don’t forget his dancing antics without a mask too. What are citizens going to tolerate? Is the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course we know the local elections are not non-partisan. Koos and Renner don’t hide the fact they are Democrats. Carrillo and Crabill don’t hide they are socialists. Scott Preston is involved with the local GOP party. The association list goes on and on. When elected, ideology isn’t suddenly thrown out the […]
By: Diane Benjamin See 25:19 Karyn Smith is reading a prepared statement during Trustee comments. The topic is COVID and the newly announced proclamations from Pritzker. Having swallowed all of the democrat talking points, she goes on and on about keeping people safe. She thinks the virus has to be under control before people will […]
