By: Diane Benjamin There wasn’t a hearing on HB 3337 yesterday because Sharon Chung filed an amendment to the bill. That means it has to go back to the Rules Committee before being heard at the Counties and Townships Committee. The amendment was a stall tactic, it didn’t change anything. Maybe she saw the Witness […]
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 The entire meeting was a little over an hour. I suggest citizens who plan to vote watch a few meetings instead of believing campaign literature. Of course no one showed up to speak at the Public Hearing on the budget. Many of the Trustees congratulated themselves on its greatness however. Spending on […]
By: Diane Benjamin The budget isn’t called Proposed Budget, but it is on line as a 5 years budget. Good luck reading it: https://www.normalil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21181/Town-of-Normal-2022-23-to-2027-28-Five-Year-Operating-and-Capital-Investment-Budget Tonight – a whole 5 minutes is devoted to a Public Hearing about the Proposed budget. Even though the announcement below claims the budget is on line it isn’t. Kathleen was […]
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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 didn’t like the results of the November referendum – so they demand you vote again. Vote No Again Ask Unit 5 Board members how it is possible to be this irresponsible with other people’s money. Anybody see a problem? Anybody? Tim Gleason is pulling the same stunt on Monday. His […]
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 Kathleen thinks her, Karyn Smith, and Andy Byars are the positive candidates. Of course she implies the other 3 aren’t. I am positive these 3 will raise taxes and fees, vote for more bike paths, throw your money to the underpass when it goes way over budget, pretend government creates markets, and […]
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 Everything happening in the Town of Normal right now was self-inflicted. Chris Koos’ buddy Patrick Dullard argued that Normal was an Incorporated Town and therefore citizens didn’t have the right to put a referendum on the ballot to elect Trustees by district. Judge Kording reluctantly agreed with him: That “parade of horribles” […]
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 I heard one of the biggest opponents to the McLean County GOP Accountability committee was George Wendt. He needs to reconsider, the latest RINO Republican to turn on the party is Kathleen Lorenz. 4 years ago she campaigned door-to-door calling herself a Republican. Does George Wendt know Lorenz campaigned for his Democrat […]
By: Diane Benjamin Comments about Kathleen made by citizens really bother her. After the last batch she emailed me twice with corrections. She didn’t say anything about what I wrote, she was merely responding to people who comment. The comments are to this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/11/08/kathleen-lorenz-proves-again-why-she-shouldnt-be-on-the-town-council/ I could post her emails, but I’m not going to. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The chart below was posted on the Cities 92.9 Facebook page. Couple of notes:
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 The Washington Post, or as Mark Levin calls them – the Washington Compost, printed a story about Cities 92.9: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/26/right-wing-radio-station/ Everything you need to know about the Washington Post can be summed up by looking at the top stories on their website this morning: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ The Washington Post if obviously a mouthpiece […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two topics were discussed during Normal’s 5:00 pm Work Session: the Underpass lighting and north side aesthetics plus this one: Funding a Housing Navigator Bloomington heard the details awhile back and hasn’t voted, Monday it was Normal’s turn. It was stated by Kathleen Lorenz that Bloomington-Normal is currently short 4300 places to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Packet for tonight: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4441 The Agenda at 7:00 is only mildly exciting, I’m sure questions will arise on 1 or more items. Kathleen Lorenz will be drooling over the Financial Trends Report, not sure why since the report is the trend from over 6 months ago. FY 2022 ended 3/31/22. The Work […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story? https://blnnews.com/2020/10/19/is-koos-profiting-from-lockdowns/ Does Amtrak want a director that openly taunts people who don’t agree with him? Yesterday Koos proved yet again he doesn’t tolerate people who disagree with him: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/09/village-of-normal-discriminates-against-stan-nord/ Mayor Chris Koos was one of the votes to not allow Trustee Stan Nord to participate in the Executive Session […]
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 Kathleen Lorenz said in an interview that companies wishing to locate somewhere watch social media and negative comments affect their decision. Last night will make them rethink locating in Normal where citizens who don’t fall in line are despised. Kathleen: Your support of Chris Koos will not only get you fired, Chris […]
By: Diane Benjamin Putting a referendum on the ballot to ask if voters want to elect Trustees by districts instead of at-large is nothing more then a: Those who want to prevent a Yes or No question from being on the ballot what to prevent voters from having that choice. Isn’t it nice to have […]
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 More on this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/08/10/is-truth-too-difficult-for-pam-reece/ Not only did Pam Reece try to hide information that would have been nothing without her deception, she signed an agreement that violated FOIA laws. This statement is in the agreement: Very little government does can legally be hidden from citizens. This statement should never have been […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hope you listened to at least parts of Kathleen’s interview from this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/08/01/kathleen-lorenz/ Since she explained over and over that she is data-driven and has an analytical engineers mind, I asked her two questions: Kathleen, I listened to your interview twice only because I was in the car. I’m […]
By: Diane Benjamin Steve Suess interviewed Kathleen Lorenz for his entire Sunday show. Actually Kathleen did most of the talking. This is a must listen to discussion. I am not going to comment until Stan Nord is on the same show next Sunday. I refuse to be accused of feeding Stan talking points, he has […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) I’m collecting signs gas stations have on their pumps to comply with Pritzker’s demand people know he delayed the $.02 increase until after the election. Thorton’s at Route 9 and Hershey just has the Pritzker verbiage. Correction: This is at the Exxon Mobile station off 74 in Downs. The reader who […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note: Petitions are still being collected. See the website to help: https://betternormal-il.com/why-district-normal%3F-1 Before you read the extensive story WGLT wrote about the petitions being circulated to ask Normal voters if they want to switch to Wards, some points WGLT didn’t make: Most of the current Trustees think they are a Board of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Kathleen Lorenz made an impassioned plea for the Council to communicate better? https://blnnews.com/2022/05/03/kathleen-now-hears-what-we-hear-when-watching-meetings/ That happened on May 3, 2022. (Two weeks ago!) Evidently she didn’t mean it. When I posted the story about Normal requesting another $6 million for the underpass, Stan Nord emailed the Council asking what they knew. […]
By: Diane Benjamin You have to watch the Kathleen Lorenz video in this story to understand Chris Koos wasn’t listening: https://blnnews.com/2022/05/03/kathleen-now-hears-what-we-hear-when-watching-meetings/ Directly after Lorenz called for unity and better leadership Stan Nord made a Trustee comment. I hope Kathleen was paying attention to Chris Koos’ snide remark when Stan was finished. Kathleen: You saw first […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Youth on a Mission kids were allowed to speak out of order last night because they had to get home and study for finals. This was a Koos edict, the Council didn’t vote. “Friends” are allowed perks while citizens wanting to speak off agenda have to wait until the end of […]
By: Diane Benjamin In a representative government elected officials represent the people, not the organization they are elected to. Pam Reece wants meetings fixed in advance which is why 2 on 1 meetings are held. It’s embarrassing for her to actually have Trustees do what they were elected to do – represent the people paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Two meetings ago Kathleen Lorenz suddenly started voting against the “professional staff” and even started asking questions about bills. She was part of the gang when meetings were less than 1/2 hour long because nothing was questioned. She didn’t like my headline however: https://blnnews.com/2022/03/22/kathleen-lorenz-is-running-for-re-election/ In case it’s too hard to read, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Even though items on the Omnibus Agenda are rarely questioned by anyone other than Stan Nord, Kathleen Lorenz pulled 3 items last night. The reasons she gave didn’t make a lot of sense, it appears she now wants the public to know she isn’t a rubber-stamper. The meeting lasted slightly over an […]
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 […]
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