By: Diane Benjamin HB 3337 was heard by the Counties and Townships Committee because Sharon Chung is a member. Duh, the Town of Normal isn’t a County or Township so this bill did not belong in this committee. Even though Republicans on the Committee mentioned this, they were ignored. The committee passed it and now […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sharon Chung admitted the Town of Normal approached her to change Illinois law. She claims Normal went to great expense to defend themselves against citizens and doesn’t want to again. She was then asked if the Town Board approved this, of course the answer is no. A lobbyist for the Town of […]
Does the Normal Town Council know they are Reece’s boss? Does Reece know she works for them? Does Reece know she can’t dictate the speech of Trustees? Does Reece know she can’t bar your representatives from representing? Is Reece preventing NPD from investigating electioneering? Is she barring release of findings? Will the results be buried […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Biological males are using female restrooms at Normal Community. The rights of females are immaterial. Cancel culture cancelled the right to privacy for females. 2) Refer back to this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/02/22/proof-normals-staff-runs-the-town/ Remember all those “community” meetings Normal had to hear what people wanted to see in Uptown South? The email Mercy […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington’s meeting last night will have to wait until tomorrow! Would you drink this? This is water from S. Coolidge in Normal, if the homeowner didn’t have a filter system this is what it would look like. The owner claims his neighbors are too afraid to complain. I hear that frequently from […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you raced to the polls for national elections and proudly wore your I Voted sticker, your vote barely mattered. Your vote does matter in local elections! Many races today will be won by less than 100 votes. Turnout will be the only deciding factor. The elites and socialists are hoping you […]
By: Diane Benjamin It has been obvious for a long time the Town of Normal government exists for itself, not the citizens paying their bills. The last thing Koos and company want is pesky citizens messing up their plans. Chris Koos has stated Council meetings are “business meetings”, he leaves out the part about being […]
By: Diane Benjamin Evidently Koos is just another leftist attempting to re-write history. Record low unemployment and rising wages especially for lower wage workers went right over his head. He claims in this campaign flyer McLean County barely survived Trump: Koos will do anything to not run on HIS record of debt, friends and family […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written almost 7600 stories since 2012. Most I can not remember, luckily readers do remember. The story below is one readers remembered that I didn’t. Chris Koos is infamous for his insider deals that benefit friends and a compliant Council that allow the fleecing of taxpayers. I can’t possibly remember all […]
If you still can’t decide who to vote for Mayor of Normal – watch this: https://video.wtvp.org/video/s33-e29-normal-mayoral-conversation-roglrq/?fbclid=IwAR3Akay5gwseBWgZDGKPHds6rJcteyQVJm50QEJnQhbZt1nYg241W4pPVAs
By: Diane Benjamin The Attorney General finally got around to ruling on a slam dunk Request for Reviews filed by Marc Tiritilli in November 2019. Even though the law gives them 90 days to rule, the Attorney General doesn’t comply. While Chris Koos flagrantly violated Marc’s 1st Amendment rights, the rest of the Council sat […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the Eagles song Desperato? That should be the Chris Koos theme song. He has NOTHING to run on so he is now personally attacking Marc Tiritilli instead of addressing the issues. Chris is a divisive leader because he knows people don’t want the things he wants. Marc Tiritilli is running to […]
Today at 6 PM CST – 7 PM CST Hear from the candidates running for Normal mayor in the April 6 election. They are Chris Koos and Marc Tiritilli. This debate is co-sponsored by WGLT, the League of Women Voters of McLean County, the Bloomington-Normal branch of the NAACP, and Illinois State University’s Center for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal has two water problems: The first is spending over $5 million to run water lines on top of Bloomington’s out West College The second is brown water or worse at various locations around the Town. Chris Koos keeps trying to claim discolored water doesn’t exist. Just hit play to hear him […]
Only 5 of the candidates on the ballot bothered to show up. Those not attending were: Kevin McCarthy, Chemberly Cummings, Donna Toney, and AJ Zimmerman. If the GOP saved the video I don’t see it anywhere. If you want to know who the elites don’t want to see elected: These 3 with Marc Tiritilli as […]
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 Last night during Trustee comments at the end of the meeting Chris Koos claimed Council agreed to limit each to 5 minutes. Evidently that was done in secret. I doubt Stan Nord got 5 minutes because he was constantly interrupted. Nord showed a map of where Normal plans to run water lines […]
By: Diane Benjamin Refer back to this earlier story: https://blnnews.com/2021/02/10/more-on-the-responsible-cities-pac/ Who got paid $3,511 for consulting? Maura Freeman From the Elect Chris Koos Mayor of Normal Facebook page: Who is Maura Freeman? According to her Facebook page: Facebook friends include Dave Shields (Koos buddy). She “liked” the Marc Tiritilli for Mayor of Normal Facebook page. […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT and the League of Women Voters are teaming up for mayoral debates: https://lwvmclean.org/about-us Board of Directors for the League of Women Voters: Remember these names if you read the Letters to the Editor in the Pantagraph. h/t a reader: https://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/letters/letter-incumbents-will-keep-future-strong/article_9ed48258-dbbf-58fa-ac54-2fa91d8f1cc8.html Laurie Bergner, Community Education Chair for the League, wrote to extoll […]
By: Diane Benjamin I can find numerous things citizens need to know after Normal spent 9 hours meeting 1/26 and then another 3 hours last Monday talking about the budget. Pam Reece wants you to know they aren’t spending over $5 million running water pipes on West College to Rivian. So, either they know something […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/12/10/lorenz-how-about-not-believing-everything-you-are-told/ The Town of Normal finally provided the information I requested by FOIA. At the December 7th meeting Lorenz went on a long rant about rumors. It was aimed at a Facebook post by Marc Tiritilli concerning the quality of the water some residents have endured for a […]
Since everyone isn’t on Facebook, I am posting Marc’s latest story here: What does it take for residents to have a water-quality problem fixed? Apparently, a lot of public activism. For nearly two years, the neighborhood at Grove and Ruston has been experiencing substandard water quality with issues such as brown water, bad taste, and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Koos had already posted on his official Mayor’s Facebook page that if re-elected he wouldn’t take the wage increase he talked the council into passing. That alone is campaigning on public property, but he did it again at the meeting last night. He got the date wrong – his wage increase was […]
FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE November 16, 2020 Marc Tiritilli to run for Mayor of Normal Normal—Marc Tiritilli is pleased to announce his candidacy for Mayor of Normal in the election on April 6, 2021. He has submitted the required candidate filings and is eagerly moving on to the heart of the campaign. Tiritilli […]
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 All the neighbors of One Normal Plaza want is the proposed zoning changed banning alcohol in the park-like setting. The “professional staff” wrote the proposal the “professional staff” can change it. Instead the Town and most of the elected representatives continue to flagrantly abuse citizens by demanding they appear before the Planning […]
By: Diane Benjamin As reported in this story – Normal will reject a bid for a bike share program tonight: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/31/normal-could-have-a-10-minute-meeting-monday/ The previous contract was a 3 year deal with Zagster. I think it is safe to assume this contract wasn’t a revenue cash cow for Zagster because they didn’t bother to bid this time. […]
By: Diane Benjamin One Normal Plaza is a tranquil park like setting. It is the site of the Soldiers and Sailors Home were many kids grew up. If you haven’t driven through the area, please do. Everything about this should be preserved for future generations. The Town of Normal staff have proposed zoning changes allowing […]
By: Diane Benjamin This meeting will take more stories to adequately cover what happened last night This is #3. #1 https://blnnews.com/2020/07/07/koos-i-dont-care-what-a-judge-says/ #2 https://blnnews.com/2020/07/07/is-koos-fit-to-serve-he-forgot-the-words-to-the-pledge/ Numerous people were appointed to boards and commissions. Koos finally filled the empty seat on the Connect Transit Board. Tim McCue will represent Normal, the seat has been empty for well over […]
By: Diane Benjamin 9:00 – Stan pulled the bills for further discussion – particularly paying property taxes. Pam Reece and attorney Brian Day didn’t have good answers for not filing paperwork to make them exempt. 14:45 Koos ends the conversation. Next was the contract with the McLean County Regional Planning Commission. Stan wanted the same […]
By: Diane Benjamin I finally made it through all 924 pages of the latest FOIA from Normal. Marc Tiritilli addressed the Council in person before they voted to continue electric aggregation. Prior to that he sent this email: I suggest you compare Ameren prices to your bills if you haven’t opted-out. Marc knows what he […]
By: Diane Benjamin Watch the discussion of Stan Nord’s plat beginning with a speech by Mayor (hypocrite) Koos at 1:06:43. The entire discussion is lenthy, get a cup of coffee and get comfortable. Kathleen Lorenz, Kevin McCarthy, Chemberly Cummings and the mayor all wanted Nord to pay a price for ignoring Town orders. Attn Frauds: […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you didn’t watch the debate between Dan Brady and David Blumenshine you missed Brady interrupting Blumenshine during an answer. It felt just like Chris Koos shutting down citizens during Public Comment. Kneeling is required at all times before the elite. Start watching at 57:40. Dan Brady called David Blumenshine the “King […]
By: Diane Benjamin People like to send me items from Facebook they think I need to see. I appreciate it! Some of these things I think you need to see too. Therefore I will post items for those of you not on Facebook. Even if you are on Facebook you might have missed these. Some […]
By: Diane Benjamin Marc Tiritilli has announced he is running again for mayor. The local media apparently is ignoring it, Peoria isn’t: https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/tiritilli-announces-his-plans-to-run-for-normal-mayor If only twelve more people had voted for Marc three years ago the citizen’s fleece and Koos ignoring the will of the people would already be over. Obviously the current mayor is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sometimes I can put puzzle pieces together on my own, sometimes I can’t. It takes you readers filling in the missing pieces! Many have, it is much appreciated. The underpass has MANY puzzle pieces! Frequently I forget what I have written and what has happened at Council meetings – I am a […]
By: Diane Benjamin As reported in this story, the Public Comment by Marc Tiritilli was cut from the posted video at the 9/30/2019 joint meeting of the McLean County Board, Town of Normal, and Bloomington City Council: https://blnnews.com/2019/10/07/comment-cut-from-video-tiritilli/ I filed a FOIA Request with Bloomington since they had posted the rest of the video. It […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town posted the Work Session and the Council meeting together. Since you likely don’t have 4 hours to spare to watch both, I will start with the Council meeting. The 7 pm meeting starts at 2:05. Since Public Comment was outstanding, begin there. Craig Stimpert was up first. He was following […]
