By: Diane Benjamin My definition of fraud: being against some hate speech while ignoring others that don’t fit the agenda. I’ll never quit exposing Not In Our Town (NIOT) as frauds. Elected officials are threatened to sign their pledge—if they don’t, they’re inundated with calls and emails asking why they’re not against hate. NIOT isn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the 8/25/2025 Council meeting a LONG list of email public commenters was read. I FOIA’d the City for those emails in September. I received a response with EVERY NAME redacted. Of course that isn’t legal. Nobody at Council meetings makes an anonymous public comment. No one who emails the Council can […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/t a reader https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/community-fight-hate-bullying Not In Our Town doesn’t fight hate and bullying in Bloomington-Normal. They fight what THEY consider hate and bullying. Just in the last few months Not In Our Town said NOTHING about: NIOT are frauds and so is anyone who was coerced into signing their stupid pledge card. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Parents of students in Unit 5 consider this comment by Board Chair Alex Williams hate speech: . Alex Williams thinks Trump voters and Fox News viewers are the dregs of society. He thinks Christians are hypocrites. He thinks all white people are racist. A person willing to post this comment publicly is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Words like racist now have no meaning. Other words are rapidly suffering the same fate: Nazi, White Supremacist, Democracy, and Fascist. Throwing out labels where they don’t apply makes them immaterial and it proves those who use them are incapable of independent thought. Example: . Many people today have no idea what […]
By: Diane Benjamin Details for my Public Comment at the 9/8/2025 City Council meeting: Criminal Damage to Property because of political ideology is a HATE CRIME. Where is Not In Our Town? I am not going to identify where this property is to prevent further harm to the homeowner. It is on a major Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is Part 1, a short Part 2 is next. Last night’s festivities were full of misinformation by citizen speakers. Of course that’s why the 1st Amendment exists. It’s vitally important for all people to have free speech and the ability to address their government. Public Comment had to be extended over […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1021/files/agenda/6725 Justin Boyd is getting a Proclamation for serving 9 years on the Planning Commission. The documentation doesn’t say if he’s leaving or if he’s just being celebrated. My question: Is Bloomington better now because of his ‘Planning” than it was 9 years ago? Guess what’s back! . TEN YEARS ago […]
By: Diane Benjamin If written many stories about the Art and Camille Taylor incident, they are all linked in this story along with the body cam videos: https://blnnews.com/2020/08/08/was-art-taylor-attempting-to-incite-something/ More information has been received by FOIA after an earlier FOIA obviously didn’t produce all of the documents involved. It was filed by John Boch. Start with […]
By: Diane Benjamin Police reports: The Art and Camille Taylor incident These reports were received by the Edgar County Watchdogs, they forwarded them to me. If you missed all the previous stories these reports have the same information as the body cam videos. This story has links to all the previous stories and videos: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/24/in-support-of-art-and-camille-taylor-3-0-the-entire-police-interview/ […]
By: Diane Benjamin See both previous stories at this link: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/23/in-support-of-art-and-camille-taylor/ . Art Taylor, in his four-page screed complaining of his treatment during the incident closes with this: Not being accorded the respect of the “benefit of the doubt” is what hurts the most, and that is why citizens of color feel like there are […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/17/racism-claimed-where-non-existed/ In spite of the title – this story is not “In Support of Art and Camille Taylor”. Below is the heavily redacted video released by the City of Bloomington of the incident described in the previous story. Why is it vital to know what really happened? Art […]
The body cam video has not been released. Rest assured, it will be! By: Diane Benjamin When only one side of the story is flashed all over Facebook it’s easy to assume facts that aren’t facts. Of course Mike Matejka of Not In Our Town jumped all over this claiming racism is real. Here is […]
By: Diane Benjamin It probably isn’t possible that you missed yesterday’s story, but in case you did: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/09/chris-koos-taunts-protestors/ If you need more proof that Not In Town Town is a joke to silence free speech, keep reading. From the NIOT Facebook page – written by Matejka himself: Mike’s mission isn’t to stop bullying if the […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Consent Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1063&Inline=True There is no such thing as 100% Green Energy – the label just makes it cost more. Read Book 1 of the budget here: https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=24029 I wonder if Mike Matejka knows Jenn Carrillo attacks law enforcement for doing their job. Is that fine with Not In […]
By: Diane Benjamin Not In Our Town only means some people in town are not allowed to have opinions. Any mention of ILLEGAL and immigrant together could lead to public flogging! Laws aren’t meant to be obeyed, it all in how one “feels”. NIOT proved who they really are the first time Tari attacked me […]
I attended this event – Nick Adams has an amazing love for America AND Americans. He has a non-profit call FLAG. From their website: http://www.flagusa.org/ Its principal purpose is to educationally proclaim the greatness of America, and ensure that the next generation of American leaders understands what it means to be an American. Several members […]
By: Diane Benjamin It isn’t an accident the Bloomington City Council had relatively short meetings before the April election and now two-hour or more regular meetings will be the norm. Renner hid his agenda with talking points and now he’s ready to activate the plans he had safely tucked out of sight. Bike lanes of […]
By: Diane Benjamin By now readers know sometimes laws matter, sometimes they don’t. It all depends on how the people who are charged with enforcing them “feel”. Remember these signs popping up in yards and schools? (Do the schools still have them?) What does the Bloomington City Code say about signs in yards? (The website […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to the Vidette, video exists of Tari’s speech at the NIOT Democratic rally. Tari’s portion is less than two minutes. They took short clips of various speakers and put them together. I have no idea what Martin Luther King had to do with this event since it was supposedly to oppose […]
This sign is at U-High. Normal Community also has one. Evidently being here legally isn’t a requirement. ____________________________ By: Diane Benjamin This is the sign Not In Our Town supporters are putting around town: It means one thing to the people upset that Hillary Clinton lost the election and something totally different to everybody else. […]
By: Diane Benjamin First, Tina Salamone has been wonderful to work with. Every time I asked a question I received a quick response – no FOIA needed. A reader found a rate sheet on the BCPA website http://www.artsblooming.org/rentals/rental-information Starting at the top of the rate sheet, it appears NIOT wasn’t charged enough. I emailed Tina […]
I had to add this tweet – this person lives in Bloomington! NIOT! By: Diane Benjamin These pics are from the NIOT Bloomington-Normal Facebook page. Obviously not all the attendees agreed with what was being said, both pics show numerous people sitting and not clapping while other are standing and cheering. Note the sign in […]
By: Diane Benjamin I doubt any attendees of the event last night will take the time to watch this video. Actually having a discussion of facts is no longer possible. If you read the comments made to the Pantagraph reporter, it’s clear FAKE NEWS is rampant and now encouraged by both local mayors. Where was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mike Matejka is hosting a Not In Our Town event tonight inside the BCPA. From the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1826853930904096/ Who is talking about registering anybody Mike? This event is really an attack on President Trump’s Executive Order that TEMPORARILY bans travel from 7 countries until he is sure no terrorists are entering […]
By: Diane Benjamin On September 24th the NAACP is holding an event in Bloomington: Dr. Wallace is a very successful women, but I wonder if she will state her support for the athletes now disrespecting the National Anthem? She did recently: […]
