By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has been running this ad on Facebook: I will wait for you to stop laughing! waiting . . . waiting . . . Today an entire article is devoted to praising the City of Bloomington’s for closing last year under budget. Some things they meant to mislead you about: (tonight: […]
By: Diane Benjamin See Monday night’s Bills and Payroll here: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=242&parent=9535 Media did well: Straightening out the mess prior management left? . This months eating at your expense: ADMIN City Council Expenses Station 220 Inc $ 32.75 07/01/16 Business lunch T. Renner (By himself?) ADMIN City Council Expenses Station 220 Inc $ 50.00 06/30/16 Business […]
Ben Yount finally agreed to hold an event here in September! He mentioned your emails! Thanks. _______________________________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” I was at […]
By: Diane Benjamin August 2nd I wrote a story about Bloomington’s Liquor Commission: https://blnnews.com/2016/08/02/is-tari-declaring-himself-king/ Monday night Tari wants to be granted all power to enforce, permit, and control liquor in Bloomington. From the agenda: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11004 From the packet page 238: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11003 The only “confusion regarding the authority of the local” Liquor Commission has been FOLLOWING […]
By: Diane Benjamin Connect Transit issued their 12 month UN-audited financial statements at their last meeting. Celebrate now – they didn’t lose as much as they budgeted: Page 7: http://www.connect-transit.com/documents/July%2026,%202016%20Regular%20Board%20Meeting%20Binder1.pdf They did lose more than $1 million in June bringing the year total to just short of $10 million. Has ANY local press reported on […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent me the following email. The Pantagraph is legendary for getting the facts wrong, but they can’t get their own facts straight? These guys can be trusted to accurately report news? (Note: Another example of why I started BlnNews more than 4 years ago.) . . .
By: Diane Benjamin A citizen FOIA’d the City of Bloomington for Tari Renner’s calendar. I predict Tari won’t be putting everything on his calendar anymore. See his June calendar here: Renner calendar There are a lot of interesting items – see them for yourself. Some entries are redacted. Tari has some personal items listed, so […]
By: Diane Benjamin I couldn’t decide which story to do, so I’m throwing THREE into one story. 1) Are employees fleeing? THREE Manager openings at once! http://www.mcleancochamber.org/chamber/job-openings 2) This one is funny! The Title in the printed version of the Pantagraph was “Visitors center a strain on museum” The on-line version got changed: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/national/government-and-politics/museum-seeks-help-for-route-center/article_97cecedb-3e91-5734-8da3-246c1fa238d6.html “Museum […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today the bird-cage liner did two stories on the Coliseum. Extensive renovations are happening right now. Concession sales is the major focus. Did CIAM have long waiting lines when they managed? If they did, I never heard it. But a statement by the new manager left something out. He is quoted saying […]
By: Diane Benjamin The media has never reported on my lawsuit against the City of Bloomington and Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) – the old Coliseum manager. John Butler was the principal agent for CIAM. Possible fraud or abuse of taxpayers isn’t news. The lawsuit is based on a denied FOIA for the 2014 concession […]
By: Diane Benjamin The climate change believers were unleashed to spew propaganda in the bird-cage liner today. An editorial by two ISU professors called people who haven’t swallowed the communist green kool-aid part of the “cult of ignorance”. These clowns admit to living in a bubble. I agree and it’s funded by taxpayers and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Every 30 days the Pantagraph prints a Letter to the Editor from the most uniformed local personever! If she could get a letter in every week, I’m sure she would. Conservative writers have their letters rejected, many are told they can’t prove what they wrote. Some don’t get an explanation. Meanwhile, divisive […]
By: Diane Benjamin Isn’t heroin illegal Pantagraph? How’s that working out? You just did a series on it! They couldn’t help themselves. Today they called for more gun control. Gun control is nothing more than an attempt to keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. News Flash: Criminals don’t care what laws you […]
By: Diane Benjamin Government wastes your money! Proof: An unused fire station and unused water tower. $$$$ – MILLIONS – $$$$ poof, up in smoke and nobody in jail. Those are just huge examples of utter incompetence. Many many more exist on a small scale. Just this week Council and staff time were needed for […]
By: Diane Benjamin The agenda screw-up from last Monday will be fixed Friday at a special meeting of the Bloomington City Council. They aren’t approving just one liquor license, they are approving two! Of course, approving the release of the verbatim audio and written account of the illegal Executive Session isn’t on the agenda. On […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph needs to explain why an alleged Open Meetings Act violation against the McLean County Health Department is so much more important than the one they also reported this week against the City of Bloomington. That story was quickly buried on their website – comments were NEVER allowed. Comments ARE allowed […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back on December 20, 2013, the Pantagraph thought a sitting Alderwoman filing a complaint against Tari Renner, David Hales, and the rest of the Council was a big story: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/alderman-stearns-alleges-open-meetings-act-violation/article_5b8974e2-6916-11e3-986a-001a4bcf887a.html How about reporting on what happened? Start by hammering Lisa Madigan for taking more than two years to issue a determination! The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Actually, the Pantagraph didn’t even acknowledge receiving this one. The author didn’t give me a name, they go by earlyriser54 here. From the writer: This letter was submitted via e-mail on May 24th. Not printed, no confirmation from Pantagraph to verify the author. I made certain that all required information was included, but […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has a long history of “floating” ideas fed to them from local government. It’s always the first step in making happen what government wants to happen. Watchdogs they aren’t. The last example was “sharing sales tax” – first mentioned in the paper and expanded since. Sunday more ideas were floated […]
The writer sent this message to the Pantagraph strictly to make a point. He knows it will never be printed. Since it won’t be, he sent it to me so all of you can see it. You are actually reading it before the recipient, he got an automated “Out of Office” message until 5/2. […]
Printed with permission from the writer: —–Original Message—– From: Terry/Dewi White Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2016 1:49 PM To: Pantagraph Letters Subject: Bloomington’s leaders, Infested with liberals. As a lifelong resident of Bloomington, I’ve observed our cities leaderships has gotten progressively worse. Our current leadership is infested with liberalism and if you don’t know what […]
By: Diane Benjamin Same day voter registration was a stupid law and, contrary to what Democrats think, it’s not government’s job to make it work without any attempt to DUMP it. Stupid laws with unintended consequences can’t be fixed. It was never about increasing voting, it’s about getting uniformed to the polls. Think ISU. So […]
By: Diane Benjamin The anonymous editorial writer at the Pantagraph jumped in this week to proclaim the greatness of Bloomington and Normal sharing Sales Tax. Citizens are being set up! Normal has 5 TIF districts that are costing them A LOT of money because revenues generated aren’t paying the interest and principle on all the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The bird-cage liner just reported the Decatur School Superintendent is taking a new job in Heyworth. Since the Decatur paper is a sister publication, they got the story from them. (Saves salaries just reprinting articles) The story claims the School Board voted 4-3 not to extend Lisa Taylor’s contract. The CRIME? The […]
By: Diane Benjamin The ONLY reason I know the Bloomington water tower in Normal isn’t used is because I FOIA’d the water flow through all towers. That one came up -0-: http://blnnews.com/2015/08/04/more-ineptness/ Information on this tower is close to non-existent. This waste of money was before the Fire Station #5 fiasco. I’ve searched the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today’s story: Chamber of Commerce declares “There Are Jobs Out There”. Sure. Fast food, retail, and jobs with 10 years experience required doing things nobody has every heard of. The average family income isn’t dropping because opportunities abound! http://blnnews.com/2016/03/14/bloomington-what-citizens-need-to-know/ McLean County – Median household income 2014: $60,460 2000: $67,873 Percent change: -11% […]
Update: The Pantagraph article was down, but now it’s back with a few changes. It still dodges the truth. If you are on Facebook, Renner For Mayor is asking for feedback about the Coliseum: https://www.facebook.com/Tari-Renner-for-Mayor-25094354134/?fref=ts By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner wrote an article for the Pantagraph today and made it look like the City reporter […]
By: Diane Benjamin The obvious alien writer at the Pantagraph, Steve Vogel, demanded .04 a gallon gas tax increase today. Maybe he sneaked into the country when the old Soviet Union dissolved. Maybe he was dropped on his head. He thinks the City needs more money for roads. Citizens expect their government to handle: Police […]
By: Diane Benjamin I know, from the title you are thinking something else! I’ve pointed out for at least a year the Pantagraph Editorials never say who wrote them. Lately they’ve had a FEW (with emphasis on few), written by somebody other than the management, stating views I agree with. I’d love to know who […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Steve Vogel’s Saturday column was published, maybe next week he can explain it. It served no useful purpose. It wasn’t even entertaining. He rattled something about Illinois never seeing Presidential candidates. Must be jealousy. Mentioned were Clinton, Sanders, Trump, Carson, Rubio, Huckabee, and Santorum. Jeb is polling so low, Stevie must […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph really needs to give up being a source for any useful information. They exist only to spew propaganda and publish pics of the local preferred royalty. Today is no exception. They “jeered” the State of Illinois for delaying the start of early voting. Of course they didn’t mention early voting […]
By: Diane Benjamin The first time I sent a FOIA request to the airport for payroll, I received Medicare Wages: http://blnnews.com/2016/01/21/cira-explain-please/. I did another request for the full salary and benefits paid to the airport manager, Carl Olson. The original request shows Medicare Wages of $175,710.68 I received this the second time: (click to enlarge) […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today’s Pantagraph Editorial included directions for how to drive in the snow. They also want you to make sure your windows and lights are cleaned of snow. If you are sick of no investigative reporting by the media and being treated like you are a child, please help out. I don’t get […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to this Pantagraph article: http://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/olson-gets-contract-extension/article_c3a51735-c4ad-5cda-853b-7704ebcffb8a.html – the Executive Director of the airport (Carl Olson) just got a 2.5% raise. It also states he was earning $172,365 per year. The article is a glowing endorsement of the great job he is doing. Funny, because in January the Pantagraph also reported traffic was down […]
By: Diane Benjamin Multiple Choice test: A) Why is Matt Sorensen’s name not being taken off the March 15th ballot? The “powers” think voters are just stupid enough to re-elect him The “powers” want him re-elected so they can they get his resignation and appoint the person they want The “powers” want the March 15th […]
By: Diane Benjamin If elected officials are conservative, the local media is relentless in attacking them. Any representative opposing “progress” on the grounds it isn’t government’s job, will get vicious treatment for not going along with the majority. The majority is bankrupting taxpayers, but that’s immaterial to media. Examples: Judy Stearns, Kevin Lower, and Lee […]
Remember the December incident when one of the speakers at a Diversity Project meeting had a concealed carry gun? Remember the Pantagraph story? http://www.pantagraph.com/news/state-gun-signs-must-comply-to-be-enforceable/article_d5a4fe35-683c-532a-a50b-79d060b4fce1.html John Boch, the person in question and the Executive Director of Guns Save Lives, wrote the Pantagraph a letter. He never received a response from them. I met John this week […]
Quote from Special Agent Patrick Bohrer, assistant section chief Public Corruption/Civil Rights program at FBI Headquarters. “We depend greatly on assistance from the public. So let me end by saying, if anyone out there has any information about potential wrongdoing by a public official, please submit a tip online or contact your local FBI field […]
By: Diane Benjamin I planned to do this story yesterday, but then the Matt Sorensen story sidetracked me all day. My readers are GREAT at giving me tips – this was one of them. The Pantagraph read is on my site, it still took them an hour to do a story. Yesterday, the paper devoted […]
Two refugees arrested on terror charges – in different States! http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/us/terror-charges-refugees/ Got it yet Steve? By: Diane Benjamin Today Steve Vogel proved that Democrats do not have the ability to govern or keep the country safe. Most of us already knew that, but Vogel was nice enough to put it in writing for all to […]
