by: Diane Benjamin I rarely write about national issues, but when the Pantagraph publishes an Associated Press article on the front page titled: Budget deficit at lowest level under Obama somebody has to provide facts. The title is campaign propaganda for the uniformed. Wow, the deficit is down to $483 Billion. Everybody celebrate – as we rapidly […]
by: Diane Benjamin The GOP does lousy messaging, so I will respond to the Vogel trap myself. Steve is trying to snare Republicans in his weekly editorial. The Democrats have 3 questions on the November ballot. The three questions are meant to inflame the liberal base to get off their butts and vote. First […]
by: Diane Benjamin About the cancelled City Council retreat: Mayor Renner had every intention of holding an illegal meeting, until he got caught. The Pantagraph has an article on-line that will be in tomorrow’s paper. Alderwoman Stearns, who the Pantagraph obviously contacted for a comment, is ridiculed by Mayor Renner. He just wants to sweep […]
by: Diane Benjamin The first job of government is to defend freedom and liberty. Obviously, government forgot that. The federal government has been on a spending spree for a long time, but so have local governments. They grab more and more of your income for their agenda. See last weeks post on Heyworth: http://blnnews.com/2014/10/03/heyworth-can-you-explain-this/ and Standford: […]
Here is Steve Vogel’s reason to vote for Pat Quinn in November: Quinn is going to jail. Paul Vallas (Lieutenant Governor candidate) is going to be a great governor! After all, the Chicago public schools are great now since Vallas fixed everything. Brilliant! Anybody still funding the Pantagraph propaganda machine? Why? . . .
by: Diane Benjamin It’s common knowledge that the Pantagraph is the LAST place to get news. They have a standing order to NEVER do any investigations. Given that, the RAG could at least use Google. Try it, it’s quick and you don’t have to leave your desk and actually ask tough questions. Cheers and Jeers […]
by: Diane Benjamin Less than 2 weeks ago the cost to repair the Coliseum parking garage was $1,098,836. The Council approved a contract for repairs: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7274 Item 7A. Analysis of Bids and Approval of Contract with Structural Preservation Systems, LLC, for Pepsi Ice Center Parking Structure Repairs. Motion by Alderman Schmidt, seconded by Alderman Black […]
by: Diane Benjamin I reported previously the Flex got kicked out of their league last year because they refused to travel to the playoffs. (http://blnnews.com/2014/04/07/bloomington-flex-the-leagues-side-of-the-story/) Without a League to play in, the Flex started their own. (http://blnnews.com/2014/08/30/flex-kicked-out-so-start-your-own-league/) Every major local media outlet has reported that China choose the Flex as the only American team […]
by: Diane Benjamin Celebrate Celebrate! The Pantagraph is cheering the Bloomington City Council for moving quickly to fix the Pepsi Ice Center parking garage. It’s been closed for 11 months Pantagraph! Worse, the parking garage isn’t even 10 years old. Taxpayers paid around $3,3000,000 for the original construction. Monday night the Council will review bids […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has another unsigned Editorial – this one praises the City of Bloomington for passing a Transparency Ordinance. I almost fell off my chair laughing at one of the lines: That’s a promise especially important to media outlets and government watchdog groups that are charged with a “fourth estate” responsibility to […]
by: Diane Benjamin Pantagraph Editorial today: State needs to grow jobs, not spin facts. Who wrote it Pantagraph? Too chicken to say? After getting past the same discussion happening all over Illinois for the past week, (it’s easy to copy the thoughts of others) the Pantagraph finally hits taxes. Iowa and Indiana have lowered taxes […]
The buzz about the Bloomington City employee(s) who wrote checks and took cash from the City till is this: YOU weren’t suppose to know about it. It appears somebody spilled the beans on the City to WJBC. Not sure why WJBC, seems a strange place to rat. The real questions are: Did the whistle-blower try the […]
by: Diane Benjamin From: http://blnnews.com/2014/08/18/how-about-some-facts-tari/ In the last 2 years the City of Bloomington has hired 120 people. Why are they still spending money on Temporary Labor? I hope somebody checks that invoices aren’t being paid twice. All 3 list invoices for the exact same amount. http://blnnews.com/2014/08/18/how-about-some-facts-tari/ Bills are approved for payment twice a month […]
by: Diane Benjamin How many Letters to the Editor has the Pantagraph refused to print supporting the Cities 92.9 flamingo campaign? Yesterday the Editorial staff wrote urging Bloomington to get busy fixing up downtown. It shouldn’t be a mystery why: They want to sell their building and there is currently no market for it. They have […]
by: Diane Benjamin Two items in today’s Pantagraph are appalling. First they opine the labor force in Bloomington-Normal is shrinking because baby boomers are retiring. People are also leaving – but of course they haven’t noticed that. So, not enough babies are being born to replenish the population. It’s a problem across the country. […]
by: Diane Benjamin I found this while looking for something else. Before the Coliseum opened, an editorial in the Pantagraph questioned why Coliseum management wasn’t put out for bid. They even called the Council action “a bad practice”. I’ve called for cancelling the current contract and putting it out for bid. CIAM has been […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve posted a few stories showing how much the City Council approves in bills payable to local media: http://blnnews.com/2014/07/14/pantagraph-wjbc-why-they-dont-hold-government-accountable/ http://blnnews.com/2014/07/25/more-on-media-paid-to-not-report/ Monday night the Council will approve paying: Cumulus – WJBC $1406.75 Pantagraph – $897.69 Those number are way down, but I will keep watching. I found a few interesting emails that were […]
by: Diane Benjamin At every Bloomington City Council meeting part of the agenda is approving bills and payroll. On July 14th I reported the bills included 1,355.85 to Cumulus Broadcasting (WJBC) and 3,645.50 to the Pantagraph. http://blnnews.com/2014/07/14/pantagraph-wjbc-why-they-dont-hold-government-accountable/ On Monday the council will approval more payments to both: http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=7057 Cumulus $1500.00 Pantagraph $3083.40 Totals for 1 month: […]
by: Diane Benjamin Has the Pantagraph refused to print your “Letter to the Editor”? Did you criticize local government or express conservative values? Citizen can no longer voice opinions about local government or traditional values. The Pantagraph has elected officials to protect because they have a downtown building to unload and they make too much […]
by: Diane Benjamin Nice try. Obviously the Pantagraph editorial writer is lazy, uniformed or both. Quoting parts of the Declaration of Independence without any context of the historical facts surrounding this day in 1776 betrays the true events. If you didn’t see their homage to the 4th of July, don’t bother. It was just the […]
by: Diane Benjamin As a public service to the Pantagraph, I noticed they read some stories today. They missed this one however: http://blnnews.com/2014/06/29/why-is-the-coliseum-allowed-to-mislead-taxpayers/ I thought they might care about printing misleading information, or as some might say, lies. What are the chances they print a correction, or at least a statement saying CIAM numbers might […]
by: Diane Benjamin As I stated a couple of days ago, I’m taking some time off to work on something else. Details eventually. I have to comment on a few items the Pantagraph reported on though. Yesterday on-line they had a story about the BN by the Numbers meeting held this week. Nobody knows why […]
By: Diane Benjamin Property values dropped in 2008. Some parts of the country got hit worse than others. Bloomington wasn’t really hurt too bad. So how did the value of the Pantagraph building drop A Lot? On 2005 the building was assessed for $958,778. In 2013 the building was assessed for $400,000! The real value of […]
by: Diane Benjamin At next Monday’s City Council meeting, the Council will be asked to approve paying the Pantagraph $38,000 for advertising BCPA events. This is just a small part of the advertising income the Pantagraph earns form the City of Bloomington. Any chance the Pantagraph will investigate spending at the BCPA? Will they investigate […]
by: Diane Benjamin I written many times about the Pantagraph being in bed with the City of Bloomington. Citizens will NEVER be told the truth in the newspaper. A legal intern at the Citizens Advocacy Center in Elmhurst Il wrote a Letter to the Editor. The Pantagraph refused to print it: From: Pantagraph Letters <PLetters@pantagraph.com> […]
by: Diane Benjamin The following statement made numerous times by Professor Mayor Renner has always bothered me, see if it bothers you. He is talking about downtown Bloomington. . Who put government in charge of the 21st century? Are you just dying to live and shop in downtown Bloomington? If downtown doesn’t thrive Bloomington won’t? […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’m sure you remember Professor Mayor Renner’s attack on Alderwoman Stearns during the budget discussions: . At the June 9 Council meeting Starcom came up again. Even though the money for the upgrades was included in the budget, the Council still had to vote to spend it. Yes, the spending was in […]
I hear the Pantagraph is going to ignore the Korea Vietnam Memorial restoration unveiling at Miller Park. Mayor Renner and MOST of the Council had nothing to do with it, so it’s not news. The restoration took 2 years and wouldn’t have happened without private citizens and Alderwoman Judy Stearns. The eternal flame had been […]
by: Diane Benjamin In today’s edition, the Pantagraph has a story about the Heartland Community College wind turbine. A study is going to be conducted to see how many birds and bats are murdered by the blades per year. The Canadian Free Press just released information on the subject: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/print-friendly/63235 CFP frequently reports what American media […]
by: Diane Benjamin Sometimes the Pantagraph makes it way too easy to see their agenda. Sometimes they write incredibly crappy editorials. Sometimes they combine them. Today was the day! Light in candle to celebrate their further demise. It must be very embarrassing to work for the Pantagraph. Whoever writes the Editorials doesn’t put their […]
The Pantagraph editors went with a new theory – if we ignore the Renner attack – it never happened. Finding some way of blaming Stearns and Lower was apparently impossible! In this they are correct! (for once) by: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I wondered how the Pantagraph would protect their golden goose – Tari […]
by: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I told you about a Pantagraph Editorial with content that didn’t match the title. I mentioned they have never criticized City government, I should have said Mayor Stockton, Mayor Renner, David Hales, Tom Hamilton etc – while they were in office. The paper will never attack their golden goose. The […]
by: Diane Benjamin On April 30th the Pantagraph posted an editorial: Taxpayer needs should outweigh political wishes. For a minute I thought the Pantagraph was actually going to tell the truth on a City issue! Silly me. The entire editorial was about the State of Illinois and Mike Madigan. It had little to do with […]
by: Diane Benjamin I hear the Pantagraph has run NO letters to the Editor this week! Here’s some theories I’ve heard: 1) Nobody is reading the Pantagraph anymore, therefore nobody is writing letters. 2) They are censoring letters and haven’t received one they think is fit to print. 3) They received a ton of letters critical […]
by: Diane Benjamin Today the Pantagraph finally got around to doing an editorial on the ISU-Flanagan flap. Maybe they had to since the Chicago Tribune printed an editorial: http://blnnews.com/2014/03/26/pantagraph-hides-the-truth-again-isu/ Doesn’t Chicago have enough corruption of its own? Why did the Chicago Tribune editorialize about the ISU firing and payoff of Tim Flanagan? Maybe because there is […]
by: Diane Benjamin Before I get to ISU, let’s talk Bloomington. Government loves to bury the truth when a high level employee is fired. Scared to death of lawsuits, they would rather pass along less than adequate employees to another government agency somewhere else. Bloomington now has one of those, but you probably don’t know […]
Proof the Pantagraph and Rachel Wells are totally in bed with the City of Bloomington: No coverage of the budget discussion at last night’s Council meeting! If they don’t report, it doesn’t exist. Wow? Why report facts? I know hardly anybody reads the Pantagraph anymore, but for those who still do, now you have proof […]
by: Diane Benjamin My TITLE is what the Pantagraph title should have been. With a large picture of Bill Brady on the front page of the Pantagraph today, the story is really what they didn’t report. The Pantagraph will never report anything negative about real estate agents, developers, or car dealers because of advertising dollars. […]
by: Diane Benjamin The role of media is to hold the government accountable. It is NOT to be friends with government. It is the media’s job to inform the public and expose corruption. From page 111 of Book 1 City Budget: http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=6393 See the ***** below: How can the media REPORT news when they have […]
Maria – your article in today’s (March 8, 2014) Pantagraph regarding Unit 5 Sales Tax Referendum seems to contradict prior Pantagraph reporting. Just wanted to point out these to you. From today’s article… Only 10 days before the sales tax referendum vote, Unit 5 is now ‘pledging’ to return the first $3 million dollars […]
