By: Diane Benjamin The information below was sent to the Normal Town Council a few days ago by a resident of Normal. It concerns the Town’s plans for the additional $.04 gas tax. “Before you spend $’s on bike paths, bike/road new construction or consider Connect Transit funding increases, watch this video.” “Bus corner extension […]
By: Diane Benjamin The sales tax plan for the Fiala brothers created some havoc for some of the Trustees. The citizens of Normal are really tired of the Town’s giveaways, especially to their “friends”. The citizens remember all the properties given away to create Uptown. Nobody would have built there without them. The citizens see […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s Normal Town Council meeting lasted close to 4 hours. It started with a conga line of Uptown supporters, most (if not all) connected to government. 2 objectors to the Fiala payoff were conveniently placed at the end of Public Comment. It started at 8:00 if you want to watch. On […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2019/03/26/connect-transit-destroys-infrastructure/ Yesterday’s story had a short recent video showing the destruction Connect Transit buses have caused to the Portillos corner. The video below is what it looked like last year – much worse. That means Normal fixed it and Connect is in the process of breaking […]
The first public comment speaker was Karyn Smith (not Karen) – also a candidate for Normal Town Council. Other than her comments last night I don’t know anything else about her – yet. By: Diane Benjamin When Chris Koos began public comment he made clear he would time limit the speakers so they could get […]
By: Diane Benjamin We live in a capitalist country. It’s called individual freedom to succeed or fail. The individual is the most important factor in success, the “collective” has no part in capitalism. Individuals must be free to make their own decisions. Capitalism doesn’t see genders, race, sexual orientation or any other tags used to […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t Doug Fansler, Normal resident Besides devouring at least $800,000 a month government stole from you to fund it, Connect Transit is destroying infrastructure. The roads weren’t built for huge buses. The roads weren’t built so buses could make right turns, especially if traffic is sitting in the far lane. Remember when a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unless a lot of citizens show up for Public Comment, Tuesday’s meeting will last less than 15 minutes. Here’s some of the bills that will be approved: (click any pics to enlarge) http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2827 More proof government exists for government employees: Don’t forget the $60 gift card employees received too! ________________________________________________________________________ I wonder […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal must be feeling heat. Maybe it’s because Chris Koos came REALLY close to getting knocked off by Marc Tiritilli. Maybe it’s because Normal raised property taxes eleven years in a row. Maybe it’s because the only way a building was going to get built across from City Hall […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos recently spoke at a “State of McLean County” event. See the newspaper story HERE Koos thinks his job is reducing economic inequity, delivering opportunity, social equity and sustainability. If his claims were true, the Council wouldn’t be set to raise property taxes to fill holes in their budget. Stealing more […]
By: Diane Benjamin Here’s just a few of the Town’s recent follies: (there are more) Portillos give away – $1,825,000 plus interest: https://blnnews.com/2016/12/02/portillo-town-monday-night/ Greenbriar Shopping Center – $4.8 million https://blnnews.com/2017/10/16/normal-revised-schedule-spending/ $100,000 to the Mclean County History Museum + $700,000 that wasn’t budgeted: https://blnnews.com/2017/09/04/normals-funnybusiness-tuesday/ $420,853.49 for new furniture https://blnnews.com/2017/07/16/you-arent-supposed-to-notice/ Rivian! Here’s one you probably forgot or never knew: The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Something isn’t right with Hyatt reportedly changing their minds on wanting tax rebates from Normal. The resolution and new agreement was in the packet for last night’s meeting: PDF page 159 and following: http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2672 The Town of Normal didn’t seem to mind the handout – they put it on the agenda where […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Normal’s Town Council was giddy over handing money to a developer for a Portillos? Normal was going to be a destination – people would drive to Normal from all over Central Illinois! People traveling the interstates would go out of their way for a Portillos hot dog! Champaign is going […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos was on WJBC this morning. Hear the interview HERE Did you know that Uptown is NEVER going to be finished? Yep, Koos said that. He is running for a 4th term because he isn’t done with his vision. Bloomington-Normal will be paying for a new sports facility if Koos and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Town Council provided 2.5 million reasons to replace whoever is up for election in April. Start with Chris Koos. Portillos won’t be a destination for long. Champaign is getting one of their own. http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-08-18/portillos-inches-closer-champaign-announcement.html The story is from AUGUST and clearly states they are looking at locations all over Central […]
