By: Diane Benjamin I received a tip a few days ago about layoffs at State Farm. Employees were blindsighted in another department, not claims. It doesn’t matter how long they have been with the company, State Farm is picking who stays and who goes by skillsets. Retaining jobs in McLean County hasn’t been mentioned much […]
By: Diane Benjamin The last time I FOIA’d how much Chris Koos was charged for using the Town’s Mitsubishi I received this: . I don’t know if $45 was listed as additional compensation on every check that year or just monthly. The point is he was paying something for having that vehicle permanently assigned to […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m betting Chris Koos won’t be installing a super-charger at his house to charge the Rivian. He can charge it for free in the parking garage next to his Town office. If necessary he can leave it there and walk to his bike shop. This story has a list of other FREE […]
By: Diane Benjamin Asking the Council to approve buying TWO Rivian vehicles was on the Omnibus Agenda without a cost in the documentation: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4451 The only reason to put this on the Omnibus was to get a blank check vote without any discussion. That didn’t happen. Just hit PLAY to hear Chris Koos say both […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal has only received delivery of ONE Rivian vehicle, the one parked at Chris Koos’ house. The other one Normal put a deposit down on is an SUV. I have no idea when it will be delivered. How do I know Koos has the Town’s Rivian? Freedom of Information […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www3.forbes.com/leadership/the-u-s-states-people-are-fleeing-and-the-ones-they-are-moving-to-version-5-ifs-vue-mn-wnb/ Forbes has a new list of the top 12 States people are moving from, I will save you the trouble of reading it: 1. Illinois Total Moves: 8,157Percentage Moving Out: 63.4%Population: 12,802,000Median Household Income: $62,881Job Growth (2018): 0.9% Projected population growth is negative. Illinois is ahead of New Jersey and New […]
By: Diane Benjamin PDF page 69: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4451 Remember when Pam Reece claimed buying these vehicles was not in the 5 year budget? Ha Ha. Remember the Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Fund where they stockpile your money so they can pay cash? Remember when they decided to LEASE 30 vehicles instead of paying cash? https://blnnews.com/2021/12/06/normal-truth-in-taxation-is-mia/ Remember […]
By: Diane Benjamin I really didn’t want to post this video today, but I’m going to anyway. Chris Koos made a campaign commercial featuring Normal for JB Pritzker. One would almost think Pritzker was governor when Rivian bought the plant. (He wasn’t) One would think the Feds hadn’t poured printed money into Illinois that helps […]
By: Diane Benjamin 5/25/22 Unit 5 School board meeting video: This video should go viral, no I’m not going to tell you what EDC Director Hoban said. Hoban had just run through all the potential incentives offered to new businesses. The EDC might want to speed this up if they are going to push it, […]
By: Diane Benjamin This won’t be the only story from the Normal Town Council meeting last night. How did employees get to Diamond Star? How did they get to Mitsubishi? Neither had bus service. Who wants bus service now? How many of those buses will be empty for the low low price of $1,000,000? General […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 has held 2 events with citizens because they want a tax increase. The last one is virtual tonight: Question that needs answered: Why did salaries increase in 2020: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/01/unit-5-did-esser-funds-inflate-salaries/ The number of employees and students decreased from 2019 but salaries increased over 7%. Was that a planned increase to push […]
WGLT is reporting Rivian won’t raise the price for existing customers because of the back lash. Losing money on every vehicle sold is better? The Rivian stock price is still down today https://www.wglt.org/2022-03-03/after-backlash-and-canceled-orders-rivian-backtracks-and-wont-raise-prices-for-existing-customers?fbclid=IwAR3ewocgV5DUP_o9H624_U-dCPM3eO6IphJdXTUU8qkXd2DWWUV1DaAEs2w By: Diane Benjamin This story is more about interesting things you should know than anything else. Start with this story: https://www.autonews.com/retail/there-may-be-more-rivians-price-hike-materials-costs Automotive […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is the second source I’ve seen reporting this. Since I rarely see local media, I don’t know if they have reported it yet or not. Excerpt: . . . . . . .
By: Diane Benjamin Government is not capable of Master Planning because they are spending YOUR money not theirs. They use your taxes as a piggy bank to fulfill their wishes. Voters keep electing progressives who promise to make their lives better and of course not raise taxes to do it. Insert your own joke__________________. Proof […]
By: Diane Benjamin Interesting Excerpts: A Saudi family that built its business on gasoline-fueled cars is sitting on an almost $11.5 billion fortune after electric truck maker Rivian Automative Inc. surged on its trading debut in 2021’s biggest initial public offering. Abdul Latif Jameel, a Jeddah-based group named after its founder and today run by his sons, […]
By: Diane Benjamin How about a fun story! I thought about naming it “De Plane De Plane”, but I refrained. Bloomington has some airport/flight enthusiasts, apps are available that show information on flights out of CIRA. One plane that makes frequent flights from CIRA didn’t show any information on the apps. Of course that made […]
This version of the article does not require a subscription: https://bdnews24.com/economy/2021/09/13/can-a-green-economy-boom-town-be-built-to-last Title of the story: Can a green-economy boom town be built to last? Many local people are mentioned in the article, click the link to read it yourself! I don’t think the question in the title was answered, it mostly reviews history. It doesn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Normal gave away Electric Avenue to Rivian? https://blnnews.com/2021/07/31/did-the-realtors-pac-get-their-moneys-worth/ Bloomington held a public hearing Monday on vacating an alley. This was included in the documentation: Bloomington followed the law by publishing legal notice of the public hearing: Did Normal follow the law? I filed this FOIA: Copy of the notice published […]
By: Diane Benjamin Realtors got heavily involved in last April’s Election. You probably noticed lots of campaign mail had their name on it – from Springfield. In addition they gave Koos: McCarthy: Cummings: Preston: Look up all contributions here: https://illinoissunshine.org/ FYI: Bob Broad, Planning Commission head and Julie Hile partner plus advocate for zoning changes […]
By: Diane Benjamin I used to love my Firebird Trans-Am. It was not only beautiful it was fun to say that’s my Trans-Am. Unfortunately I had to sell it to afford my last year of college. Maybe geeks will be able to tell Rivian’s new names apart, I won’t have a clue: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1133053_rivian-r2s-r3s-r4s-r5s-r2t-r3t-r4t-and-r5t-trademarked-future-laid-out (hey, it’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin Extending water down East College, where Bloomington already has water lines, is out for bid. Normal has said over and over they are not going to use this line for the current Rivian plant that Bloomington already serves. See this pic from the bid pack: Also from the bid pack: So who […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you are a Corn Belt customer we are in the same boat: Paying more for electricity. You will get Illinois Country Living Magazine however. One story in this month’s edition that is NOT on-line concerns charging electric vehicles. Considering electricity is more expensive for Corn Belt customers, I don’t know why […]
Excerpts:
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Buying a Rivian? How are you going to charge it? According to this story Rivian will connect you with a company called Qmerit: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/qmerit-ev-charger-installations-homes-141700627.html You can sign up and pay seamlessly on line to get a charging system installed in your home! How much will it cost? https://www.qmeritcharging.com/owner-faqs Installation: $750 to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Stan Nord was absent from the meeting last night so business only took about 15 minutes. One item that was passed with little discussion of actual facts was this: Staff has said they have no requests for extending the current sewer lines, so how does Crawford etc. know what to design? How […]
Rivian deliveries are now delayed until July 1st: https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a36556537/rumor-rivian-r1t-pickup-delayed/ EPA is using fictitious data to claim Global Warming: https://climaterealism.com/2021/05/epas-new-climate-change-indicators-publication-misleads-on-heatwaves/ WEEK TV has a story on Wednesday night’s District 87 School Board meeting, unfortunately no video of the parents speaking but they are in the story: https://week.com/2021/05/26/district-87-parents-voice-concerns-over-covid-rules-and-curriculum-focus/
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Ford’s F150 electric battery weighs 1800 pounds: https://jalopnik.com/ford-f-150-lightnings-battery-alone-weighs-as-much-as-a-1846925168?fbclid=IwAR08fR6H4a8DHjuzzpJ_sqKd6V4gazHoDIzIvDlw95456SYxszgtXlbBUkc That is the weight of a Volkswagen Beetle. Is Rivian’s the same? What happens to your car if you get hit by one of these tanks? 1800 pounds is just the battery. 2) The Pantagraph printed a picture of a Rivian employee charging […]
By: Diane Benjamin Make sure you reads to the bottom! https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3962 PDF page 31-39: 104 West North has been leased to Dan Brady and Rodney Davis for many years – same price $1 a year. They are responsible for utilities and insurance. Then there’s this: PDF page 36: So, the Town gets $1 in revenue, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this Pam Reece email: This isn’t the only time Reece implies (or flat out states) spending $5 million+ to lay water lines on top of Bloomington’s isn’t to steal providing water to Rivian from Bloomington. I wonder how she explains this email: That brings me to this email from August of […]
By: Diane Benjamin More emails the Normal taxpayers need to see. Note the date, Rivian never requested water from Normal. The Town of Normal is trying to talk them into it. Pam Reece has said OVER and OVER spending $5 million+ for water lines on top of Bloomington’s is for future economic development. The email […]
I should have read a few more pages before posting this story. See below, Kathleen Lorenz qualifies as a useful idiot. By: Diane Benjamin The two emails in the previous story are from last fall: https://blnnews.com/2021/04/15/more-on-normals-war-with-bloomington/ Those emails prove Normal’s plan to replace Bloomington water at the Rivian plant. Note the date in this email […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember Pam Reece claiming numerous times the $5 million water project by Rivian is NOT to run water to Rivian? Bloomington currently provides the water. See this story: https://blnnews.com/2021/03/11/think-pam-reece-lied/ I have a ton of documents I received by FOIA. Read these two emails and see if you think Normal has no intention […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t to a reader! February 19, 2018 This item was on the agenda: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2890 The clip below shows Chemberly Cummings claiming: it isn’t an easy decision for her things like this keep me up at night too many unknows with this company everything seems so convoluted and secretive I want it known […]
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-30/tesla-can-move-forward-with-trade-secret-suit-against-rivian Tesla Inc. can move forward with a lawsuit claiming that Rivian Automotive Inc. stole its trade secrets with the help of former employees of the electric carmaker. Read the rest yourself!
By: Diane Benjamin From the PAC website: https://www.responsiblecities.com/ Gee, it sounds like this group wants the best candidates for the entire community. They don’t. Chris Koos and Kevin McCarthy have recently stated they were elected by the citizens of Normal and they don’t care about Bloomington. They want to run water pipes on top of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Rivian showed 211 job openings in Normal, today they have 213: https://rivian.com/careers?location=Normal&workType 2 of the positions are part-time. Check it out of you need work.
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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the $5 million water project Normal has in the budget? Stan Nord asked many times why this project is in the budget. Normal is running water lines on top of Bloomington’s. The only answer he ever got from Pam Reece was: 1) Nobody has requested water service 2) It is for […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal (taxpayers) own the vehicle Chris Koos drives: Taxpayers also pay for the plates which could have been GOV plates for much less: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3881 I am told Koos has Mayor vanity plates instead of government plates. Use of a taxpayer owned vehicle amounts to additional compensation. So how much […]
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 […]
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